E-Waste:Scourge of Technology Revolution

The Rapid advancement in technology over the last two decades has drastically improved globally the quality of life, working and operating environment. The electronics industry is the world's largest and fastest growing manufacturing industry. This has been possible due to fast growing technology in this sector. Due to recent changes in policy in India, leading multinational companies have set up electronics manufacturing facilities and R&D centers for hardware and software. There is no doubt that the technological advancement helped Indian economy to grow faster and led to increase in the consumption of electronics products. There is a trend among consumers to replace their household electronics items with latest models. The effect is a higher rate of obsolescence which has been leading to growing piles of e-waste. Environmental challenges created through the process of consumption and obsolesce which, if not addressed, may escalate into a situation that would cause irreversible damage to the environment and ultimately human health. The aim of this research paper is to reveals the various issues involved in generation and management of e-waste, particularly from Indian perspective. The paper also discusses initiatives of some of MNCs in managing E-wate.