Got an old mobile phone, computer or laptop and you don’t know how to dispose them, then fret not, Ranchi Municipal Corporation has set up five special centers for collection of hazardous household electronic waste (e-waste). At these centers, hazardous e-waste will separated from the daily garbage. These centers in Ranchi have been set up at Nagababa Khatal MTS, Harmu MTS, Morahbadi MTS, Kantatoli MTS and Khelgaon MTS.
This initiative is undertaken in accordance to the ‘Solid Waste Management Rules-2016’, so that e-waste is not mixed with other garbage. Under this, solid waste is to be segregated as bio-degradable/wet waste, non-biodegradable/dry waste, household hazardous waste.
Electronic and electrical gadgets, if not disposed of in a scientific way, release hazardous and toxic substances such as lead, cadmium, chromium and nickel into the environment that pollutes soil and contaminate the underground water. In view of such serious consequences, the corporation is making an effort to correctly dispose of these e-waste.
Deputy Municipal Commissioner of Ranchi said that as per the Solid Waste Management Rules, it is necessary to segregate solid waste under the specified categories. E-waste include laptops, printers, radios, cordless phones, radio, digital camera, record players, digital writers, dry cell batteries, scanners, speakers, electronic typewriters, tape recorders, record players etc.
According to a report by the United Nations, globally e-waste will increase by about 38 percent between 2020 to 2030. According to this report, Asia in 2019 generated the most 24.9 metric tonnes of e-waste and less than 18 percent could be recycled. The report says that if the e-waste was recycled properly, at least $ 57 billion could have been added to the economy.
