The E-Waste Column no. 203

Jun 24

3 min read

In today’s column, we are looking at the health risks workers in India’s informal e-waste sector face.

🌱 How much e-waste does India produce?

According to the government, “India generated more than 1.4 million metric tonnes of electronic waste in 2025-2026”. Of this, around 979 000 metric tonnes were recycled. This makes India “the world’s third-largest generator of electronic waste after China and the United States”. Each year, the volume of e-waste that is recycled in India increases by close to 23%. New Delhi alone produces about 230 000 metric tonnes of e-waste each year, which amounts to close to 10% of India’s total annual e-waste generation.

🌱 Why is work in the informal e-waste sector dangerous?

The burden of managing the e-waste produced in India commonly “falls on workers with little protection”. Many “scrap dealers, repair shops, and back-yard dismantlers […] often [still] work with little awareness of the toxic risks they face”, which causes a variety of different health risks. As “the profit margins in the recycling business are extremely thin”, it can be “difficult for small operators to [afford and] provide protective gear and other workplace facilities”. In light of this, the absence of “gloves, masks, or protective gear” is not uncommon in the informal recycling sector and it is estimated that only around 10% of workers regularly use personal protective equipment. Consequently, workers are frequently subjected to “cuts, infections, lead exposure, toxic dust, and hazardous chemicals” – including cadmium, dioxins, and mercury. The contaminants and toxic substances released from e-waste can – amongst others – cause chronic illness, contaminate the environment, and lead to several generations having poor health.

🌱 How are the families of waste workers affected?

“[O]ne of the defining characteristics of India’s informal e-waste economy is the overlap between homes and workplaces”. In many of the houses of workers, the “dismantling is done on the ground floor or on the roof”, while the workers and their families live on the upper floor. In other words, workers and their families live in close proximity to lead dust, toxins, and fire hazards. Children, in particular, are negatively impacted by the frequent exposure to toxins.

🌱 What needs to change?

On average, a worker in India’s informal e-waste sector “makes about a dollar for dismantling a mobile handset and twice that amount for dismantling a television set, altogether making about $8 a day for 12 hours of gruelling work”. Despite low wages, many workers work in India’s informal e-waste sector. They say they do this because they “have no other work” and “are dependent on” the work as a source of income. In light of this, banning workers from doing their work or eliminating jobs in the e-waste sector is not the solution. Instead, “the government should focus on integrating informal workers into the formal economy”. In the past, it was possible for cooperatives, self-help groups, and smaller associations to obtain licenses for e-waste collection, transport, and dismantling in India. After the government changed this, it became difficult in practice to work on improving compliance and the working conditions in these informal groups. Yet, “India’s informal workers continue to play a central role in the e-waste economy despite being excluded from it”. It is estimated that 95% of India’s e-waste is still handled by the informal sector. To effectively support or “formalize” the sector, affordable workspaces, policy support, training programs, new guidelines and improved requirements for the work, as well as stricter controls are needed.