Anand Singh, the Minister of Tourism, Environment, and Ecology, gave the Legislative Council his word that the State Government will seriously explore enacting a new law to address the growing problem of e-waste in Karnataka.
In response to inquiries from K.A.Thippeswamy and D.S. Arun, Mr. Singh stated that the amount of e-waste collected by processing and recycling facilities registered with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) increased from 44,240 tonnes in 2019-20 to 96,175 tonnes in 2020-21. He did claim, though, that the government is not in possession of any information regarding the e-waste gathered by the unorganized sector. The government's lack of complete information on the amount of electronic waste produced in Karnataka is mostly due to the unorganized units' exclusion from the 2016 E-Waste Management Rules.
Bengaluru is the third-highest producer of e-waste in India, according to Mr. Arun, who encouraged the government to take the necessary actions and think about using a Public Private Partnership (PPP) model to deal with the massive amount of e-waste.
New Law Needed To Handle E-Waste
Mr. Arun sought to bring the government's attention to the unsafe disposal of tube lights and Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL), which contain hazardous chemicals and gases, arsenic and ammonia. He drew attention to the significant amount of hazardous battery disposal, which is only expected to rise further with the introduction of electric vehicles, which need their batteries to be replaced on a regular basis. Even while e-waste produces a lot of copper and cadmium, in contrast to conventional waste, Mr. Thippeswamy noted that processing e-waste is a dangerous activity.
Mr. Singh stated that he will discuss the matter with representatives from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) in the near future and make a decision regarding the creation of a new law to effectively address the rising amount of e-waste in Bengaluru and other regions of Karnataka.
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Technology is a useful servant, but a dangerous master, it was rightly said. Electronic devices have grown into an inevitable part of our daily lives.
