E-waste: Is Bengaluru taking steps towards responsible disposal?

Bengaluru: The IT capital of India, Bengaluru, is not far behind when it comes go generating e-waste.

Ranked third in the country in generating e-waste, the city generates 10.1% of the country’s generation.

Given that e-waste generation is certain to go up given that IT is entering every sphere of existence in the city, several organisations are in the forefront of collecting and recycling e-waste. However, experts suggest that the awareness about informed disposal of e-waste must begin at the school level if sustainable lifestyle should be realised and health and environmental fallouts of unscientific management of E-waste are to be mitigated.

DH spoke to multiple stakeholders in e-waste management in Bengaluru, to find out what needs to be done before e-waste becomes an onerous burden.

Gurudatta Bangarpet, Director, Rashi E Waste Solutions, told DH that refurbishment is the first step towards managing E-waste.

“We closely work with the corporate sector, which is a bulk E-waste generator. When they send an initial list of electronic waste to us, we inspect whether the item can be refurbished, before sending it to the recycling plant. I believe refurbishing is the first step in the recycling process,” he said. 

Contact authorised recyclers

E-waste is rich in metallic content. Authorised recyclers make sure that the metal content in the e-waste is extracted with no damage to the environment, maximum resources are recovered from the waste, and minimum sent to landfills. Burning of e-waste by the informal sector causes health hazards and degrades the air quality, said Krithika Viswanathan, Marketing Lead, Saahas Zero Waste. 

Earlier in 1990s and 2000s, there was a higher usage of precious metals like gold, silver, platinum and palladium in the production of electronic items but it has been replaced by other metals and alloys today. 

While bulk e-waste generators contact organisations such as Rashi and Saahas themselves, individuals, unaware of the e-waste disposal methods, hoard old and unused electronic items at home or dispose them of along with plastic waste. Viswanathan suggests that individuals must always contact authorized recyclers for managing their E-waste. She asserts that selling it to the informal sector would result in air pollution due to the burning. 

Creative alternatives 

A unique initiative by Ewa Eco makes flower pots from the waste generated by recycling e-waste. 

“We manufacture flower pots from the waste generated in the process of recycling e-waste, which would otherwise go to the landfills. Using wires, cables and shredded parts of keyboards, we make planters which are sold at minimal price,” said Gurudatta. 

Ewa Eco is the brainchild of Sanjay Jangam, a retired Navy commander who collaborates with Gurudatta Bangarpet’s Rashi E-waste solutions.