# E-Waste Challenges in India: Environmental and Human Health Impacts
## 3 Scenario of E-Waste in India
### Global E-Waste Scenario  
According to the findings of the Global E-waste Monitor 2024 report, in the year 2022, approximately 62 Mt of electronic waste was generated worldwide. Global e-waste generation has increased significantly from 30.84 Mt in 2010 to 48.61 Mt in 2019 to 62 Mt in 2022. Ever since 2010, the amount of e-waste generated annually has almost doubled, with an annual increase of 2.36 Mt. This trend anticipates an increase to 82 Mt by 2030. Of these 62 Mt, only 13.8 is officially recorded as being collected and recycled in an environmentally safe way [27; 28]. Figure 4 illustrates the accelerated trend of e-waste around the world.  
According to the findings of Stastita, China is the world's largest producer of electronic waste, producing approximately 12 Mt in 2022. Following China is the United States, where about 7 Mt are produced, and India is the third-largest producer of electronic waste,  
Figure 4: Growing trend of e-waste worldwide (based on data [[https://www.statista.com/statistics/499891/projection-ewaste-generation-worldwide/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/499891/projection-ewaste-generation-worldwide/)]([https://www.statista.com/statistics/499891/projection-ewaste-generation-worldwide/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/499891/projection-ewaste-generation-worldwide/)) (accessed on 5 January 2025)).  
Figure 3: E-waste growth trend in India (based on data [[https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1943201](https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1943201)]([https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1943201](https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1943201)) (accessed on 5 January 2025).  
producing approximately 4 Mt [29]. Figure 5 illustrates the leading countries based on their generation of e-waste.  
The management of electronic waste in developing nations such as China, Nigeria, Brazil, and Indonesia presents significant challenges due to differences in their policies, infrastructure, and enforcement mechanisms. As the world's largest producer of electronic waste, China has implemented strict regulations, including government-backed collection systems, the Circular Economy Promotion Law, and a national electronic waste recycling system to restrict informal recycling to address the problem [30]. China's government has also banned e-waste imports since 2018, significantly reducing the country's role as a waste disposal site [31]. On the other hand, Nigeria, which generates approximately 0.2 Mt of e-waste annually, remains a major destination for illegal e-waste imports from developed countries due to weak regulations and enforcement [3,32]. In Nigeria, the e-waste sector is highly controlled by informal recyclers, where they use crude methods such as open burning to extract valuable metals. Nigeria and Indonesia heavily depend on informal recycling of electronic waste, which carries a severe environmental and health risk due to unsafe recycling methods such as open burning and acid leaching [32]. Brazil, in contrast, has also made progress with formalized collection networks and structured recovery programs, and informal recyclers handle a significant portion of electronic waste in the informal environment [3].