BANGALORE: In an effort to contain unregulated dumping of electronic waste in Bangalore, IT companies, NGOs and the pollution control board have formed a nodal agency for e-waste management in the city.
    The nodal agency – which will have representatives bodies from the IT sector such as Nasscom, MAIT and STPI, the State and Central pollution control boards and various NGOs as it members – is the first of its kind in the country.
    Underlining the importance of having a special agency for the management of e-waste in Bangalore, Chairman of the nodal agency and former Karnataka Chief Secretary Dr A Ravindra said Bangalore, which is home to 1,322 software and 36 hardware companies, faces a serious threat from the hazards of electronic waste.
    “The city produces about 8,000 tons of e-waste annually which is mostly disposed through scrap dealers and unauthorised recycling units which do not employ scientific methods to dispose e-waste,” Ravindra said. Chemicals such as beryllium (found in computer motherboards) and cadmium (in chip resistors and semiconductors) are toxic and can even cause cancer. While chromium in floppy disks and lead in batteries and computer monitors also pose severe health risks.
    Ravindra said most of the IT companies were not fully aware of the implications of unscientific disposal of e-waste. “In fact, there is little awareness on the subject of electronic waste across the board. Even the Government has not come out with a definite policy on e-waste management. We are planning to document our experiences from this initiative so that it can be replicated in other cities in the country”, he added
    One of the steps being taken by the nodal agency to regulate e-waste is to identify recycling units which use environmentally sound methods to dispose electronic waste and get the member companies to use the services of these units. “We have already identified two recycling units on the outskirts of the city, e- Parisara and Ash-recyclers for this purpose”, Ravindra said.
    He pointed out the e-waste management was not only about keeping the environment safe, but also made good business sense as most of the electronic goods contain traces of precious metals, including gold and copper which can be segregated before disposal.