International Industrial Ecology Day 2021

E-waste is the fastest growing waste stream, which is harmful to the environment, alternatively, it is also a source of urban mine. Efficient e-waste management requires documentation of e-waste flows at a national level. The e-waste statistics such as e-waste generation is one of the most important variables in e-waste management. The present study estimates the refrigerator waste generation in India using Weibull distribution-based sales stock lifespan model. Some examples include Islam and Huda (2019); Islam and Huda (2020); Parajuly et al., (2017). The sales data of a refrigerator in India is taken from Euromonitor International. The UNU-key of the refrigerator is 0108. The mean weight of a refrigerator is 40.2 Kg taken from Balde et al., (2015). The shape and scale parameter of the Weibull distribution is 2.2 and 16.5 respectively (Balde et al., 2015). The study shows that the refrigerator waste generation in India is 300 Kt in 2020 which will rise to 464 Kt in 2030. The refrigerator waste generated is available for recyclers. The study will be useful for the recyclers in determining the recycling potential in India.

Keywords: E-waste, E-waste generation, Refrigerator, Weibull distribution

References
C.P. Balde, R. Kuehr, K. Blumenthal, S. Fondeur Gill, M. Kern, P. Micheli, E. Magpantay, J. Huisman. 2015. “E-waste statistics: Guidelines on classifications, reporting and indicators.” United Nations University, IAS - SCYCLE, Bonn, Germany. https://i.unu.edu/media/ias.unu.edu-en/project/2238/E-waste-Guidelines_Partnership_2015.pdf
Islam, M. T., and N. Huda. 2019b. "E-waste in Australia: Generation estimation and untapped material recovery and revenue potential." Journal of Cleaner Production 237:21. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.117787.
Islam, M. T., and N. Huda. 2020. "Assessing the recycling potential of "unregulated" e-waste in Australia." Resources Conservation and Recycling 152:15. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104526.
Parajuly, K., K. Habib, and G. Liu. 2017. "Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in Denmark: Flows, quantities and management." Resources Conservation and Recycling 123:85-92. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2016.08.004.