Mumbai: The Indian Merchants Chamber’s (IMC) Ladies’ Wing, in association with NGO Clean Mumbai Foundation, on Friday announced the launch of Project E-Waste.
The initiative aims to spread awareness about the toxicity of electronic waste while encouraging its treatment and proper disposal.
As part of the project, eight e-waste collection bins will be set up in the city; one at Acres Club in Chembur, and seven in south Mumbai at the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Cricket Club of India, Cathedral Senior School, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya, G.D. Somani School, the German Consulate, and K.C. College.
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Kunti Oza, founder of Clean Mumbai Foundation, said the initiative will be replicated across Mumbai. The foundation has been active in solid waste management and environmental conservation efforts for over 25 years, and much of Ms. Oza’s work started in south of the city, including attempts at reducing solid waste sent by the A ward to the dumping ground in Deonar after a fire broke out there in January last year.
“Mumbai is the leading city in India [in terms of] production of e-waste,” Ms. Oza said at the event. “Many are not even aware of [e-waste’s] hazardous nature. All of us use mobile phones, for example, but do not think about what happens after [they are discarded].”
She said e-waste also needs to be disposed in a proper manner: “Informal waste-collection workers do not treat e-waste for toxicity.” The waste collected from the bins set up under the initiative will be processed by Ecocentric, a waste disposal centre.
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The president of IMC Ladies’ Wing, Radhika Nath, said, “India is the fifth largest producer of electronic waste, and with its rapid uptake of mobile phones and electronic technology, this figure is set to rise higher.”
Nandkumar Gurav, member of the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, which regulates e-waste in the city, said, “Only 5% of India’s waste is recycled at authorised centres.”
He added, “The biggest constraint for waste management in Mumbai is the channelisation of waste management from the informal sector to the formal sector.”
Speaking at the event, Amruta Fadnavis, deputy vice president of Axis Bank and wife of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, said, “Over 25% of the 100 crore mobile phones generated every year in India go into e-waste. Mumbai needs to take action to prevent this pollution from spreading and harming our environment.”