Workshop on sensitising bulk consumers and OEMs about infrastructural support and facilities available from recyclers

dataserv collaborated with MAIT, the apex body of IT manufacturers & with the Ministry of Environment & Forests in India hold its second awareness workshop on ‘e-Waste Rules for Bulk Consumers’ in Noida. The workshop was aimed at sensitizing bulk consumers and OEMs about the range of infrastructural support and facilities available from recyclers as well as highlighting the key features of the e-Waste (Management & Handling) Rules 2011.

Uttar Pradesh is the 4th largest producer of e-Waste and the state has become a dumping ground for electronic waste generated by users of mobile phones, laptops, DVD players, TVs and many other gadgets. Also, considering Noida has a large number of bulk consumers such as IT companies and MNCs the workshop highlighted the efforts of MAIT and Dataserv APAC to mobilize e-Waste through take-back mechanisms for end-users.

The E-waste Management and Handling Rules 2011 were formulated to reduce the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment by specifying thresholds for use of hazardous material including lead, mercury and cadmium. The rules place the main responsibility of e-waste management on the producers and bulk consumers of electrical and electronic equipment by introducing the concept of ‘Extended Producer Responsibility” (EPR).

Amit Sardana, MD, dataserv APAC spoke about ‘Infrastructural support available from Recyclers for the Bulk Consumers’ at the workshop. In his address, he highlighted various initiatives launched by dataserv APAC in this regard including the recent introduction of a free e-waste pick up service in NCR. Amit Sardana also announced the drop-off facility for end-of- life-assets for the benefit of Consumers, which was recently launched across 30 cities in India.

Speaking on the panel to discuss ‘Effective Implementation of e-Waste Rules’,

Amit Sardana said, “Given the rapid obsolescence of IT equipment, Dataserv APAC has entered the Indian market with the offerings that span from refurbishing solutions, ethical recycling of end-of-life equipment, secure data-wiping solutions and managed deployment of redundant IT assets which covers a whole range of solutions that OEMs and Bulk Consumers could possibly require.”

Other speakers present at the event included Mr. Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT; Ms. Ritu Ghosh, Chairperson, Green IT Committee, MAIT; Dr. Ashish Chaturvedi, Senior Technical Advisor, GIZ;  Dr. Chhanda Chaturvedi, Director, MOEF, and Mr. Amit Sardana, Managing Director, dataserv APAC; Mr. Anand Kumar, Sr.Environment Engineer,CPCB; Mr. Rajesh Chawla, DGM-ITSS, State Bank of India . The experts acknowledged that with the advent of innovation and technology, responsible handling of e-Waste has become possible in a developing country like ours which gives us an opportunity to contain the issue which will multiply with economic advancement and increasing rate of obsolesce.

dataserv APAC is part of the Dataserv Group, a global leader specialising in the reuse, environmentally-secure, ethical breakdown and recycling of e-waste. With a presence across Europe, US, Africa and Asia, the company is the world’s largest remarketer of used electronic goods and a leading player in offering take-back services to global Original Equipment Manufacturers’ (OEMs) Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). dataserv is committed to driving sustainable e-waste management, and as the co-founder of the ‘StEP’ initiative set up by the United Nations, is working with government, industry and society to make a positive impact on the environment.