Collection centers for the disposal of electronic waste are to open in Indore from the beginning of next month. Although Indore will be the first to have a new collection center, other centers are expected to follow within the next two months in Bhopal, Gwalior and Jabalpur.
Eighty percent of the electronic waste that is generated in Madhya Pradesh comes from Indore. Madhya Pradesh is the ninth biggest producer of electronic waste in the whole country. “The state generates around 4500 tons to 5000 tons of e-waste per annum which is expected to go up significantly in coming years,” says an official from the Madhya Pradesh pollution control board. The official added that around 100 centers for the disposal of electronic waste are to be opened under the first planned phase to streamline the disposal. There are expected to be around 200 such centers eventually up and running.
Hostech Eco Management Pvt Ltd, which has been handed the responsibility for the collection of the electronic waste, including old cell phones, says that the company will begin collecting the waste from the 1st of May, with dismantling of the equipment to begin within a couple of months. “We need good amount of e-waste to run our unit for eight hours a day,” says the company’s director, Arshad Warsi. “So we will first collect and store the waste at a safe place then start dismantling and disposing it after a few months.”