It took more than a decade for the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) to realise that being a IT hub, the possibility of e-waste generation in the city is huge.
Currently the city generates 3,000 metric tonnes of e-waste annually, but till date there is no dedicated setup in place for the collection of e-waste. Finally, the civic body has decided to address the issue and made up a provision of Rs 66.07 crore in this year’s budget for solid waste management.
Now, PMC has decided to come up with four e-waste collection centres in the city by the end of this year.
Head of solid waste management department of PMC said that according to the survey, nearly 3,000 metric tonnes of e-waste is generated from Pune annually but we do not have a dedicated set up for the collection of e-waste. These centres will be setup in four zones of the city. There is also a proposal to install an e-waste processing plant in Ranjangaon. The plant will be set up on a two-acre plot by the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) where hazardous e-waste will be processed and recycled.
These centres will be collecting the e-waste but recycling won’t be done. After collecting the e-waste, they will be sending it to Bangalore till the time the plant at Ranjangaon is made functional.
Union agricultural minister, during his recent visit to Pune had said that nearly 80,000 IT professionals are working in the city and hence this is necessary.
Source: dnaindia, Jan’14
