JOIN USBeing the IT capital of the country, Bangalore obviously generates the maximum amount of e-waste.
According to Pollution Control Board, nearly 22,000 tonnes of e-waste is recycled each year by 20 certified companies in the City. But there is a large mafia that handles e-waste by removing metals from electronic goods in a crude manner.
D R Kumaraswamy, senior environmental officer of the Board, says most of the computer goods contain close to two gram gold, which is the biggest USP in running an e-waste recycling unit.
“The problem lies in the way e-waste is recycled. There are many companies which recycle electronic goods in a scientific manner, which is listed on our website.
There are other smaller unregistered units, which run a mafia that removes the metal from e-waste and dumps the rest into municipal waste,” he added.
Kumaraswamy said people should hand over their electronic waste only to registered recyclers.
Y M Bharath, sales executive of Global e-Waste Management and Services, says nearly 12 types of metals are available in any computer system. “In many other electronic goods, toxic metals and harmful acids are found.
They may not only harm the environment, but also make the land barren if they are not handled properly,” he said.
e-Parisara, a prominent recycler of electronic goods, has been dealing in e-waste from 400 companies, mainly in the IT industry.
P Parthasarathy, managing director of e-Parisara, says it is the responsibility of the manufacturers to hand over their e-waste to registered recyclers.
Manufacturers of prominent television, refrigerator and washing machine brands have not been proactive in disposing of their old goods for recycling, he added.
Parthasarathy said the people of Bangalore, however, are more aware of e-waste management compared to people in any other city of the country.