In the summer of 2008, SVTC traveled to Delhi, India to document the living and working conditions of electronics dismantlers working in the informal sector. We visited Delhi neighborhoods where our partner,
Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group, had established relationships with the workers. Disposed of televisions and computers lined the unpaved streets, and the recyclers living and working in these areas did not have access to proper electricity or running water.
Workers, including young children, dismantled various electronic devices, such as printer cartridges, which contain the known carcinogen carbon black, and CRT monitors, which contain lead, with a hammer.
In partnership with India based Chintan Environmental Research and Action Group and IMAK News and Entertainment, SVTC produced the documentary
Citizens at Risk: How Electronic Waste is Poisoning the Pathway out of Poverty for India’s Recyclers.
Citizens at Risk can be
ordered online,
downloaded, or
viewed streaming.
Read SVTC staff members’ thoughts and stories about their meetings with electronics recyclers and the community meeting that drew more than 200 recyclers.
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Two young boys dismantle printers, with no protective gear or equipment.
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A young boy named Danish sits atop a pile of electronic scraps and glass breaking apart monitors and televisions without any protection.
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A sign in Delhi, India, against the use of plastic bags. This is because they are bad for the environment in that they take centuries to decompose.
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A man in Delhi, India, uses a propane torch to heat the lead solder on the integrated circuit boards in order to release the copper and other valuable metals.
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Burned integrated circuit boards stacked along a wall in Delhi. The boards are illegally burned in order to recover copper sandwiched between the fiberglass.
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A Public hearing organized by Chintan to hear the concerns of the informal sector workers from the Gali Two neighborhood. Members of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition were on hand to share information on e-waste recycling in the U.S.
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A woman in Delhi, India, uses a loom to create handbags from old plastic bags. The waste picker's wives take plastic bags (shown hanging in the background) and weave them into handbags at Metamorphosis.
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Women in Bangalore, India, dismantling and processing electronic waste.
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A stack of electronic waste in a recycling center in India.
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Serena, an intern from SVTC, sipping from a coconut in India.
