The e-Waste Awareness Programme for Bulk Consumers envisaged under the Clean e- Bhubaneswar Project was launched today at the Bhubaneswar…
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The e-Waste Awareness Programme for Bulk Consumers envisaged under the Clean e- Bhubaneswar Project was launched today at the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) premises.
Along with the awareness program, the event also marked the commencement of an e-waste collection drive at the BMC premises, and as an initiation of the processes for inventorisation and channelisation of e-waste generated at BMC.
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The Clean e-Bhubaneswar Project, under the ‘IFC-EU Eco-Cities’ program, aims to ensure that the city’s e-waste is collected and recycled in an environmentally responsible manner. The awareness event was organised by the BMC and project implementation partners Sofies Sustainability Leaders Pvt. Ltd. and Siddha Development Research and Consultancy (SDRC).
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The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, were discussed as well as roles of the different stakeholders as defined by these rules. The roles and responsibilities of bulk consumers was examined in detail.
Deputy Commissioner Sanitation, Lalatendu Sahu said awareness generation on e-waste is part of the ambitious Eco Cities Programme as it would help in creating better environment and surrounding.
Zonal Deputy Commissioner Subhranshu Mishra suggested gifting of new electronic gadgets/appliances in exchange of e-waste to incentivise better and efficient collection of e-waste across the city.
He also called for a scientific and meaningful integration of the informal sector in e-waste management so that the city would benefit and citizens would have non-toxic environment to live in.
As per an unofficial estimates the city is generating more than 2,700 tonnes of ewaste in a year. While desktop PCs including their accessories and peripherals constitute the maximum of the e-waste burden, mobiles have become another headache towards the e-waste mess.
However, with an efficient management plan if the ewaste can be processes scientifically, then it could yield 44 types of rare elements on the Periodic Table. The entire country generates around 2 million tonnes of e-waste in a year.
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