Pravin Mehta
The Economic Times
As an emerging force in the global IT and telecom field, India produces and uses a huge volume of electronic equipment. And, the subsequent technological obsolescence, degradation and failure generate large quantities of waste. It has been estimated that manufacturers and assemblers of electronic equipment in India alone generate about 1200 tonnes of electronic waste per year. India’s burgeoning scrap business also attracts substantial amount of degraded components from the developed countries, which adds to the alarming volume of e-waste. In the current scenario, proper disposal of e-waste is a critical issue.
However, this problem has been addressed to a certain extent through the initiation of environmental protection and pollution control measures across the globe. According to Kurian Joseph, Associate Professor, Centre for Environmental Studies, Anna University, “Though e-waste is a source of different metals and plastic, it comprises hazardous substances also, effective separation of which is an issue. In India, most of these components are being separated through informal methods, causing environmental problems.”
Towards SME growth
The Government of India has made amendments in Hazardous Waste Management & Handling Rules, 1989 for regulating the generation, accumulation, storage, treatment, disposal, export and import of hazardous wastes. “A legal framework is being developed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests to regulate proper disposal and recycling of e-waste products. Currently, a legislation is on its way with certain guidelines, which will hand out a mandate to the major generators of e-waste in India along with the SME firms. These SMEs will tie up with various formal waste recyclers and licensed waste disposal firms to overcome the situation,” stated Prof Joseph.
As SMEs are becoming more aware, they are opting for eco-friendly, e-waste management technologies for lowering the volume of waste, along with effective recycling and disposal of hazardous materials. “Along the supply chain, we need to ensure proper handling of waste components in an eco-friendly way, while recycling and disposal should be done only by licensed formal recyclers”, opines K Vijaya Lakshmi, Vice President, Development Alternatives.
Initially, SMEs in India could not adopt energy efficient green technologies due to lack of funds and limited operability in R&D for acquiring the expertise. However, in recent times, several collaborations have been made between Indian SMEs and various global firms to develop green technologies for minimising e-waste generation and environment friendly recycling and disposal.
Concepts like green data centres can be of potential aid to the SMEs in reducing the volume of e-waste generated, while optimising the use of space and power in IT and electronics industries. Software and hardware virtualisation is another green technology, which can be leveraged upon for effective e-waste management. Dr Lakshmi suggests, “It is the responsibility of both the manufacturers who should minimise the use of hazardous substances and that of the users who should dump their waste only with formal recyclers.”
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