Tax sops on IT goods may boost e-waste …Sobia Khan | TNN
Kolkata: It took a much-publicised Greenpeace agitation in 2005 to achieve its desired resultmake Wipro Infotech come out with a range of ecofriendly desktops in June 2007. Unfortunately, its going to need a more sustained movement to curb the growing electronic waste menace in the country, which is bound to gain momentum following the 2% reduction in the mean central value-added tax rate on all IT products announced in the latest union Budget, as more people dump their old desktops for newer versions.
Sales of desktops are likely to go up 15-20% because of rising demand. Unless corrective measures are taken, the ewaste problem is going to become more serious, Vinnie Mehta, executive director of the manufacturers association for information technology (MAIT), said. MAIT represents the interests of organized computer hardware manufacturers. Its high time India had proper guidelines in place on disposal of e-waste, Greenpeace toxics campaigner Ramapati Kumar said. Currently, many companies choose the easy way outeither they dump their e-waste in the garbage bin or sell it to local scrap dealers.
A large quantity of desktops sold in India use hazardous chemicals such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs), which makes it all the more necessary that these products are disposed safely. Incidentally, a study conducted in December 2007 by GTZ and MAIT, e-waste generated in India will touch 470,000 tonnes by 2011. Currently, India generates 330,000 tonnes of e-waste annually, while an additional 50,000 tonnes is illegally imported.
The study indicated that 94% of the organizations did not have any policy on disposal of obsolete IT products/e-waste. A whopping 95% of recycling remains concentrated in the informal sector which adds significantly to pollution and environmental degradation. As of now, only 19,000 tonnes is processed in the country due to poor recycling infrastructure.
There are just two formal recyclers in the south and west of India. And none at all in northern and eastern India.
Sales of desktops are likely to go up 15-20% because of rising demand. Unless corrective measures are taken, the ewaste problem is going to become more serious, Vinnie Mehta, executive director of the manufacturers association for information technology (MAIT), said. MAIT represents the interests of organized computer hardware manufacturers. Its high time India had proper guidelines in place on disposal of e-waste, Greenpeace toxics campaigner Ramapati Kumar said. Currently, many companies choose the easy way outeither they dump their e-waste in the garbage bin or sell it to local scrap dealers.
A large quantity of desktops sold in India use hazardous chemicals such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs), which makes it all the more necessary that these products are disposed safely. Incidentally, a study conducted in December 2007 by GTZ and MAIT, e-waste generated in India will touch 470,000 tonnes by 2011. Currently, India generates 330,000 tonnes of e-waste annually, while an additional 50,000 tonnes is illegally imported.
The study indicated that 94% of the organizations did not have any policy on disposal of obsolete IT products/e-waste. A whopping 95% of recycling remains concentrated in the informal sector which adds significantly to pollution and environmental degradation. As of now, only 19,000 tonnes is processed in the country due to poor recycling infrastructure.
There are just two formal recyclers in the south and west of India. And none at all in northern and eastern India.
