Rising e-waste, weak recycling choke Karnataka

Bengaluru: Karnataka produces 3-4 lakh tonnes of electronic waste annually, according to an estimate by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), but the state doesn't have enough capacity to process all this waste. Of the 230 e-waste processing units with a permit to operate in the state, only 99 units are operational, and they have a total capacity to process only 2.18 lakh tonnes. 

While the capacity is lower, even the existing processing units are working at 50-60 per cent of their capacity, owing to poor collection and awareness among people.

According to those running recycling companies with permits from the KSPCB, there is a need for a change of mindset among people.

"My company has been in this field since 2012. In all these years, we have never processed e-waste to our full capacity. There is a need for a cultural mindset shift among people. Also, in many cases, people expect that we pay them when we collect e-waste. Collection, transportation, processing, and all costs put together, it does not fetch us much. There is a need for policy intervention here to incentivise recycling," said Dileep Kumar S, co-founder of Peenya-based 4R Recycling Private Limited.

The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy is expected to ease down and regulate the sector better.

Experts, however, opined that the volumes are understated and around 7-8 lakh tonnes of e-waste are generated in the state annually. If collected and processed efficiently, e-waste has a capacity to generate a revenue of around Rs 3,000 crore, they said.

"Obsolete computer electronics equipment for recycling"
Electronics Recycling

"There is a need to strengthen the value chain. Right now, only close to 30 per cent of the potential is being tapped into. Even to this day, many people don't know how to dispose of these wastes. This has to be channelised and informal collectors should be recognised. Given that metals are getting expensive, tapping into e-waste could generate close to Rs 3,000 crore in revenue," said A V Manjunatha, head of the Centre for Ecological Economics and Natural Resources at the Institute of Social and Economic Change (ISEC). 

Poor awareness among people and lack of means to dispose of e-waste has only pushed citizens to pile them up at home or dump them illegally. Many citizens the DH spoke to were unaware of how to dispose of e-waste and as a result, either kept them at home or gave it off to informal collectors.

E Waste

Most of the informal collectors dismantle the electronic items and collect a few valuable parts and dump the rest on roadsides or blackspots.

According to the KSPCB, there are bins kept to collect  e-waste at many locations and they are trying to create more awareness.

"We are also in the process of setting up 56 new processing units with a total capacity of one lakh tonnes," a senior KSPCB official said.