ewaste-reverselogistics

8/11/2019 eWaste-reverselogistics

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eWasteEver spared a thought on what eventually happens to the PC or a printer yousell? The problem of electronic wastescrap generated by defunct high-tech

productshas risen to alarming proportions and require urgent attention of theindustry at large. Channels have a ey role to play in tac ling the issue.

The world is set to generate !" million metric tons of electronic waste #ewaste$this year% enough to fill a line of truc s stretching halfway around the world.Ewaste is rising three times faster than other forms of waste. &ccording to'artner (esearch between )""* and )"+"% roughly ,) million PCs will beretired worldwide.

nterestingly% analysts e/pect 0indows 1ista to be one of the large ewastecontributors over the ne/t couple of years. (eports suggest that " percent ofinstalled PCs are incapable of running 1ista2s basic system% while nearly ,!

percent are not equipped to run on 1ista 3ltimate% and this is e/pected to resultin the write-off of many PCs.

The threat of ewaste is so clear and current to the global environment that the3nited 4ations has decided to step in to formulate international guidelines and

programmes to tac le the issue. 5eginning this year the international body hasannounced the introduction of ewaste recycling and green manufacturing

programmes in many countries in partnership with T manufacturers li e 6P%7ell% 58% Cisco and &PC.

India sluggish

3nfortunately% ndia has been slow as usual in proactively fighting ewaste. 9verthe past couple of years due to campaigns by 4'9s% the industry and thegovernment have been forced to ta e cognisance of the threat of ewaste andannounce some initiatives% but considering the acuteness of the problem% theseseem inadequate.


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The burgeoning ndian economy has led to the phenomenal consumption ofelectronic products. This has led to faster upgrade cycles for some types ofelectronic products including mobile phones% T1% PCs% refrigerators and air-conditioners.

The ewaste figures for ndia are staggering. :&ccording to recent reports% thecountry generates +!*%""" tonnes of ewaste annually. 9f this nearly ),%""" iscontributed by the top ! cities. 0ith the economy growing the way it is% wee/pect ewaste to grow to a whopping , million tonnes annually by )"+)%: says(amapathy ;umar% 6ead% To/ic Campaigns% 'reenpeace.

T products and companies contribute a ma. 4early " percent of theewaste generated by 3> lands up in countries li e ndia% China and Pa istan. : nour estimate the ewaste dumped from outside is as much as the stuff generated

by local consumption% if not more. The government needs a strong enforcementto stop this% otherwise the scenario will be dreadful%: says ;umar.

Ewaste constraints

There are several reasons for ndia2s slow start on formulating an effective planfor tac ling ewaste. The primary is government apathy. 7espite pressures from

4'9s and demand from industries for legislation on ewaste% the governmenthasn2t shown any intent.

The other problem that has constrained 4'9s and industry bodies fromlaunching ewaste management initiatives is that the country has very feworganised recyclers. :Even now there are only !- organised recyclers operatingaround the country. The rest are all in the unorganised sector. This hasconstrained T companies and agencies in formulating and e/ecuting their owne-waste recycling policies%: adds 8ehta. 6owever% recently the government hasapproved many recyclers to set up shop here and 8ehta believes this will act asa strong enabler.

Vendor initiatives

>ome leading companies have ta en it upon themselves to tac le the issue.0ipro for instance has had an ewaste recycling programme since >eptember


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)""*. The service allows any customer to return his old PC to 0ipro forrecycling. :The service is free and the customer only has to pay a nominalfreight charge to deliver the product to the recycler%: informs &shuthosh 1aidya%1ice President for PCs at 0ipro. The company has tie-ups with three recyclers &sh (ecyclers and eParisaraa in 5angalore and Trishyraya in Chennai.

Perhaps ta ing a lead from 0ipro% &cer too has recently launched an ewastemanagement initiative. :Customers can put in a request online with the serialnumber of the old &cer machine they want to send bac % and we ensure the rest.0e charge a recycling fee of (s +%""" per PC%: informs > (atrategy 9fficer% 0eP Peripherals.The company also has a reward programme for customers buying green

products. :0e have a scheme where customers get )" percent discount on a newcartridge for returning the old one%: informs 'undewar.

To spread awareness among end-users% 0eP has set up *" ewaste collectioncentres in 5angalore at housing societies% commercial buildings and shoppingmalls. These centres even collect non-0eP products li e C7s% floppies and

batteries.

Need for awareness

@ac of end-user awareness has resulted in ineffective implementation ofvendors2 ewaste initiative. =or instance &cer has found very few ta ers for itsrecycling offering. :0e have been running it for a few months but have receivedless than +" entries%: admits &cer2s (a


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awareness about environmental haBards of ewaste is very low.

Tagare agrees% :0e have been running a programme where customers can sendin their dead 3P> batteries and we ensure its safe recycling. &lthough theservice is provided for free e/cept a small freight fee% the response hasn2t beenencouraging. 8ostly it2s the large enterprise customers who send the batteriesand that number isn2t high either.:

There is no doubt that ewaste is a clear and present danger and the industry as awhole needs to

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