BENGALURU: Cleaning up the mounting electronic waste in Bengaluru–the tech capital of India and streamlining the haphazard disposal of e-waste across the city, forest, environment and ecology minister Eshwar Khandre on Wednesday directed the department officials to register all electronic equipment manufacturers for Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR).Holding a consultative meeting with the refurbishers, recyclers and e-waste processing agencies in Bengaluru, Khandre directed the firms to strictly comply with the E-waste disposal rules.
“The earth is a nature’s gift to mankind and we should not convert this into a landfill. Given the hazardous nature of e-waste, this has to be handled and recycled scientifically keeping in mind the future generation’s health and wellbeing. Our focus shall be on recycling and reuse of these products,” Khandre told the delegates. Out of the 3.8 million MT of e-waste generated annually in India, Karnataka accounts for 0.8 million MTs of e-waste and currently stands in third place in the country. “We shall keep this in mind as we set out to handle the e-waste of Bengaluru,” he cautioned the stakeholders.
Currently, Karnataka has about 108 e-waste processing centres. “During 2019-20 a total of 44,240 MT and in 2020-21 a total of 95,175 MT of e-waste was put into circular economy by way of recycling. These figures rose to 1.11 lakh MT during the 2021-22 period. Being the tech capital of the country, Bengaluru has been witnessing a sharp increase in the usage of electronic items. If we do not handle these electronic goods, this will come back to haunt all of us in the future,” the minister explained.
“The earth is a nature’s gift to mankind and we should not convert this into a landfill. Given the hazardous nature of e-waste, this has to be handled and recycled scientifically keeping in mind the future generation’s health and wellbeing. Our focus shall be on recycling and reuse of these products,” Khandre told the delegates. Out of the 3.8 million MT of e-waste generated annually in India, Karnataka accounts for 0.8 million MTs of e-waste and currently stands in third place in the country. “We shall keep this in mind as we set out to handle the e-waste of Bengaluru,” he cautioned the stakeholders.
Currently, Karnataka has about 108 e-waste processing centres. “During 2019-20 a total of 44,240 MT and in 2020-21 a total of 95,175 MT of e-waste was put into circular economy by way of recycling. These figures rose to 1.11 lakh MT during the 2021-22 period. Being the tech capital of the country, Bengaluru has been witnessing a sharp increase in the usage of electronic items. If we do not handle these electronic goods, this will come back to haunt all of us in the future,” the minister explained.