Exploring the awareness regarding e-waste and its management among electronic repair workers and scrap dealers of South Delhi, India

• Published in: Indian journal of occupational and environmental medicine 2021-07, Vol.25 (3), p.178-181, Article 178
• Main Authors: Kumari, Sneha, Sharma, Priyanka, Panesar, Sanjeet, Chandrawanshi, Lalit, Yadav, Geeta, Jugal, Kishore
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Brief Communication; Electronic equipment and supplies; Electronic waste; International economic relations; Scrap; Scrap metal industry; Waste management; Workers
• ISSN: 0973-2284; 1998-3670
• DOI: 10.4103/ijoem.IJOEM_48_19

Introduction: In India, E-waste and its proper disposal is an emerging environmental and public health issue. Aim and Objectives: To assess the level of awareness regarding E-waste and its management among the electronic repair workers and scrap dealers of Delhi. Material and Methods: It was a community based, cross-sectional, descriptive study, was of one year (1st April, 2015-31st March, 2016). Electronic repair workers and scrap dealers were included after getting their written consent and selected by non-probability convenient sampling. A pre-tested, semi- structured, interviewer administered questionnaire was used. The data was entered in MS Excel and was analyzed using the SPSS version 21.0. Results: A total of 300 workers i.e. 150 electronic repair workers and 150 scrap dealers participated. Most of the electronic repair workers (57%) and scrap dealers (48%) were of 20-39 yrs old. 70% of electronic repair workers and 79% of scrap dealers had not heard about e-waste. As education among these groups increases, awareness regarding E-waste also increased and it was statistically significant. Conclusion: Adequate IEC (Information, education and communication) services focusing on health hazards of E-waste should be widely disseminated.