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HCL, Wipro join hands with Greenpeace

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE, INDIA: A relatively new, but deadly waste stream is exploding in our midst -- electronic scrap or e-waste. India has produced about 150,000 tonnes of

e-waste till date, which is annually growing at 300 percent and likely to reach 9 million tonnes by 2012, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). In order to check the growth, Greenpeace, the global environmental organization, is tackling the e-waste problem by raising this issue with computer manufacturers and the government, before it becomes an environmental and health emergency.

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The CPCB report claims that India's production of high-tech waste is far higher than anticipated earlier and has generated around 146,000 tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) till 2006, including computers, TVs, refrigerators, and washing machines.

India dumping ground for e-waste

Speaking to CIOL, Ramapati Kumar, team leader, Toxics of Greenpeace said: “India is a dumping ground for e-waste. Despite being an alarming issue, no legislation or regulation exists in India so far to check this. Except for a few who have shifted to manufacturing of green computers, all of the others are from the grey markets of China and Taiwan.”

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In fact, Greenpeace stepped in over the use of hazardous chemicals in the manufacture of consumer goods, including the rapidly growing sector of electrical and electronic equipment. A computer, for example, contains toxic heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and beryllium, and hazardous chemicals, such as brominated flame retardants and PVC. All of these can impact neurological, reproductive and endocrine systems, affect the kidneys and lungs, and some are even known carcinogens.

The worst culprit is the commercial and financial capital of Mumbai, although much of its WEEE is then shipped to Delhi which has become India's main recycling base, says Kumar, adding that Toxic Link's research showed Mumbai was discarding much more electronic waste than had been estimated.

He said that since India had no organised alternative for recycling, most of the country's WEEE finds its way into the "informal sector". This posed serious pollution and health risks as it involves crude methods for dismantling and storage, minimal capital input, and zero health and environmental safeguards.

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Greenpeace considers that the only way to deal with the growing problem of electronic waste is for companies to design clean electronics with longer life spans, that are safe and easy to recycle and will not expose workers and the environment to hazardous chemicals.

Wipro, HCL go RoHS compliant

Earlier this year, HCL and Wipro, India’s leading computer manufacturers, have both rolled out a range of RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) complaint computers in the market. During March, HCL Infosystems Ltd introduced a complete lineup of eco-efficient consumer and business notebooks that are RoHS compliant. As a result of this compliance, these notebooks are completely safe for users and environment in general.

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George Paul, executive vice president, HCL Infosystems said: "E-waste has been a subject of concern globally and nationally. HCL, as a socially responsible corporate company, has a comprehensive program to ensure the protection of environment, health and safety of all its stakeholders, which also recognizes the need to minimize the hazardous impact of e-wastes of its products on the environment. Today, we are happy to announce full RoHS-compliance of the new range of HCL laptops being manufactured in our plants."

Similarly, Wipro Infotech introduced its range of Green Ware, eco-friendly range of desktops and laptops that are RoHS compliant this July, thereby reducing substantial e-waste to the environment.

Ashutosh Vaidya, vice president, Wipro Personal Computing Division, said: “We will ensure that our products comply with eco-friendly norms being adopted worldwide and have made a substantial investment of resources. Our major milestone was achieved last September when Wipro offered free e-Waste recycling to our customers. They can come and dump their old computers at 16 centers spread across the country and we will handle the disposal.”

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Greenpeace’s sustained campaign bears fruit

Besides, Greenpeace’s sustained campaign has already resulted in international market leaders like HP, Dell, LG Electronics, Samsung, Sony, Sony Ericsson and Nokia committing to eliminate some of the most hazardous chemicals from their products.

By going green or RoHS compliant, HCL and Wipro have taken the first step forward in addressing the issue of e-waste, even in the absence of any legislation to this effect in India. However, the problem still persists from smaller players and the huge grey market in India, adds Kumar.