E-WASTE MANAGEMENT AND WASTE MINIMIZATION

METHODOLOGY

S. Kar, P.C. Sekhar and S. Singh

School of Mechanical Engineering, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Orissa

Email: ssingh@kiit.ac.in, saranjitkiit@gmail.com

Abstract: No amount of debate on sub-optimal waste management can be called an

exaggeration in the light of scientific assessment report of Inter-Governmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) issued during February 2007, which blames human directly for
deleterious environmental impacts like global warming, rise in sea level, weather changing
pattern etc. Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of IPCC says, “what humans have done over the
last couple of hundreds of years is unprecedented and it hasn’t happened over the tens of
thousands of years”. The beginning of environmental movement has seen that both
government regulatory agencies and industries focused their environment protection efforts
on controlling effluent at the point where they enter environment known as “End-of-Pipe”
(EOP) treatment. The approach has been effective for protecting the environment to some
extent but has disadvantages like transfer of pollutant from one medium to another and
requirement of huge dead investments and recurring expenses. Thus, it was necessary to
search alternative “proactive” approach like waste reduction at source, which is defined as
“continuous application of strategies to minimize generation of wastes and emissions at
source, as well as new and creative way of thinking about products and processes which
make them”. The IT industry in India has recorded compounded annual growth rate of
more than 42% (almost double as that in developed countries), which is propelled by
increased consumption of electronic and IT related hardware items. This led to an
increased obsolescence rate of these products resulting into higher generation of electronic
waste (E-Waste), which has been further aggravated by huge imports of used electronic
items and thus, has created a very complex scenario for solid waste management in India.
The present paper discusses the basic concept, techniques, advantages and application
methodology of waste minimization with respect to Indian SMEs, as well as, waste
management practices with respect to electronic scrap. It also suggests appropriate
strategies and measures to overcome them to establish sustainable long-term economic and
environmental benefits.

Keywords: Waste Minimization (WM), WM circles, End-of-Pipe Technology, E-Waste,

WEEE

1. INTRODUCTION:
India has wide industrial base and almost all types of manufacturing industries are existing or
being set up as industrialization process is picking up, whose pace has been accelerated with
liberalization programmes and has been stimulated by entry of multinationals and foreign
capital. About 7500 large scale and very large number of small and medium enterprises
(SME's) are presently in operational. Fast-paced economic growth and associated increase in
per capita income, standard of living and greater consumption have led to large increase in
the volume of waste generation. The natural progression of population in India and adding to
this, lack of awareness amongst poorer and illiterate sections leads to an alarming situation of
waste management. The situation is further aggravated as India is the fastest growing markets
for electronics with over 70% of its population below the 35 years of age.
Waste minimization has been identified as a strategic tool under new environmental policy
and planning regime. In year 1992, GOI brought out its policy document on ‘Abatement of
Pollution’ in which pollution prevention is right on top. Stress is laid on preventive aspects
for pollution abatement and promotion of technological inputs to reduce industrial pollutants
and through reliance upon public cooperation in securing a eco-friendly environment in
response to new challenges. According to Environmental Protection Act (1990), “waste can
be defined as any substance, which constitutes a scrap material or an effluent or other
unwanted surplus substance arising from application of any process; and any substance or
article, which requires to be disposed of as being broken, worn out, contaminated or
otherwise spoiled”.
Also, many categories of wastes have proved to be extremely toxic and infectious and one
such is an Electronic Wastes (E-Wastes), which is a popular, informal name for electronic
products, which have reached near end of their ‘useful life’. It is also known as “Waste in
Electrical and Electronic Equipment” (WEEE). Thus, any waste generated from electronic
industry and which has an electronic component is known as e-waste. In India, it is defined as
a waste generated from any essentially durable consumer goods, which includes computers,
printers, entertainment electronics, mobile phones, televisions, fax machines, radios etc. With
growing computerization, the quantity of e-waste that is being dumped in LDCs is also
increasing alarmingly and there is an urgent need to carry out surveys of problems of safe
disposal. It has been reported that 1.38 million personal computers will be obsolete from
business sector and individual households in India. Over 85 million cell phones are already in
use, and it is expected to rise to 275 million by 2010. Along with these, there are memory
devices, music and games pods. Thus, around 1050 tons of electronic scrap is being produced
by manufacturers and assemblers in a single calendar year. What is less known is that these
products are filled with toxic materials? Discarded equipment like computers, televisions,
audio and video accessories, fax machines, electric lamps, batteries, phones, hair dryers, fans,
watches, etc, if not properly disposed off, can lead to contamination of soil and surface, as
well as groundwater with many toxic materials. A single computer can contain over 50 highly
toxic metals and compounds in the over 1000 materials it uses. Some of these components or
parts thereof can be reused, refurbished or recycled in an environmentally acceptable manner
to minimize resulting hazards to surroundings.
The present objective is to integrate environmental considerations into decision making at all
level by incorporating steps like preventing pollution at source, environmental statements (to
identify and exploit potential for waste minimization), sector specific waste minimization
assessment manuals and establishment of waste minimization circles based on clustering of
similar industrial groups. There are various institutes engaged in advocating philosophy of
waste minimization revolution in India and some of them are:
 Central Ministry of Environment & Forests
 Central and State Pollution Control Boards
 National Productivity Council (NPC)
 National Cleaner Production Centre (NCPC) under the aegis of United Nations
Industrial Development Organizations (UNIDO)
 Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)
 National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI)
 Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) & The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI)
 Non Government Organizations (NGO’s), e.g. Centre for Science and Environment
(Delhi) & Society for Clean Environment (Mumbai)
2. E-WASTE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA:
In fast developing economy like India, electronics, telecommunication and computerization
are now inseparable from the idea of ‘modernization’. Education and communication are
development goals and connectivity is new “avatar”. The India Vision 2020 document of
Planning Commission (December, 2002) states, that “a national network of 50,000 or more
computerized vocational centers run by private self-employed businesses, similar to STD
booths and internet cafes can deliver low-cost, high-quality training to 10 million workers
every year-more than five times total number covered by existing programmers”. India is also
seeking donations for computers, which are up to 10 years old (and junk by definition). Apart
from it, the IT industry has grown to about $15 billion in 2006 with exports of about $10
billion and a 30% of growth. Used and second-hand computers are being imported to provide
deeper penetration into villages and will effectively reduce “digital divide”. This sounds like
an ad for “Shining India”, except that there is another side to this story. Table 1 explicitly
reminds detrimental consequences of being lax with electronic wastes management can do to
human health and environment.
2.1 Current Status and Pitfalls:
The classification of electronic waste as hazardous in Indian legislation is unclear. Its status
depends upon the extent of presence of hazardous constituents in it and there are no specific
direct laws or guidelines for its handling. This lack of clarity and ambiguity makes
application of regulations impossible and encourages malpractices. The Basel Action
Network in association with Toxics Link published ‘Landmark Report’ (Feb, 2003) on trans-
boundary movement of e-waste from developed countries to India along with hazardous
practices associated with its recycling, highlighting need for proper legislation to ban its
import and establish environmentally-sound disposal practices. Even though India is a
signatory of Basel Convention, there is no specific legislation regulating import, collection
and treatment of e-wastes. However, there are several existing environmental legislations,
which can be useful in this context as shown in table 1.

