Dy CM Pawan Kalyan promises efforts to set up e-waste recycling units in all districts
-Vijayawada: Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan has promised to set up e-waste recycling units in every district headquarters in addition to the existing six units.
In a reply during Question Hour in the AP Assembly on Thursday, he stated that as the quantum of e-waste being generated was increasing day-by-day and a few more e-waste recycling units, especially in the urban areas, would be sanctioned. One each unit existed at Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam, Titupati and Kadapa and two more in Anantapur.
He said private agencies could come forward to start such units wherever these did not exist.
The collection of e-waste as per e-Waste Management Rules notified by MoEF and GoI had begun in AP on April 1 last year. The state stood in 12th place in e-waste generation as per estimates of the Central Pollution Control Board’s data.
After collection of e-waste, its recyclers segregate such waste into plastics, precious and other metals, hazardous waste and other materials. Plastic waste is given to the waste-processing units for manufacture of granules/pellets while the hazardous waste is sent to the treatment-storage-disposal facility.
The inert material extracted from the recycling of precious and other materials would be sent to TSDF for further scientific treatment and disposal, the deputy CM said in his reply.
The details of e-waste collected and recycled in the last three financial years in the state were: 229.08 tonnes collected and 159.5 tonnes recyled in 2020-21; nearly 2,164.34 tonnes collected and 2,114.5 tonnes recycled in 2021-22 and about 1,302 tonnes collected and 1,060 tonnes recycled in 2022-23.
The state government was in the process of inventorisation of e-waste generation to facilitate its collection and disposal, Pawan Kalyan said, and added that letters were sent to reputed institutions for Expression of Interest (EOI) to carry out e-waste inventorisation.
