E-waste describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. Used electronics which are destined for refurbishment, reuse, resale, salvage recycling through material recovery, or disposal are also considered e-waste.

Informal processing of e-waste can lead to adverse human health effects and environmental pollution. Electronic scrap components, such as CPU’s, contain potentially harmful materials such as lead, cadmium, beryllium or brominated flame retardants. The materials used en electronic components may involve significant risk to health of Humans & Animals.

A recent study about the rising electronic pollution revealed that the average computer screen has five to eight pounds or more of Lead representing 40 percent of all the lead in landfills. All these toxins are persistent, bioaccumulative toxins (PBTs) that create environmental and health risks when computers are incinerated, put in landfills or melted down. The emission of fumes, gases, and particulate matter into the air, the discharge of liquid waste into water and drainage systems, and the disposal of hazardous wastes contribute to environmental degradation.The processes of dismantling and disposing of electronic waste in developing countries led to a number of environmental impacts. Liquid and atmospheric releases end up in bodies of water, groundwater, soil, and air and therefore in land and sea animals – both domesticated and wild, in crops eaten by both animals and human, and in drinking water.