Table 1: Legislation in India regarding E-Waste Management.

Sr.
Regulation Major Features Status
No.
Empowers the central government to
Environment (Protection) Effective from
take measures to protect and improve
1. Act, 1986 (Amended in November 19,
environmental quality, control and
1991) 1986
reduce pollution from all sources
Provides stipulations on the
Hazardous Wastes
management and disposal of municipal
(Management and Effective from
2. and industrial solid waste of hazardous
Handling) Rules, 1989 July 28, 1989
nature (encompassing provisions of the
(Amended in 2000/2003)
Basel Convention)
Provides compliance criteria to
Municipal Solid Wastes Effective from
municipalities for the collection,
3. (Management and September 25,
segregation, storage, transportation and
Handling) Rules, 2000 2000
disposal of municipal solid wastes
4. Batteries (Management and Confers responsibility for the safe Effective from
Handling) Rules, 2001 disposal and recycling of used lead May 16, 2001
acid batteries on the
 manufactures/assembles/importers
Covers accidents involving hazardous Effective from
The Public Liability
5. substances and insurance coverage for January 23,
Insurance Act, 1991
these 1991
Provides strict liability for damages
The National
arising out of any accident occurring Effective from
6. Environmental Tribunal
while handling any hazardous June 17, 1995
Act, 1995
substance

Although, the per capita waste production in India is still relatively small, i.e. about one kg
per capita per year; it is still a huge producers of electronic waste. The penetration rate and
variety of many appliances have increased in last few years. According to International
Resources Group based in US, as Indian economy has accelerated in recent years, consumers
have been upgrading cell phones, computers, televisions, audio equipment, printers and
refrigerators and annually churning out 1,46,180 tons of e-wastes laden with chemicals.
Manufacturers and dealers also produce 1,050 tons of e-wastes every year. In addition, a
considerable amount of used electronic products has been imported both legally and illegally
to India. Anecdotal evidence on electronic wastes exported by USA to Asia reveals that
substantial percentages of it moves quickly off-shore and those which cannot be recycled
readily or economically are sent to Asia markets. It has been estimated that around 80% of E-
Waste is moving to Asia, i.e. about 10 million units and thus, India gets a decent share of this
toxic pie. India’s rate of PC obsolescence is also growing dangerously. From 1993 to 2000,
the number of PC users in India showed an increase of 604%; whilst average growth
throughout the world was much lower at 181%.
On the basis of scrap handled by Delhi-based scrap dealers, total number of PCs meant for
dismantling would be around 15,000 per year (figure does not include PCs handled by large
dealers who get scraps from foreign sources). Visual identification of their storehouses
revealed more than 1,000 monitors being kept at a time for dismantling. Out of nearly 8
million PCs in India, 2 million are either of generation represented by chip Intel 486 or lower
The computers handled by these dealers are 486s, 386s and 286s, and a few with defective
Pentium processors. As upgradation beyond a point becomes uneconomical and incompatible
with new software, a vast amount of hardware will soon be added to waste stream. Further, as
most owners of these technologies are from government, public or private sectors, they prefer
replacing an old computer with new one, rather than upgrading it. Even in secondary market,
older models have little demand. Owing to narrowing profit margins between resale and
dismantling, sale of these computers to scrap market for material recovery is rising. Various
departments of government, public, as well as, private sectors are feeding old electronic
appliances such as computers, telephones etc into waste stream at an increasingly fast rate. E-
wastes generated from computer and related products is about 34%, from large household
appliances is about 42% and from consumer electronics is about 14%. Individual households
contribute least to this, being only 20% of overall market. In 2003, households bought 88%
more PCs compared to first half of previous year. Most of them prefer to pass old computers
to friends and family or exchanging them through retailers, rather than sell them as junk.
Other sources are retailers, individual households, foreign embassies, PC manufacturing
units, and imported electronic scrap from other countries. The waste from PC manufacturers
and retailers comprises defective integrated chips, motherboards, CRTs and other peripheral
items produced during production process. Though no major companies revealed amount of
scrap produced by them, scrap dealers can project an estimate on basis of frequency of
tenders and costs involved in procurement of those tenders. Table 2 presents the time series
for PC market situation in India and table 3 shows the composition of a typical personal
desktop computer weighing about 32 kg.

