In a shocking revelation, the ASSOCHAM has claimed that about 4.5 lakh of children between the age group of 10 to 14 are engaged in various e-waste (electronic waste) activities, without adequate protection and safeguards in various yards and recycling workshops Releasing the findings of a study on ‘Electronic Waste Management in India,’ for the Earth Day, D S Rawat, Secretary General ASSOCHAM, said the informal recycling industry often employs children to dismantle electronic waste. ASSOCHAM’s report strongly advocates legislation to prevent a child’s entry into this labour market and advocated the need to bring out effective legislation to prevent entry of child labour into its collection, segregation and distribution”.

A meager 4 % of India’s total e-waste gets recycled due to poor infrastructure, legislation and framework which lead to a waste of diminishing natural resources, irreparable damage of environment and health of the people working in industry. Over 95% of e-waste generated is managed by the unorganized sector and scrap dealers in this market, dismantle the disposed products instead of recycling it”, The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and Frost & Sullivan, which conducted the study said India is likely to generate e-waste to an extent of 15 Lakh metric tonnes (MT) per annum by 2015 from the current level 12.5 Lakh MT per annum growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 25%.

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