| Next time you think of buying a new electronic | | | | pregnancy and lactation. |
| gadget to replace what you think is an outdated one, | | | | Mercury used in relays, switches and PCBs can cause |
| take a deep breath and think. Most of the time the | | | | chronic respiratory damage and skin disorders, |
| retailer offers to take back your old gadget for a | | | | whereas the beryllium used in motherboards is |
| marginal cut in the price of the new, but often it's | | | | carcinogenic. Workers inhaling fumes and dust are |
| only a marketing gimmick to attract customers. The | | | | known to suffer from chronic beryllium disease or |
| electronic junk may ultimately end up in unprotected | | | | beryllicosis. |
| landfills. | | | | While the government sets about fixing the |
| So what's the problem, you ask. Megatons of | | | | responsibility on who is supposed to handle the |
| electronic debris sleeping inside the landfills are nothing | | | | e-waste: the municipality or the producers, civic |
| short of ecological time bombs, experts warn. They | | | | agencies like Greenpeace want companies to take |
| can very soon get into the groundwater and the | | | | more responsibility for the hardware they sell once it |
| atmosphere. Our city is fast becoming an | | | | becomes obsolete. Under its pressure, Wipro Ltd. |
| e-graveyard of discarded electronic components, | | | | agreed recently to offer a free e-waste disposal |
| driven to e-obsolescence by the fast pace of new | | | | service to its PC customers. It has also made a |
| age technology that makes people or organizations | | | | commitment to 100% RoHS compliance by June |
| using gadgets like laptops, computers, televisions or | | | | 2007. (RoHS, or Restriction of Hazardous Substances, |
| mobiles from 1990s look like Neanderthals in the | | | | is a European directive that requires the electronics |
| Darwinian landscape. | | | | industry to eliminate heavy metals like Lead, |
| Bangalore is the hub to over 1,100 software units, | | | | Cadmium, Chromium and Mercury from its products). |
| aircraft and space industry, besides hundreds of | | | | Sustained campaigning from Greenpeace is forcing |
| electronic components and goods manufacturers. | | | | international market leaders like HP, Dell, LG, |
| Annually, about 30 per cent of the equipment | | | | Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Nokia to eliminate some |
| becomes obsolete in each IT company; the customs | | | | of the most hazardous chemicals from their products |
| regulations do not permit their sale, so the discarded | | | | and substitute safer alternatives in their place. |
| stuff stockpiles in the company godowns and is later | | | | Recently, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board |
| passed on to 'recyclers'. Coupled with domestic | | | | gave authorisation for two commercial enterprises to |
| appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, | | | | handle e-trash in Bangalore- E-Parisaraa Pvt Ltd and |
| microwave ovens and the ubiquitous TV set, the | | | | Ash Recyclers. E-Parisara has equipment to recycle |
| electronic discards assume massive proportions. | | | | up to three tonnes of waste a day, but is dealing |
| Bangalore has more than 500 recyclers of discarded | | | | with around one tonne right now. Many corporates |
| computers and electronic components. Many | | | | such as IBM, Tate Elxsi, and Phillips are among its |
| households in Goripalya, near the City Market, | | | | clients. |
| Nayandanahalli and Bytarayanapura in Bangalore are | | | | What can you do as a responsible consumer? |
| reportedly engaged in e-scavenging. They sell | | | | |
| second-hand parts to computer assemblers in the | | | | 1. Chant "Reduce, Recycle, Reuse..." when just about |
| grey market; and for the rest, they employ | | | | to discard computers, or their accessories, and other |
| labourers, some of them children, to extract with | | | | electronic equipments. You could donate them to |
| bare hands precious metals such as gold and silver | | | | students or non-profit organizations. People can |
| using crude chemical processes. Apart from gold or | | | | organize to collect old electronic goods from houses |
| silver, one can recover platinum, silicon, cadmium, | | | | in their residential areas and contact the authorized |
| nickel, copper, lead and iron during the recycling | | | | recyclers to pick up the equipments from their |
| process. | | | | premises. |
| After the extraction of the precious metals, most | | | | 2. You may deposit old batteries, CDs, floppies, |
| then burn the waste, or bury them, mainly plastics | | | | casettes at the special collection bins kept by Saahas, |
| and printed circuit boards, in illegal dump yards near | | | | a non-governmental organisation in the city, at The |
| residential colonies - releasing toxic and carcinogenic | | | | Forum in Koramangala, GK Vale on MG Road, |
| substances into the air. | | | | Jayanagar and Indiranagar, Fabmall in Indiranagar and |
| Brominated flame retardants used in many electronic | | | | Bannerghatta Road, Safina Plaza and Fitness One in |
| equipments release, when incinerated, toxic | | | | Jayanagar and Koramangala. Saahas has also made |
| substances that can build up in human tissues, stored | | | | arrangements with over 30 schools in the city and |
| in fatty tissues and fluid, such as breast milk, and can | | | | routes the collection to E-Parisaraa. |
| be passed on to fetuses and infants during | | | | |