Did you know that Tamil Nadu has just one approved e-waste recycler? But the State recycles around 52,247 tonnes of e-waste per annum! Most of the recycling is done by the informal sector.
According to Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board officials, the State has 23 dismantlers and one refurbisher. “Recently, one company has applied seeking consent to set up a recycling unit. We hope that the sector will attract more players,” an official said.
After the advent of extended producers responsibility (EPR), producer responsibility organisations (PROs) that collect e-waste from both formal and informal companies and send them to authorised recyclers have come into existence, explained V. Ramachandran, chairman and managing director, Tes-Amm (India) Pvt. Ltd. The company is the lone approved recycler in the State, with a presence in several other States, including Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Haryana.
“Like ordinary waste, everyone wants something from e-waste. We came to India after our clients from abroad wanted our presence here. In the past few years, when we also became a PRO, we have been collecting from the informal sector. But then, the quality of the material suffers and there is no consistency in the availability,” said R. Dinesh, executive director, who handles operations and marketing of the company.
Picking up e-waste from the kabadiwalla becomes costly since it is a demand-driven market but when the manufacturers fix a rate for a certain period, there is an issue. “Now prices for e-waste at kabadiwallas are actually on the rise. The PROs usually pick up stuff from aggregators, photograph the waste, make a proper documentation and send it to the manufacturer who bears the cost. Instead of picking stuff from the kabadiwalla , if there is a better system, it would be good. Like the Japanese model where customers send the e-waste to the retailer,” Mr. Ramachandran explained.
Another issue that recyclers face is the lack of facilities to dispose of toxic waste. “There is only one facility at Gummidipoondi in the entire State and when recycling increases, it gets more materials to incinerate. We need more such facilities since 5-7% of material we get after recycling is toxic and has to be dealt with carefully,” Mr. Dinesh said.