Table 2: PC Market in India.

Sr. PCs / 1000 India
Year
No. Population PC base Sales
1. 1996 0.7 650,000 600,000
2. 1997 1.4 1,330,000 800,000
3. 1998 2.1 2,030,000 1,000,000
4. 1999 3.1 3,040,000 1,400,000
5. 2000 4.5 4,490,000 1,740,000
6. 2001 6.3 6,380,000 1,800,000
7. 2002 8 8,220,000 2,430,000
8. 2003 9 9,390,000 3,300,000
9. 2004 11 11,660,000 5,570,000

Table 3: Typical Composition of PC.

Sr. Content Recycling
Name Use / Location
No. (% of wt.) Efficiency (%)
1. Includes organics, oxides other
Plastics 22.99 20
than silica
2. Metal joining, radiation shield /
Lead 6.30 5
CRT, PWB
3. Structural, conductivity / housing,
Aluminum 14.17 80
CRT, PWB, connectors
4.
Germanium 0.0016 0 Semiconductor / PWB
5.
Gallium 0.0013 0 Semiconductor / PWB
6. Structural, steel housing, CRT,
Iron 20.47 80
PWB
7.
Tin 1.0078 70 Metal joining / PWB, CRT
8. Conductivity / CRT, PWB,
Copper 6.9287 90
connectors
9.
Barium 0.0315 0 Getter in vacuum tube / CRT
10
Structural, steel housing, CRT,
. Nickel 0.8503 80
PWB
11
Battery, phosphor emitter / PWB,
. Zinc 2.2046 60
CRT
12
. Tantalum 0.0157 0 Capacitors / PWB, power supply

13 Indium 0.0016 60 Transistor, rectifiers / PWB

14
. Vanadium 0.0002 0 Red phosphor emitter / CRT

15
Thermal conductivity / PWB,
. Beryllium 0.0157 0
connectors
16
Connectivity, conductivity / PWB,
. Gold 0.0016 99
connectors
17
. Europium 0.0002 0 Phosphor activator / PWB

18
Pigment, alloying agent, Aluminum
. Titanium 0.0157 0
housing
19
. Ruthenium 0.0016 80 Resistive circuit / PWB

20
Structural, steel housing, CRT,
. Cobalt 0.0157 85
PWB
21
Connectivity, conductivity / PWB,
. Palladium 0.0003 95
connectors
22
Structural, steel housing, CRT,
. Manganese 0.0315 0
PWB
23
. Silver 0.0189 98 Conductivity / PWB, connectors

24
. Antinomy 0.0094 0 Diodes / housing, PWB, CRT

25
. Bismuth 0.0063 0 Wetting agent in thick film / PWB

26
. Chromium 0.0063 0 Decorative, hardener, steel housing

27
Battery, phosphor emitter /
. Cadmium 0.0094 0
housing, PWB, CRT
28
. Selenium 0.0016 70 Rectifiers / PWB

29
. Niobium 0.0002 0 Welding allow / housing
 30
. Yttrium 0.0002 0 Red phosphor emitter / CRT

