KMC to open e-waste collection centres at borough offices
Times of India | 8 September 2024
Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has decided to open e-waste collection camps at its borough offices. These camps to be manned by Webel officials will give citizens an opportunity to sell off their e-waste. Similar e-waste collection centres are there in New Town.
KMC officials said the first two camps will be set up at boroughs I and IX from Sept 17.KMC will organize such e-waste collection camps at all 16 boroughs by Dec-end. Depending on citizens’ response, the camps will be set up at the ward level, said state information technology minister Babul Supriyo.
According to a state information technology department official, out of 1.5 lakh tonnes of e-waste that is being generated daily, the state can barely manage to collect 50,000 tonnes. “The gap is huge, and we need to bridge this gap by encouraging the citizens and industry to part with their accumulating e-waste,” the IT minister said.
According to plans, the e-waste to be collected from the KMC-run camps will be recycled at a factory to be set up by Webel in Sonarpur area. West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) has allocated Rs 10 crore for collection and recycling of e-waste.
According to WBPCB member secretary Rajesh Kumar, the burgeoning e-waste has been causing a constant threat to the environment and leading to health hazards. “The initiative of setting up camps for collection of e-waste is a step forward to deal with such a serious threat. Hope, citizens and private firms and organizations will avail the opportunity and Webel will make best use of the collected wastes and recycle them to save the environment,” Kumar said.
The mayor, Firhad Hakim, held a meeting with Babul Supriyo, WBPCB and state IT department senior officials on Saturday to chalk out a strategy for effective disposal of e-waste. The member, mayor-in-council overseeing the KMC solid waste management, Debabrata Majumdar, said though the city produces 33 tonnes of e-waste daily, there was hardly any capacity to collect and recycle them.
“We have decided to lend our support to the WBPCB and Webel authorities and in effectively implementing a policy for collection and recycling e-waste. If need be, we will increase the number of e-waste collection camps and help the Webel officials carry out an awareness drive among citizens to encourage them to dispose of their accumulating e-waste at home. Now that the Webel is offering attractive resale prices, the citizens should come forward and avail this opportunity,” said the mayor.
According to a KMC official, the civic brass has been instructed to set up a dedicated team of workers for setting up the e-waste collection camps at the civic body’s borough offices.