Legislation that came into effect in India this month aims to deal with the environmental effects of electronic waste in the country. According to a government report, this waste stream has increased by a factor of more than five in seven years and is expected to exceed 800,000 tonnes in 2012. (Correspondence)

Dealing with e-waste must remain the primary responsibility of manufacturers of electronic goods. (Editorial)

The laws are ineffectual, the facilities are inadequate and hazardous wastes continue to pile up. (Editorial)

This article reviews the progress of electronic waste recycling around the world and emphasises the need to give more economic importance to this sector in the developing nations. Two cases are considered for determining a model of recycling under the present constraints. These alternative models can provide a basic foundation for laying out the respective roles of producers and consumers for economic recycling of this waste.

Polyvinyl chloride is one of the most widely used plastics in the world. Although recycling this versatile material is a challenge, many manufacturers are trying to find ways to do it.

Electronic waste (e-waste) has emerged as a new policy priority around the world. Motivations to address e-waste include rapidly growing waste streams, concern over the environmental fate of heavy metals and other substances in e-waste, and impacts of informal recycling in developing countries.

Every single gadget we use will sooner or later end up in a trash can. Computers, mobile phones, DVD players, TV sets, will all be junk. From a computer penetration density of less than 10 per 1000 population in 2005, India will exceed 60 per 1000 in 2010. Mobile phones will touch 300 million and TV sets over 140 million.