31
. Mercury 0.0022 0 Batteries, switches/housing, PWB

32
. Arsenic 0.0013 0 Doping agents in transistors / PWB

33
Glass, solid state devices / CRT,
. Silica 24.88 0
PWB

2.2 Grave Health and Environmental Concern:

Informal recycling of e-wastes in developing nations like India is emerging as a new
environmental challenge for the 21st century. Exposes by NGOs such as Basel Action
Network, the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and Toxics Links have revealed that home-
grown computer recycling systems in India (including China) are wreaking environmental
havoc. The waste electronics are usually processed by “backyard” industries under most
primitive of processes, e.g. wire are collected and burned in open piles to recover resalable
copper. Finding appropriate solutions and achieving consensus and implementation to this
new challenge is complex. Unlike many traditional wastes, the main environmental impacts
of e-waste mainly arise due to inappropriate processing, rather than inherent toxic content.
Analyzing and formulating social responses to these problems clearly requires efficient,
networked activities between researchers, businesspersons and policy makers around the
world. Thus, electronic waste is a growing concern of Indian society and related policy
makers. These wastes are considered dangerous, as certain components contain materials that
are hazardous depending on their condition and density. The hazardous content of these
materials pose a threat to human health and environment. Discarded computers, televisions,
VCRs, stereos, copiers, fax machines, electric lamps, cell phones, audio equipment and
batteries, if improperly disposed can leach lead and other substances into soil and
groundwater. Incorrect disposal of these wastes containing lead, cadmium and mercury can
result into serious damage to human health and environment. It is necessary to have a suitable
collection and disposal mechanism for electronic wastes and currently, these wastes are
handled in so-called ‘informal’ recycling sector. The elementary and uncontrolled methods
employed in this informal sector, such as open burning of cables containing PVC and
treatment of wastes in acid baths to recover gold and other valuable metals, not only cause
environmental risks and negative externalities, but also directly jeopardize the health of
people in surrounding communities. Some of the associated health and environment hazard
caused due to e-wastes are listed in table 4.

Table 4: Health & Environmental Hazards due to E-Waste.

Sl. Health & Environment
Substance Occurrence in E-Waste
No. Relevance
Halogenated Compounds
1. PCB (Poly Chlorinated Condensers, Transformers Cause cancer, effects on the
Biphenyls) immune system, reproductive
 system, nervous system,
endocrine system and other
health effects
TBBA (Tetra Bromo
Thermo-plastic
Bisphenol-A)
components, cable,
PBB (Poly Brominated Cause long-term injuries to
insulation, flame retardant
2. Biphenyls) health, acutely poisonous when
in printed writing boards
PBDE (Poly burned
and covers of the
Brominated Diphenyl
components
Ethers)
CFC (Chloro Fluoro Cooling unit, insulation Combustion may cause toxic
3.
Carbon) foam emissions
High temperature processing
PVC (Poly Vinyl
4. Cable insulation release chlorine, which is
Chloride)
converted to dioxins and furans
Heavy Metals & Other Metals
5. Arsenic Light emitting diode Acutely poisonous
Develop explosive gases
6. Barium CRT
(hydrogen) when wetted
Power supply boxes,
7. Beryllium rectifiers and beam-line Harmful, if inhaled
components
Rechargeable Ni-Cd
batteries, CRT screens,
8. Cadmium Acutely poisonous
printer inks & toners, photo
drums of photo-copiers
Acutely poisonous and cause
9. Chromium VI Data tapes, floppy disks
allergic reactions
10. Gallium Arsenide Light emitting diodes Injurious to health
Damage to nervous &
CRT Screens, batteries, circulatory systems and
11. Lead
printed writing boards kidneys, learning disabilities in
children
Develop explosive gases
12. Lithium Li Batteries
(hydrogen) when wetted
13. Mercury Fluorescent lamps, LCD Acutely poisonous
Rechargeable Ni-Cd
14. Nickel batteries, electron gun in Cause allergic reactions
CRT
Rare Earth Elements
15. CRT screen Irritation to skin and eyes
(Yttrium, Europium)
Photo drums of old photo-
16. Selenium Cause adverse health effects
copiers
17. Zinc Sulphide Interior of CRT screen Toxic when inhaled
Others
Toxic Organic
18. Condensers, LCD Toxic when inhaled
substances
Toner cartridges in laser
19. Toner Dust Cause cancer when inhaled
printers and photo-copiers
 Medical equipment, fire & Health risk when inhaled and
20. Radioactive Substances
smoke detectors risk of explosion

