City flooded with e-waste bins, courtesy start-up

Visakhapatnam: Thanks to changes in technology and consumer demand, the quantity of electronic waste (e-waste) discarded has increased rapidly in the past few years. The port city generates over 300 metric tonnes of e-waste per year and most of it comes from residential areas such as pencil batteries, bulbs, mobiles, chargers and so on. All these land in the dumping yard along with other solid waste.On the other hand, e-waste from industries such as computers, CPU, and printers are mostly given to scrap dealers, but not handled properly.
In an effort to create awareness among people, the startup Green Waves Environmental Solution was set up last year to collect and dismantle electronic waste. Anil Chowdary, after completing his MS in resource management from New Zealand, took up the initiative with a group of 10 environmental enthusiasts to launch the project. As a pilot project, the e-waste collected by the team was transformed into art and decorative things to inspire people.
As a part of the next project, the startup team has provided separate e-waste bins in various areas of the city to ensure that it is not mixed with solid waste. The first e-waste bin was adopted by the collector and former GVMC commissioner Pravin Kumar. The bin made of wood has also been installed by the startup in Marripalem, Shivajinagar and Kirlampudi Layout.
Awareness programmes on proper disposal of e-waste is being conducted in each locality following which a bin is being provided to the people, Anil said, adding, “With each bin costing Rs 3,000 to Rs 4,000, 18 such bins in the city and two in Bheemili have been installed recently. We are in talks with GVMC to help in installing these bins in other parts of the city.”
Shivani, a home maker, said, “Initially I used to dump all the e-waste in the dustbin along with other dry and food waste. But after a series of awareness programmes and posts on social media, I started segregating waste at home itself so that it does not get mixed with domestic waste.”
Stating that around 50 metric tonnes of e-waste has been recycled already, Anil said, “After the initial steps of collecting, segregating and testing of e-waste is done, the next step is to dismantle and send it for full scale recycling process. We try our best to reuse the item by assembling the parts that are in good condition and sell them. If not, then we recycle where we get primary metals like iron, led, mercury and other heavy metals. They are sent to the registered recyclers where the materials are reused. The hazardous waste is sent to treatment plant in Mumbai.”
“We are also handling industrial e-waste from companies and institutions like Divis, Pfizer, Novotel, Granules ,Fluentgrid, Gitam University, and Vignan,” he added.