In just over a decade, India will have on its hands a
whopping 130 million obsolete desktop computers and 900 million laptops to
dispose of, a new research paper estimates. Besides the sheer volume of
non-biodegradable material this entails, e-waste involves distinctly hazardous
substances such as cadmium, mercury, lead, arsenic and a blend of plastics that
are difficult to remove from the environment, says the study published in the
latest edition of International Journey of Environmental Technology and
Management.