Thread by @finshots

Thread.

#India is the world's third-biggest e-waste generator, producing over 3.23 million metric tonnes of e-waste per year, behind the US and China.

What's e-waste?

💡Simply put, it's the accumulation of old phones, cameras, TVs, computers — discarded products made of plastic and toxic compounds.

Folks handling this waste (usually women and kids) are routinely exposed to toxic heavy metals, which is a big health hazard.

👉In fact, between 2018 and 2020 our e-waste generation rose by ~ 43%.

And given that the pandemic has induced an increase in the use of electronic devices and there's a smartphone revolution brewing in the country, the problem is bound to accentuate in the near future.

The thing is that despite having policies to safely process e-waste, most recyclers aren’t recycling waste at all due to a lack of capacity or the necessary tools to do it.

And you might think that the best way to deal with the problem is to fix the waste management bit.

💡But there’s another angle to this.

Over the past few decades, consumer electronics have become harder to fix.

Some cos. have deliberately made it hard to fix things, either by restricting repair information to authorized dealers or by affixing parts that require specialized equipment available to a select few.

So how can we deal with this?

1. For starters, we have to hope countries introduce a “right to repair '' law, simply making it easier for people to fix things, like switching out batteries on cell phones, etc.

2. Govts should penalize companies that plan obsolescence to affect product performance.

3. More focus should be given to better waste management practices by enforcing existing regulations or incentivizing product manufacturers to take recycling seriously.

What are your thoughts??

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