Electronic goods dealers to collect e-waste

HYDERABAD: Old television sets, cell phones and computers make up for 5 lakh tonnes of junk every year and the pile is growing at a rate of 15 per cent, if statistics are to be believed. A one-day workshop on ‘E-waste management’ at the National Institute of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Yousufguda on Thursday concentrated on various aspects of implementation of e-Waste (management and recycling) Rules approved by the Environment ministry in May 2011. To be implemented from May 2012, the new rules hold dealers of electronic products solely responsible for ensuring collection of e-waste and transporting it to the recycling plant.“The estimated target of collection by two e-waste recycling plants in the state will probably be a modest 20 to 40 per cent of the total waste generated,” said Prasanna Kumar, a senior scientist at the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board. Hyderabad generates 3,800 metric tonnes of e-waste annually ranking fifth in the country, according to a study conducted by the Environment Protection and Training Research Institute in 2011. According to the new set of rules, dealers are to file returns of the waste collected to the state PCB every year. “The collection of e-waste can be done by producers by providing drop-boxes to consumers. So far no nodal ministry or agency has been earmarked to oversee the implementation,” said Satish Sinha, associate director of NGO Toxics Link, a organiser of the workshop. Involved in drafting of the bill on e-waste management, he stressed on the need to bring together various stakeholders in effective disposal of e-waste.The informal sector which functions through scrap-collectors will be brought on-board by licencing them as collectors, who will further pass on the waste to dismantling and recycling units,” said Anand Kumar, environmental engineer at the Central Pollution Control Board. The scrap-dealers usually attempt recovery of precious metals such as gold and palladium used in manufacture through processes which also release residues of lead, chromium, cadmium, mercury and bromine fire retardants which pose health hazards to workers and are toxic to the environment. The value of the heavy metals has been limited below harmful limits in the rules issued by the ministry.The workshop saw participation from IT professionals, manufacturers, students and members of NGOs as well as academicians.