Hubballi: In a bid to prevent pile-up of electronic waste, the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) has decided to segregate e-waste, along the lines of dry and wet garbage. Electronic waste will henceforth be collected at the doorstep. Acknowledging the potential that electronic waste offers in terms of commercial value, which many non-government organisations (NGOs) have pointed to, the HDMC has decided to set the wheels in motion for collection of e-waste across the twin cities.
HDMC, which has put in place all the infrastructure for converting wet waste to compost, has turned its focus towards e-waste. Lack of awareness about how best to dispose of e-waste, coupled with lack of avenues where defunct devices can be sold or traded, has resulted in the collection and management of electronic waste a niggling problem for the civic authorities.
Given that the number of people using mobile phones, laptops and other electronic devices has drastically increased, civic agencies are eager to ensure its effective disposal. HDMC commissioner B Gopalkrishna said, “The process has already started in Dharwad, where a large cache of e-waste has already been collected and stored. We have acknowledged the potential for e-waste, and decided to start effective segregation, which we hope will help generate revenue.”
The HDMC commissioner said that of e-waste was being collected in Dharwad daily in large quantities. “We are now in the process of drafting a plan to start door-to-door collection of e-waste. Once we start collecting e-waste, people can dispose of their old televisions, laptops, et al,” Gopalkrishna said.
He said that, the HDMC would raise awareness among the public by launching a campaign that would employ jingles and other media. “People can dump e-waste directly into the tippers that will collect the e-waste directly from home,” Gopalkrishna said.
Sources in the solid waste management wing of the HDMC said that the dry waste collection unit was handling disposal and management of e-waste. “People can contact the authorities at the zonal offices about how to dispose of the e-waste. We are currently discussing methods on empanelling vendors for disposal of e-waste. We will also place e-waste collection bins at commercial complexes that house electronic outlets,” a source said.