309
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Rukhsana et al. (eds.), Habitat, Ecology and Ekistics, Advances in Asian
Human-Environmental Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49115-4_18
Chapter 18
Eyeing Sustainability: Electronic Waste
Handling in Kolkata
Anindya Basu
18.1 Introduction
When one hears the word environment, what resonates is the idea of natural
resources – air, water, vegetation, soil and a string of others. On the other hand,
technology is a term which is presumably on the opposite side of the spectrum
which makes mankind distant from their natural root. But in today’s world, environment and technology both have to been dealt together as complementary identities
not as contradicting ones for the sake of sustainability. With the lightning fast technological advancement, the problem of electronic waste (E-waste) management has
become a global issue. With technological as well as economic growth, there was a
positive impact on consumerism of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE),
while the high production rate and obsolesce rate have increased the amount of
E-waste by leaps and bounds.
This exponential growth of E-waste has been termed as ‘tsunami of E-waste’ by
the United Nations (Vidal 2013). There has been a long tradition by the developed
nations of shifting the E-waste burden to the Global South who from short-term
economic gains overlooked the far reaching environmental and health hazards from
the imports. But as the usage of electronic goods exponentially increased in Asian
countries, the situation became more complex, and intelligent management became
imperative. From predominantly unorganized sector handling of E-waste, a gradual
shift to service business model with global circular value chains is a welcome move.
A. Basu (*)
Department of Geography, Diamond Harbour Women’s University,
Sarisha, West Bengal, India
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
Rukhsana et al. (eds.), Habitat, Ecology and Ekistics, Advances in Asian
Human-Environmental Research, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49115-4_18
Chapter 18
Eyeing Sustainability: Electronic Waste
Handling in Kolkata
Anindya Basu
18.1 Introduction
When one hears the word environment, what resonates is the idea of natural
resources – air, water, vegetation, soil and a string of others. On the other hand,
technology is a term which is presumably on the opposite side of the spectrum
which makes mankind distant from their natural root. But in today’s world, environment and technology both have to been dealt together as complementary identities
not as contradicting ones for the sake of sustainability. With the lightning fast technological advancement, the problem of electronic waste (E-waste) management has
become a global issue. With technological as well as economic growth, there was a
positive impact on consumerism of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE),
while the high production rate and obsolesce rate have increased the amount of
E-waste by leaps and bounds.
This exponential growth of E-waste has been termed as ‘tsunami of E-waste’ by
the United Nations (Vidal 2013). There has been a long tradition by the developed
nations of shifting the E-waste burden to the Global South who from short-term
economic gains overlooked the far reaching environmental and health hazards from
the imports. But as the usage of electronic goods exponentially increased in Asian
countries, the situation became more complex, and intelligent management became
imperative. From predominantly unorganized sector handling of E-waste, a gradual
shift to service business model with global circular value chains is a welcome move.
A. Basu (*)
Department of Geography, Diamond Harbour Women’s University,
Sarisha, West Bengal, India