2.3 Remedial Suggestions:

E-Waste processing in developing nations has only recently emerged as an important issue,
especially from 1990s. Along with this field of “Green Electronics”, other major areas of
research and activity including design for environment, recycling process and systems, eco-
labelling, disassembly, green supply chain and life cycle assessment & management have
also come up, e.g. hybrid life-cycle assessment of energy use in manufacturing personal
computers from Information Technology & Environmental Project at United Nations
University. The results are that 260 Kg of fossil fuels (6400 mega Joules of energy) are
required by network of manufacturing processes producing desktop system and about 80% of
lifecycle energy use is associated with manufacturing. This suggests that extension of
lifespan may be key strategy in managing the gamut of environmental impacts associated
with computers. Another way of stating this is that, for computers, the conventional 5R
(Reduce, Reuse, Recover, Recycle and Remanufacture) hierarch of waste management is
basically tilted more towards “Reduce and Reuse” compared to most other goods.
Research alone will clearly not be sufficient to solve the problem. Even armed with
appropriate knowledge, those in informal sector have limited capacity to safely implement all
processes. A new system of regulations, incentives, standards, and investment flow is needed.
As called by NGOs, the complete ban on all imports of e-wastes to India could be one of the
solutions. Another possibility may be an incentive system, in which domestic formal sector
may be given responsibility for implementing risk processes and will be obliged to pay
informal sector attractive price to pass on equipments/parts. Politics, in broad sense may also
be important in order to achieve an appropriate balance of interests in discourse leading to
social response, e.g. original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), under current market
conditions have limited incentive to promote reuse, even though they possess far more
economic and political clout compared to reuse industry. Some outstanding questions
regarding effective e-waste management may be; what are real scale and nature of
environmental risks associated with ‘informal’ recycling/industrial activities of e-waste?, are
there alternative low-capital means to achieve environmental-friendly reuse and recycling
technologies for developing countries like India? and are there instruments, such as finder’s
fees, that can be used to effect shift from ‘informal’ to the ‘formal’ sector with respect to e-
waste management? A set of guidelines for the remedial initiatives with respect to e-waste
management as per issues discussed above are:
• Recognize e-waste management as multi-criteria challenge and enhance reverse
supply chain and logistics for electronic products (reverse supply chain and logistics is
that, which collects products no longer desired by a given consumer and refurbishes for
other consumers, recycles or processes wastes and include issues like product takeback
and re-manufacturing)
• Enforce manufacturer’s responsibility under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
system, i.e. producers or manufacturers should be made accountable by enactment and
enforcing appropriate regulations to share responsibility for efficient management of all
types of e-wastes being generated (sort of tax may be imposed for every such unit, which
is to be disposed off safely). This will encourage to bring down sizes or material
quantities and it will also promote to make use of more reusable, recyclable and
recoverable materials and components
 • Collaborate with international expertise (including academia) and integrate all
stakeholders from different sectors of society. Build North-South cooperation and link
sources and sinks of e-waste under current system.
• Create new infrastructure for e-waste data and analysis with open, transparent and
widely disseminating nature of system. This type of system will create synergy and will
allow research works to better build on previous ones, instead of standing alone. It is a
fact that much environmental related research is to large extent a “black-box”, i.e.
underlying data are not properly reported or made available publically. The e-waste
solutions suggested by research have substantial implications to environment and lives of
workers, thus, it is not reasonable to expect society to pick solutions.
• Create neutral arena for discourse on e-waste solutions so that interest of all key
actors is been represented, especially workers in developing countries. Apart from being
fair, discourse should lead to actual implementations of solutions keeping in view
balancing of plurality with practical considerations. The United Nations system will be a
relatively appropriate forum for such an arena.

3. WASTE MINIMISATION / ELIMINATION (WM):

Realizing inherent drawbacks of “End-of-Pipe” technology, both government regulatory
agencies and industry focused their environment protection efforts on controlling effluent at
source, which was a proactive approach and better known as waste minimization at source.
In other words, waste minimization concept was realized as need of day, which can be
defined as; “new and creative way of thinking about products and processes, which make
them and is achieved by continuous application of strategies to minimize generation of
wastes and emissions”. For processes, WM involves conserving raw materials and energy,
eliminating use of toxic substances, as much as possible, reducing quantity and toxicity of
emissions and wastes before they leave the process. For products, it means reducing their
environmental impact during its entire life cycle from raw material extraction till ultimate
disposal. It means economic savings from reduced consumption of raw materials and energy,
lower pollutant treatment costs, better working conditions. It also reflects other benefits such
as better company image. Implementing WM may not (in fact, will not) solve all
environmental problems at a facility, but it does decrease need for installing and operating
end-of-pipe treatment equipment and reduces quantity of hazardous waste that needs to be
treated and disposed of. Its efforts often reduce worker’s exposure to hazardous chemicals, as
well as, frequency and severity of accidents and chemical releases. Products that are designed
and produced with these concepts in mind are often less harmful for consumers to use. Thus,
WM options or measures could be grouped into three major categories, i.e. waste reduction at
source, recycling and product modification.
Waste reduction at source options may be sub-divided into “Good Housekeeping” and
“Process Changes”. Good housekeeping, usually means changing existing practices or
introducing new ways of operating and maintaining equipment. Appropriate provisions to
prevent spills and to encourage good workplace attitudes are included in this category. These
options are normally inexpensive and their payback period is short. Process change includes
four types of options, i.e. change in raw material, better process control, equipment
modification and technology change. Change of raw material option includes use of less
hazardous materials or raw materials of higher quality (less polluting ones) aimed at reducing
the quantity/toxicity of waste generated from the process. Better process control aims at
optimizing the process parameters/conditions to ensure operation of existing processes at
higher efficiency and with lower waste and emission generation. This may be achieved by
training operators or by adding monitoring and control devices to machinery. Equipment
modification includes small changes to existing equipment, which aims at reducing waste
generation caused due to poor equipment design. Technology change constitutes replacement
of technology, processing sequence and/or synthesis pathway in order to minimize waste and
emission generation during production process. Recycling is on-site recovery and reuse of
wasted materials and energy. The recovered materials may either be reused in same process
or used for another purpose, for example in producing useful by-products. Thus, benefits of
WM can be summarized as follows:
• Improved efficiency: WM leads to better efficiency of production, which means more
output of product per unit input of raw materials, which helps improve financial
performance of industry.
• Lower treatment costs: Ultimate goal of WM is to minimize generation of emissions
and waste and thereby amount of waste and emissions required to be treated is reduced, as
well as, associated costs of waste treatment and disposal.
• Conservation of raw material and energy: Owing to increasing cost of raw materials
and scarcity of good quality water, no industry can afford to use resources inefficiently.
WM measures help in overcoming constraints posed by scarce or increasingly costly raw
materials, chemicals, water and energy.
• Better access to finances: Today, sound environmental management is pre-requisite
to any financial aid proposal and projects for which loans or financial aid are sought are
increasingly scrutinized from environmental perspective. Application of WM assessments
projects positive environmental image of borrower and improves accessibility to finance.
• Increased market demand/requirements: Increasing awareness of environmental
issues has brought need for companies to demonstrate environmental friendliness of their
products and manufacturing processes. The emergence of ISO 14000 certification
procedures further accentuates this need. Environmental Management System (EMS) is
new tool and area of specialization that has come to be applied for improving
environmental performance of industries. By adopting WM approach, many of market
requirements are met and company’s ability to compete and access to “green market”
increases.
• Improved environment due to eco-friendly products: WM minimizes amount and
toxicity of waste and emissions and renders products more agreeable from environmental
standpoint. The direct effect is that pollution load on receiving environment is decreased
thereby improving environmental quality.
• Better compliance with environmental regulations: Minimizing or eliminating
wastes and emissions generation makes it easier to meet existing environmental
regulations and standards and reduces environmental impact of industry.
• Better working environment: WM not only improves environment outside industry
but also improves shop floor working conditions. Keeping industry clean and free of
waste and fugitive emissions, spilled water and chemicals not only reduces likelihood of
accidents but also ensures retention of workforce and further motivates employees to keep
control on leaks and material losses.
• Good public image: As public awareness on environmental protection is growing
each day; it becomes more and more important for industry to respond and react to
questions and demands posed by public. The environmental profile of company is
 increasingly important part of its overall reputation. Adopting WM is proactive, positive
measure and can help concerned company to build public’s confidence regarding its
environmental responsibility.

