e-Swachh Bharath for e-waste management

We Are United in association with ‘Cyber Safe Girl’ will launch e-Swachh Bharat, an e-waste management campaign, in Mangaluru.

Professor Ananth Prabhu G from Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management told mediapersons at Hotel Woodlands here, on Thursday, that the objective of this initiative was to create awareness about e-waste and encourage people to reduce, re-use and recycle e-waste and make it a part of the Swachh Bharat initiative.

“It has been planned to inaugurate e-Swachh Bharath programme on October 2.”

Under this programme, volunteers will visit 200 apartments and display posters on collection of e-waste on the notice board. The posters will also mention the collection date. Such waste generated in each apartment will be collected by volunteers and handed over to a Hyderabad-based agency on October 2.

He said a copy of Cyber Safe Girl will be distributed to all those who support this initiative by donating e-waste and and a certificate of appreciation will be awarded to highest e-waste donors.

The organisations aims to create awareness about the various regulations associated with e-waste. The ministry of environment, forests and climate change (MoEFCC) is primarily responsible for regulations regarding electronic waste. Additionally, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) produce implementation procedures to ensure proper management of rules set forth by the MoEFCC which include e-easte Management and Handling Rules, 2011; e-waste Management Rules, 2016 and Amendment to the e-waste Management Rules, 2018.

He said Electronic waste (e-waste) refers to the broken or obsolete electronic components and materials. E-waste materials may be valuable and recyclable, such as random access memory and re-usable laptops. However, hazardous materials, such as cathode ray tube monitors, require special handling in disposal.

Electronic waste is emerging as a serious public health and environmental issue in India which is the “fifth largest electronic waste producer in the world.”

Approximately two million tonnes of e-waste are generated annually and an undisclosed amount of e-waste is imported from other countries around the world. Annually, computer devices account for nearly 70% of e-waste, 12% comes from the telecom sector, 8% from medical equipment and 7% from electric equipment, he said. The government, public sector companies, and private sector companies generate nearly 75% of electronic waste, with the contribution of individual households being only 16%, added Prabhu.