Inside the Dark Industry Where Old Cellphones and Computers Go to Die

NEW DELHI--As dawn breaks, hundreds of men move in and out of the congested alleys of Seelampur, pulling carts and driving dump trucks loaded with discarded cellphones, computers, air conditioners, and almost any other electronic waste imaginable. Located on the outskirts of New Delhi, Seelampur is the country's largest market dedicated to dismantling old tech, and it's home to an estimated 50,000 men, women, and children whose livelihoods depend on e-waste. Inside the labyrinth of alleys, hundreds of small establishments are packed with different electronic gadgets, which workers take apart mostly with their bare hands, a hammer, and pliers, hoping to extract precious metals like gold, silver, and tin--or any other useful item. Children move through the nooks and corners of the market with plastic bags on their shoulders, collecting potentially useful scraps among the e-waste leftovers piled in front of doorways. Aftab, 15, is one of them.