Tonnes of e-waste
from Bangalore and across India are shipped to Singapore, Belgium and
Japan. For the country doesn't have a single fullfledged unit capable of
extracting precious metals like gold, silver and platinum from it.
According to industry sources, approximately 200 tonnes are sent
annually to these three countries.
S Nanda Kumar, chief environmental officer, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board ( KSPCB), said though the central government implemented the E-waste Management and Handling Rules in 2012, it requires huge investment to establish a unit to extract expensive metals. These can be extracted from printed circuit boards, mobile phones and other computer components.
P Parthasarathy, MD, E-Parisara Pvt Ltd, the only firm extracting precious metals partially from e-waste in the country, said: "We can extract them from visible parts like motherboards and mobile phones," he said.
He added India doesn't have a smelting unit to extract precious metals from e-waste which are not visible to the eye in computer processors, etc, and this is sent to Belgium and Japan. Billions of dollars are required to establish a smelting unit, he added.
E-Parisara is the first government authorized unit in the country and it's the only company to extract valuable metal from e-waste.
"Shipping it abroad costs a lot of money and around 25% of the value of extracted metals goes to the foreign companies and India gets the rest," Parthasarathy said.
Three-year wait:
India will have to wait a little longer to set up a smelting unit to extract precious metals from e-waste. (Smelting is a hightemperature process). "We're in the process of establishing a full fledged e-waste recycling with the help of the central government under a public-private partnership model. We'll complete the project within 3-4 years; the first phase is ready," said P Parthasarathy of EParisara Pvt Ltd.
TIMES VIEW
Waste to wealth, the path is clear but we seem to have lost a golden opportunity. Extracting precious metals from e-waste is an extremely profitable exercise and given our user base, we generate a lot of it. The government should have sensed the financial gains of setting up a processing unit, including, of course, the basic one of getting rid of toxic material. While the initial investment is high, it would no doubt have paid for itself in the long run. It's still not too late to expedite the unit and reap its benefit.
S Nanda Kumar, chief environmental officer, Karnataka State Pollution Control Board ( KSPCB), said though the central government implemented the E-waste Management and Handling Rules in 2012, it requires huge investment to establish a unit to extract expensive metals. These can be extracted from printed circuit boards, mobile phones and other computer components.
P Parthasarathy, MD, E-Parisara Pvt Ltd, the only firm extracting precious metals partially from e-waste in the country, said: "We can extract them from visible parts like motherboards and mobile phones," he said.
He added India doesn't have a smelting unit to extract precious metals from e-waste which are not visible to the eye in computer processors, etc, and this is sent to Belgium and Japan. Billions of dollars are required to establish a smelting unit, he added.
E-Parisara is the first government authorized unit in the country and it's the only company to extract valuable metal from e-waste.
"Shipping it abroad costs a lot of money and around 25% of the value of extracted metals goes to the foreign companies and India gets the rest," Parthasarathy said.
Three-year wait:
India will have to wait a little longer to set up a smelting unit to extract precious metals from e-waste. (Smelting is a hightemperature process). "We're in the process of establishing a full fledged e-waste recycling with the help of the central government under a public-private partnership model. We'll complete the project within 3-4 years; the first phase is ready," said P Parthasarathy of EParisara Pvt Ltd.
TIMES VIEW
Waste to wealth, the path is clear but we seem to have lost a golden opportunity. Extracting precious metals from e-waste is an extremely profitable exercise and given our user base, we generate a lot of it. The government should have sensed the financial gains of setting up a processing unit, including, of course, the basic one of getting rid of toxic material. While the initial investment is high, it would no doubt have paid for itself in the long run. It's still not too late to expedite the unit and reap its benefit.
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