Safe e-waste disposal at government offices in City

The success registered in managing e-waste at educational institutions, apartments and private offices has now goaded an NGO associated with this programme to spread its reach.

Saahas, the Jayanagar-based NGO involved in this pioneering effort, plans to hold campaigns in government offices within two weeks to create awareness about e-waste and the need to dispose it safely, said Padma Shastri, Co-ordinator of its e-waste programme. Old and end-of-life mobiles, CDs, VCDs and other computer parts are found dumped in the e-waste bins they have installed in residences and offices presently. These bins will come up at government offices, including the BBMP and KSRTC, in the near future.

According to Wilma Rodrigues, the NGO's Founder-Member, 34 schools, 28 apartments and 56 offices in the City are provided with e-bins presently. “The e-waste is collected from apartments once a week or fortnight while in the case of offices it is done twice or thrice a week due to the huge volumes generated,” she said.

The organisation had worked closely with the Hazardous Waste Management Programme (HAWA), Karnataka, for two years on issues related to e-waste flow, recycling and final disposal. A study done by Saahas some years ago revealed that Bangalore generated around 8,000 tonnes of e-waste annually. IT companies had emerged as the single largest contributor for e-waste since 30 percent of their products are rendered obsolete each year.

With the ever-increasing and changing technological developments, the waste generated is only bound to shoot up sharply with each year.

Kanwarpal, Principal Secretary, Department of Forests, Environment and Ecology, had also addressed the issue recently. He said the State government was serious about safe management of e-waste and the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board was planning to hold talks with the BBMP on installation of e-bins in the City.