Drop boxes for e-waste soon in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR: Drop boxes just like dustbins will be installed at different locations in all the 30 districts of the state to spread awareness about e-waste collection. The Odisha State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) has asked five authorized collection centres to put up the boxes.

The boxes will mainly be set up at waste generating points like banks, industries, hospitals, IT companies, telephone service providers and educational institutions. If the e-wastes can't be reused or recycled, it can dumped in the box, which will be collected by authorized centres later.

"Installing drop boxes will not only generate awareness but also benefit the waste generators. It will also benefit the authorized centres as they will sell the wastes to recyclers," said senior environmental scientist with OSPCB DK Behera.

Bulk of the e-waste is generated from Bhubaneswar, which is home to maximum number of government and private offices, commercial establishments, educational and research centres.

Though the Union ministry of environment and forests had notified the rules in May, 2011, it had given producers of electrical and electronic equipment a one-year buffer period to set up their recycling and collection centres for scientific disposal of junk.