E-waste collection pilot to be launched soon

Source : This article was originally published on The New Indian Express

Bengaluru: While the state government has previously set up an e-waste collection centre in the premises of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), a new model to collect waste door-to-door, will come up soon.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Sahas, Encyde and KSPCB together have come up with a pilot project to collect E-waste from individual households. This initiative will be tested in Ward 151, Koramangala. The survey will start at the end of this week and the project is set to start in the first week of April   “We will be doing this at Koramangala 3rd, 4th and 8th blocks. There are about 2,000 houses and we collect waste from them once a month. A receipt from SAHAS will be issued to the households. We are expecting small items like batteries, CFL’S, chargers, cables and adapters. We would also like people to give us bigger items like microwaves, TVs and fridges,” said Archana Tripathi, program director at SAHAS. All the waste collected will be given to E Parisara, authorized E-waste recyclers.

This initiative is to ensure there is no E-waste leakage to the informal sector and is recycled properly. First, a survey will be conducted in all the houses to check the type of gadgets they use. Name, number and address of each house will be recorded. A driver along with a supervisor will go to each house and weigh the items after collection. The pilot project will be conducted for six months and if successful will be conducted in the other 197 wards too.

The KSPCB, in collaboration with SAHAS, a non-profit organisation, will also set up a trial module for the collection of E-waste in all three pollution board offices in the city. The module will be tested in KSPCB offices in Peenya, Church street and Nisarga Bhavan as the government offices are bulk consumers of E-waste.

There is a pile up of E-waste in the government offices and bulk generators of e-waste have to submit  forms to the KSPCB, listing out the waste that has been generated and also file annual returns. In this trial, SAHAS will coordinate with their technical inputs and help them facilitate the process. “Usually, a committee will make an inventory for the rates. Also,  authorised purchasers who come in and quote. Based on their quoted amount, we ask them to take away the waste. If the protocol develops we want all government offices to follow suit. The officials will be trained on how to clear e-waste in government offices across the state and also create awareness,” explained Manoj Kumar, Member Secretary at KSPCB.