‘Daily cuts… infections’: India’s e-waste workers face toxic health risks
Key takeaways
- As India’s digital consumption grows and electronic waste mounts, the burden of managing that waste falls on workers with little protection.
- Around him lie broken air coolers, tangled cables, scraps of metal, and old computers and laptops stacked against the workshop’s blackened walls.
- Malik’s bare hands move quickly as he strips the wire’s plastic coatings to uncover the copper inside.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
As India’s digital consumption grows and electronic waste mounts, the burden of managing that waste falls on workers with little protection.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Mateen Malik separates the copper wires of a water purifier in Mustafabad, one of New Delhi’s largest e-waste recycling hubs [Raihana Maqbool/Al Jazeera]By Raihana Maqbool Published On 22 Jun 202622 Jun 2026New Delhi, India – Mateen Malik sits inside a cramped workshop in New Delhi’s Mustafabad area, carefully separating copper wires from piles of discarded electronics.
Around him lie broken air coolers, tangled cables, scraps of metal, and old computers and laptops stacked against the workshop’s blackened walls.