On a Mission: Fighting menace of e-waste

NEW DELHI: A delegation of European Union and European Union Member States missions on Thursday organised an e-waste collection drive as part of which discarded electrical and electronic devices were collected from the embassies of Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Finland, Denmark, Belgium, Slovenia, Britain, Slovakia and France.

Raimund Magis, deputy head of the EU delegation, said it was time to walk the talk for all residents and organisations. “This is our bit to protect the environment. We have also created goals for employees: how we can minimise waste, save energy and water, avoid usage of plastic. All EU embassies have joined this initiative,” Magis told TOI as a truck reached the office of the Delegation of the European Union to India at Shanti Niketan to collect e-waste.

The drive kicked off at 11.15am from the Netherlands Embassy in Chanakyapuri, and concluded at 4.30pm at the Spanish Embassy on Aurangzeb Road. On its way, it covered several other embassies. The collected material included discarded computers, printers, phones and other office IT equipment. The material was handed over to the team by the respective ambassador or deputy head of mission in the presence of staff members as the truck arrived at the gates of each embassy. The total waste collected on Thursday was 1,212kg.

The drive was conducted in collaboration with Karo Sambhav, a tech-enabled, environmentally beneficial and socially responsible e-waste Producer Responsibility Organisation. The e-waste thus collected will be sent for responsible recycling. “India is the fourth largest producer of e-waste and yet responsibly recycles less than 2% of it. Most of its e-waste currently gets processed in the informal sector, causing several environmental and health hazards. While leaching causes ground water pollution and acidification of soil, workers in such setups are prone to kidney failures, lung cancer, brain damage and respiratory problems,” Pranshu Singhal, founder and director of Karo Sambhav, said.

Karo Sambhav engages with a diverse audience across the country to bring about a change in their attitude towards e-waste management via awareness, training and engagement programmes. It works with schools, offices, RWAs and informal sector to encourage responsible management of e-waste.