Urban News

Bengaluru, Aug. 31: Bengaluru, India’s IT hub, generates an average of 6,000 to 8,000 tonnes of toxic electronic waste every year. With the quantity of waste increasing with each passing year, the process of recycling it is becoming a cause for concern with only a small percentage being streamlined as per the e-waste management system. In a study conducted in Bengaluru, Rajyashree N. Reddy, a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota who also holds a masters degree in environmental science from Yale University, presents Bengaluru’s current status on technology and the modern waste management system envisioned for the city.

What is Bengaluru’s position in the technology sector that contributes largely to generation of e-waste in India?

It is called India’s Silicon Valley and the bulk of this waste is generated by the IT firms of the city. It is estimated that Bengaluru constitutes 33 per cent of India’s share of software exports. Additionally, 30 per cent of computers in the IT sector become obsolete every year. This is processed with few or no safety precautions by petty recyclers and scrap dealers or informal recyclers drawn from the city’s marginalised communities.

What about highly toxic waste? Is that also handled by informal recyclers?

Toxic waste such as mercury requires highly sophisticated equipment that a city e-waste management organisation or a scrap dealer cannot afford to possess. It isn’t a backyard kind of disposal system. The Indo-German-Swiss initiative along with the state pollution board for e-waste management stopped the informal recyclers citing unsafe methods and environmental factors.

Bengaluru has a system of e-waste management that functions to an extent. But is there still leaks in the system of waste management along with extensive toxic electronic waste entering the country from outside?

There is no specification on all IT firms ensuring a proper disposal of their waste and in that sense there maybe leakages. India is a source for dumping e-waste from developed countries and despite regulations, transnational dumping of e-waste continues to happen in India. This easily enters the country and the state as waste is miscategorised.

What is the way forward for management of e-waste?
The onus of appropriate disposal of waste must lie on the producer of the electronic device. This is a model that a few tech parks in the city are considering employing. India, though yet to develop an e-waste legislation, must consider this to manage its e-waste.