Cement Manufacturers Association

49 Introduction As per E-Waste Management Rules 2016 and as amended time to time published by Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC), E-waste means electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part discarded as a waste by the consumer or bulk consumer as well as reject from manufacturing refurbishment and repair process. Disposal of E-Waste is a particular problem faced in many regions across the globe. Most of the E-Waste finds its way to the landfill. From this E-Waste, a leachate is produced which is harmful for the aquatic organisms. Acids and sludge obtained from melting computer chips, when disposed on the ground causes a decrease in pH of soil. Burning of e-wastes can emit toxic fumes and gases, thereby polluting the surrounding air. E-Waste, when disposed off in sanitary landfills which are not engineered properly can be very hazardous because Mercury will leach when certain electronic devices, such as circuit breakers are destroyed. PCBs are the electronic boards that are used in most electronic devices including phones, laptops, household appliances and pieces of medical equipment. PCBs are an integral part of any electronic equipment. The growth of e-waste as end-of-life electronic equipment at an exponential rate is producing large quantities of discarded WPCBs. In India, current recycling, and processing of WPCBs is managed almost entirely by the informal sector or the unskilled labor (95%)1. The crude recycling activities cause irreversible health and environmental hazards and the loss of valuable materials due to the poor recovery of base and precious metals. With the disclosures of the recycling being done by unskilled labor, alternative recycling strategies are being sought with the aim of higher recovery of materials in an environment friendly manner. Need of the project The basic requirement of the project is to reduce the natural source of fine aggregate which is used in the concrete products; we know that today the problems faced in the depletion of the fine aggregate cause an admonishing situation in the riverbed areas. So, the research project is paramount to reuse or to utilize the printed circuit board that is all the electronic waste in the crushed powder form as a replacement material for the fine aggregate. In recent years throughout the world there has been increasing concern about the growing volume of end- of-life electronics, especially the WPCBs and the fact that much of its non- metallic portion is consigned to landfill. Many nonmetallic portions in WPCBs are disposed of by combustion and in landfills as the main method for treating nonmetals from WPCBs, but it may cause secondary pollution and damages the environment. With improper technology for its reuse, recycling and dumping can cause serious threats to human health and the environment. In the present scenario, the major issue of E-Waste management is how to manage PCBs waste. No construction activity can be imagined without using concrete. Concrete is the most widely used building material in the construction industry. The main reason behind its popularity is its high strength and durability. Today, the world is advancing too fast, and our environment is changing progressively. Attention is being focused on the environment and safeguarding of natural resources and recycling of wastes materials. One of the new waste materials used in the concrete industry is WPCBs. For solving the disposal of large amount of PCB waste material, reuse of WPCB in concrete industry is considered as the most feasible application. Lab Test of Concrete made from E-Waste In M25 grade of concrete the cement serves the purpose of binding all the other components together, the coarse and fine aggregate are the load bearing component while coarse and fine sand work as fi.ller material.