Number expected to increase by ten thousand metric tonnes in coming three years, claims report titled ‘E-waste in Telangana Inventorisation’ published by city-based Environment Protection Training and Research Institute
HYDERABAD: In the last two decades, Hyderabad grew in size and number, and so did its appetite for electrical and electronic goods. The city would be generating around 40,230 Metric Tonnes (MT) of e-waste this year (2019-20) and this number is expected to increase by ten thousand MT in the coming three years, claims a report titled ‘E-waste in Telangana Inventorisation’, published by city-based Environment Protection Training and Research Institute (EPTRI).
In 2009, when EPTRI had published its first e-waste report for the city, they estimated e-waste generation to be just 3,263 MT in that year. However, it came out to be much higher.
This rise in e-waste generation emphasises towards the need for having more e-waste dismantling/recycling units in the state. According to the data from Telangana State Pollution Control Board (TSPCB), there are five authorised e-waste dismantling/recycling units in the state with a combined capacity of about 21,440MT per annum, which is about 50 per cent of e-waste generated just by Hyderabad.
In 2016-17, EPTRI conducted a study for the present e-waste inventorisation report which was made public only recently. In which, it estimated that in the year, 2016-17 people living in Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) generated 28,749 MT e-waste, per annum. It expected that the number would increase to 40,230 MT in 2019-20 and 50,335 MT in 2021-22.
Need for controlling e-waste in the unorganised sector
Increase in authorized dismantlers and recyclers, would not be enough, as a large part of e-waste goes into unorganised sector dismantlers prone to cause health hazards and effecting environment as it contains harmful chemicals.
The report also mentioned that in the year 2016-17, as much as 8,686MT of e-waste could have been dismantled by small-time e-waste dealers and the bigger chunk could have been handled by bulk-dealers in the unorganised sector.
Households generate most
The report also found out that 75 percent of the e-waste generated in the city is from households and not from bulk consumers of electrical and electronic goods like public and private institutions, manufacturers and IT companies.
In 2016-17, of the total 28,749 MT e-waste in HMDA limits, households generated 21,197 MT. This came as a surprise, as in 2009, EPTRI had found out that households in Hyderabad had generated only 15 percent of e-waste.
According to the EPTRI report, just 2.5 per cent people from high-income groups in the HMDA area generated 33 per cent of e-waste in 2016-17.
Whereas, 23 per cent people from middle income groups generated 14 percent of the total waste. Compared to this around 75 per cent people belonging to low income and BPL groups had generated some 4 per cent.