3.1 Waste Minimisation (WM) Methodology:

For waste minimization to be effective and self-sustaining, it is essential to adopt structured
approach applicable to targeted unit or sector. An organized approach means assigning
responsibility, fixing targets, reviewing progress and timely implementation of techno-
economically feasible selected and agreed solutions. The systematic waste minimization audit
methodology may contain 18 tasks under 6 steps as shown in figure 1.

Figure 1: Six-step methodology for waste minimization.

Step 1: Get Started
Task 1 (make waste minimization team): WM Team shall be made of representatives from
various major sections in the company that will have interest in WM. Size and composition of
the WM team shall be according to company’s organizational structure. The team should be
capable of identifying potential WM areas, developing WM solutions and implementing
them. To this end, input from both inhouse and external experts might be needed.
Task 2 (list process steps): All process steps in unit should be specified, including utilities,
storage and waste management facilities, in order to get proper understanding of all
manufacturing processes. The team should highlight waste generating areas and if possible,
identify reasons for waste generation. In addition, housekeeping and process control practices
should be assessed carefully.
Task 3 (identify and select wasteful process steps): Without going into details, team should
broadly assess all process steps in terms of quantum of waste, severity of impact on
environment, expected waste minimization opportunities, estimated cost benefits etc, which
will be effective tools for focusing on process steps for detailed WM analysis.
Step 2: Analyze Process Steps
Task 4 (prepare process flow chart): Schematic representation of selected process steps (audit
focus) is essential for identifying all process steps and sources of wastes and emissions.
The flow chart should list and characterize input and output streams for each process
step.
Task 5 (make material and energy balance): Material and energy balances are necessary to
quantify process wastes during processing. Later, balances can be used to monitor
results/achievements of implementation of waste minimization options. Normally,
preliminary balance should be derived and later component balances for important resources
may be drawn.
Task 6 (assign costs to waste streams): In order to get top management’s commitment and to
estimate approximate savings potential cost of waste stream should be evaluated. A
preliminary estimate can be made with calculation of cost of raw material and intermediate
product lost with waste stream. A more detailed analysis might reveal additional costs,
including cost of raw materials in waste, manufacturing cost of material in waste, cost of
product in waste, cost of treatment of waste, cost of waste disposal, waste tax etc.
Task 7 (review of process to identify waste causes): Review of processes should locate and
highlight causes of waste generation (cause analysis). A wide variety of possible causes
should be considered, including poor housekeeping, raw material quality, layout and
technology, operational and maintenance negligence, inadequately trained personnel,
employee de-motivation etc.
Step 3: Generate WM Opportunities
Task 8 (developing WM opportunities): Team having analyzed data and possible causes for
waste generation is now equipped for eliminating waste causes, which in turn minimize waste
generation. Finding such options depends on knowledge and creativity of team members.
Techniques like brainstorming and group discussions might be applied to boost option
generation. Ideas from outside, e.g. personnel from similar operations, equipment supplier
and consulting engineers should be encouraged.
Task 9 (select workable opportunities): WM opportunities are now screened in order to weed
out those, which are impractical and to select those, which are directly implementable (not
requiring feasibility analysis). This screening process should be simple, fast and straight
forward and may often be only qualitative. The remaining opportunities are then subjected to
more detailed feasibility studies.
Step 4: Select Waste Minimization Solutions
Task 10 (asses technical feasibility): Before selecting solution proposed WM opportunity
should be subjected to technical evaluation to ascertain, whether it will work for specific
application or not. To this end, impact of proposed waste minimization opportunity on
process, product quality, production rate etc has to be evaluated. In addition, an inventory has
to be made of necessary technical changes for implementation of WM opportunity.
Task 11 (assess financial viability): In SMEs financial viability is key parameter in
evaluation of WM opportunities and methods like payback calculations, internal rate of return
may be used to assess economic viability.
Task 12 (evaluate environmental aspects): In most cases environmental benefits of waste
minimization programmes are obvious. However, for options having complexity in involving
changes of raw materials or process chemistry, care should be taken to assess, whether or not
net reduction of toxicity and quantity of waste and emissions occurs.
Task 13 (select solutions for implementation): Results of technical, financial and
environmental evaluation has to be combined in order to select most practical and viable set
of WM solutions. Proper documentation of selected solutions will be highly useful in
obtaining approval and funds for actual implementation of solutions.
Step 5: Implement Waste Minimization Solutions
Task 14 (prepare for implementation): This includes arranging required finances,
establishing task forces, preparing detailed technical drawings, planning for undertaking
implementation etc. Good liaison, awareness and information dissemination should assist in
obtaining involvement of key departments and persons.
Task 15 (implementing WM solutions): Implementing WM solutions is similar to any other
routine industrial modification/expansion. In order to achieve optimum results, in-house
training of manpower should be considered as an important activity.
Task 16 (monitor and evaluate results): Environmental and economic performance
evaluation of all implemented WM options is needed to assess causes for deviation of results
obtained from results expected, as well as, to inform management and to sustain its
commitment for waste minimization.
Step 6: Sustain Waste Minimization
Task 17 (sustain waste minimization solutions): Generally for areas like housekeeping and
process optimization, employees tend to return to wasteful, old practices if not continuously
motivated to sustain improved practices. Developing own benchmarks and regular
comparison of current scenario is therefore crucial in order to monitor ongoing achievements
and sustaining WM solutions. Rewards and recognition schemes could ensure ongoing
involvement of employees.
Task 18 (identify and select wasteful process steps): Having improved environmental
performance of selected wasteful processes, new selection should be made for next WM
audit. The newly selected audit focus shall be subjected to all steps starting from step 2.

