3 e-waste parks to come up to recycle used products

The official said the plan involves collecting e-waste from informal sector workers at these three parks, and supplying recycled products to manufacturers from here. The parks are proposed to be spread over spaces of about 20-acre each in areas within north, east and south Delhi.

“Two products can be derived by recycling e-waste — metals and plastic. There are processes that ensure both these recycled products are of good quality and can be used again by manufacturers. Producers of electronics can take back recycled products from here,” the official said.

Through these parks, the government hopes to control illegal processing of e-waste in areas such as East Delhi’s Seelampur, which is said to be one of the largest e-waste markets in India. Improper handling of e-waste damages the environment and also poses several health risks for workers involved in extracting metals from used products.

Officials also said development of such facilities would help electronic producers meet their waste collection and recycling targets as per their extended producer responsibility (EPR) under the E-Waste (Management) Rules 2016.

“About 95% of e-waste recycling is still done by the informal sector… Through this park, it is estimated that at least the amount of e-waste produced in Delhi can be recycled, as all stakeholders in e-waste management ecosystem will be brought under the same roof,” the official cited above said.

The proposal on development of e-waste parks is expected to be placed before L-G Anil Baijal for approval in the coming week.