Government working on policy to help consumers dispose of junk

New Delhi: Forget your local junk dealer or used car purchase dealer. The government is working on a policy to help consumers dispose of junk, from vehicles to steel cookers, at the click of a button. Private steel companies, auto makers and startups are keenly watching to foray into organised scrap sector once a policy is announced, said steel joint secretary Ruchika Govil.

The draft policy, circulated among stakeholders for comments, aims at responsible disposal of the waste and recycle the steel in it to be used as raw material by Indian industries. India imports seven million tonnes of scrap every year while the unorganised dealers continue to buy our scrapped vehicles, washing machines and coolers.

The National Green Tribunal had in May 2015 ordered closure of all illegal and unauthorised scrap industries in Mayapuri area of Delhi on environmen-tal grounds. Lack of professional dealing of chemicals, oils and poisonous fumes in the junk, results in air, water and soil pollution causing environment hazards.


“Scrap is something which doesn’t have use in current form and has no or very low economic value. We want to collect it responsibly and use it productively as we say steel is a green product.

We will make it an input for the secondary steel sector which doesn’t use iron ore but scrap as input,” Govil said.