3.2 WM Circles (WMC):

The benefits of WM have failed to reach grass root level of Indian economy-SMEs. The main
reason cited for this failure is due to lack of awareness and proper guidance on WM
approach. The available manpower and resources are not adequate to cover vast expanse of
SMEs in country. Furthermore, there are very few SMEs, which can meet expense of hiring
external consultants and fewer still who feel need for engaging them. To overcome these
bottlenecks and to promote waste minimization and give it a shape of a movement, concept of
Waste Minimization Circle (WMC) has been evolved. It consists of small group of
entrepreneurs in small scale industry following similar production process and manufacturing
similar products. The group holds regular meetings within premises of one of member units
and analyses production process being adopted in different units. This analysis leads to
identification of causes of waste generation and development of WM options through
discussions. The group collectively implements WM options in their respective units, which
amounts to increase individual profitability and overall reduction in pollution load. It offers
an opportunity to entrepreneur to have a look at his own products and processes from an
entirely different angle, i.e. possibilities of improvement. Entrepreneur will meet periodically
in work premises of one or other of its members, host unit will have a relook at his unit along
with perspectives of three or four other entrepreneurs of WMC member units. The host will
gain insights from others’ perspective and will also have an urge to improve his industry and
will enable them to innovate in every aspect of their units functioning. Thus, WMCs are
established with following key objectives:
• Awareness and information dissemination: To provide forum for discussions,
sharing views and knowledge about WM at local level and to enable systematic
compilation and dissemination of information on WM.
• Demonstration: To promote group efforts for demonstrating WM techniques and to
facilitate adoption of Eco-Friendly Manufacturing Technologies.
• Environmental Compliance: To facilitate compliance with environmental
regulations.
The major benefits of WMC are; increasing environmental consciousness; focus drawn
towards resource conservation; building of an information base; creating self-help mechanism
and achieving multiplier effect. The activities to be carried out for effective functioning of
WMC can be divided into three stages, i.e. identification of core group, establishment of
WMC and running of WMC. The main activities, steps and their sequence to be undertaken
for establishment and running of a WMC are shown in figure 2.

Selection of Identification Preparation Selection of

industrial of cluster of of cluster WMC
sectors industries profile Leader

Conduction of Organization
Establishment of
training of awareness
WMC
programme workshop

Figure 2: Methodology for establishment of WMC.

