NEW DELHI – In a dim room off a crowded alley in northeast Delhi, Shahjahan sits on the floor peeling wires with a knife. Her two children sort copper beside her, taking care to avoid tripping on scrap when they move across the room.
She earns a few hundred rupees, or about $2, a day by breaking down discarded electronics brought in by small scrap dealers.
But the supply of e-waste is thinning, and Shahjahan’s income is dwindling as more scrap moves to licensed plants on the edge of the capital.
“If the work goes, what will we do?” said Shahjahan, 32, who only gave her first name.