The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : No takers for e-waste recycling concept

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Thursday, Jul 09, 2009
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

No takers for e-waste recycling concept

D.V.L. Padma Priya

Lone authorised recycling unit in State struggling to break even owing to lack of patronage

— Photo: Mohd. Yousuf

Price of progress: India generates over 3.3 lakh tonnes of e-waste with 30 per cent being generated from the southern region.

HYDERABAD: Lack of awareness in disposing of e-waste combined with the people’s tendency to sell their obsolete electronic goods in the grey market has left the State’s lone authorised e-waste recycling unit struggling to break even.

Earth Sense Recycle Private Limited which became fully operational two months ago is suffering on these counts. S. John Robert, Chief Executive Officer of Earth Sense says that the State alone could be producing over 4,000 tonnes of e-waste per year. A survey conducted by MAIT-GITZ in 2007 reveals that India generates over 3.3 lakh tonnes of e-waste with 30 per cent of waste generated from the southern region.

However, the numbers are failing to translate into tangible quantity for this recycling unit located on five acres of land in Mahankal. With a capacity of handling 15 tonnes per day, Robert’s unit is currently receiving less than three tonnes per day for recycling.

“The mindset when it comes to electronic goods is to reuse or sell it at second hand shops than to discard safely,” he says adding that the methods adopted in the informal sector are unsafe and hazardous for the environment.

The unit currently handles e-waste just from the corporates. However, household appliances such as refrigerators and ovens, vacuum cleaners, television sets, fluorescent tubes etc, are yet to find their way here. “We are in talks with an IT giant to place our bins there so that their employees can dump their household waste for us to collect,” he says. For now, household e-waste is found as seconds in the grey market or simply dumped along with municipal waste.

The recycling unit had also hoped to generate employment for around 150 people, but only 30 people are on its rolls now, with just six employees actually taking part in the recycling process of dismantling and segregation. “If we get the target quantity of e-waste we can ideally dismantle over 750 computers per day,” Mr. Robert points out.

Companies and individuals who want to discard their e-waste safely can contact Earth Sense Recycle on 040-23756925 or 98666-99352.

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