Step 1: Selection of appropriate industrial sectors: Industrial sectors, which have potential
for undertaking WM efforts and would yield economic and environmental benefits are
selected for undertaking establishment of WMC. The selection may also be grouped based on
following points; sectors facing environmental problems; technologically backward sectors;
sectors facing high competition and sinking/financially weak sectors.
Step 2: Identification of cluster of industries: Once industrial sectors in which WMC can be
established are short-listed, clusters of units in these sectors have to be identified. To ensure
meaningful interaction amongst the WMC members, clusters should meet following
requirements; units should essentially be in small/medium scale sector; product, production
process and production scale of units should be similar so that problems and solutions are
common to all units; units should be located close together, which would facilitate the
meetings to be held regularly and should be about four to six such units in the cluster.
Step 3: Preparation of industrial profile: WMC facilitator will prepare profile of industrial
sector in which he proposes to establish WMC. This following aspects need to be addressed
in preparation of profile; scale of operation; location of industrial cluster; proposed names of
units willing to form WMC; process flow chart highlighting major inputs, outputs and waste
streams and potential/scope for WM.
Step 4: Selection of WMC group leader: Identification of local resource person in each of
clusters is important for group interaction and coordination of activities, who will function as
group leader. His main role would be to coordinate activities of WMC along with WMC
facilitator. For effective execution of his task, group leader should have following qualities;
willingness and commitment to carry team of WMC Members towards achieving goal of
their WMC; sound technical knowledge of industry and having good standing in member
units; personal and professional acceptability and leadership quality to guide team members
and ensure proper co-ordination amongst them; availability for circle activity and innovative,
ambitious and possessing obsessive desire for improvement/perfection etc.
Step 5: Conduction of awareness workshop: In order to propagate concept of WMC and
benefits of WM, it is necessary to create awareness amongst entrepreneurs. An awareness
workshop is to be conducted in selected industrial cluster/area with assistance of local
resource person. The prime objective of awareness workshop is to create awareness on WM
and to motivate industries to come together to form WMC. The awareness workshop should
cover the following aspects; status and pollution problems of industrial sector; concept and
benefits of WM; need and potential for WM in industrial sector; success stories on WM
highlighting monetary savings, quality improvement, production capacity enhancement and
reduction in environmental costs and concept and philosophy of WMC.
Step 6: Establishment of WMC: Based on interest shown by industries in awareness
workshop, nodal agency officials and group leader will identify the WMC members. These
members should be open minded and cooperative to ensure free and fair exchange of
information. They should also be technically well versed to logically analyze process and
financially capable enough to implement feasible WM options.
Step 7: Training/orientation programme: After formation of WMC, an intensive one-day
training/orientation programme is organized for training WMC members, which would assist
them in carrying out future activities of WMC. The programme should cover following
topics; recap of awareness workshop; techniques of WM; six step methodology for WM; case
study on WM; modus operandi of WMC; WM experiences in other industrial sectors and
after training program, WMC should be formally established with signing of MOU by
selected WMC members
4. CONCLUSIONS
India is fast becoming waste bin of planet, as developed nations are becoming cleaner. Due to
new legal requirements and consumer awareness, it is now becoming very expensive to
dispose old electronic products, especially computers and mobile sets in Europe and US.
Disposing a computer in US can cost $20, while and Indian trader can buy it for $10-15, net
gain of $30-35 for American exporter. Thus, these electronic wastes are shipped to India by
auctioning, as part of large consignment and rerouted through address probably in Middle
East (to hide country of its origin). Also, shipments are made under pretext of “metal scrap”,
which is legally allowed at Indian customs. The management of such electronic wastes has
been becoming problem now, as they pose serious and acute human health and environmental
problems. There could be many solutions to proper e-waste management in India, but they
need to be implemented and responsibility has to be taken by various sectors. Many of these
products can be reused, refurbished or recycled in an environmentally sound manner, so that
they are less harmful to the ecosystem. Some possible answer to control these wastes is to use
5-R solutions, which are “Reduce”, “Reuse”, “Recover”, “Recycle” and “Re-Manufacture”.
Some possible remedial suggestions are:
• Recognize e-waste management as multi-criteria challenge and enhance reverse
supply chain and logistics for electronic products
• Enforce Extended Producer Responsibility system (PPP)
• Collaborate and integrate with international expertise including academia
• Build North-South cooperation and link sources and sinks of e-waste
• Create new infrastructure for e-waste data and analysis with an open, transparent and
widely disseminating system
• Create neutral arena for discourse on e-waste solutions, so that interest of all key
actors can be represented
Such measures can be helpful in affecting huge reduction in quantities of e-waste and also, in
saving human-society and other forms of life from their adverse impacts. Thus, its’ high-time
that responsible solutions for proper and effective e-waste management in India need to be
implemented and mere talking will be not be sufficient. One effective solution is
implementation of WM measures and establishment of WMC, having SMEs at centrestage
with important key points like:
• WM approach reduces pollutant generation at every stage of production process in
order to minimize/eliminate wastes that need to be treated at end of process.
• Economic advantage of WM is its cost-effectiveness than pollution control. The
systematic avoidance of waste and pollutants increases process efficiency and improves
product quality. The costs of final treatment and disposal are minimized through pollution
prevention at source.
• WM replaces conventional end-of-pipe treatment, which often only moves pollutants
from one environmental medium to another.
It is not practically possible for single agency or few organizations with their limited
resources to approach each of 3 million SMEs in country and educate them on WM.
Awareness on WM has to spread and it should take shape of movement on its own merit and
through successful case studies. The need of hour is to build individual capacity at unit level
to bring in more and more industries under spectrum of WM. It is envisaged that in long-run,
WMC will help in constructive manner to downgrade danger posed by rapid industrialization
to environment, which will assist in increasing productivity of industry, particularly for
monitoring and analysis of waste streams.

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