c substances into the air.

Brominated flame retardants used in many electronic equipments release, when incinerated, toxic substances that can build up in human tissues, stored in fatty tissues and fluid, such as breast milk, and can be passed on to fetuses and infants during pregnancy and lactation.

Mercury used in relays, switches and PCBs can cause chronic respiratory damage and skin disorders, whereas the beryllium used in motherboards is carcinogenic. Workers inhaling fumes and dust are known to suffer from chronic beryllium disease or be

Next time you think of buying a new electronic gadget to replace what you think is an outdated one, take a deep breath and think. Most of the time the retailer offers to take back your old gadget for a marginal cut in the price of the new, but often it's only a marketing gimmick to attract customers. The electronic junk may ultimately end up in unprotected landfills.

So what's the problem, you ask. Megatons of electronic debris sleeping inside the landfills are nothing short of ecological time bombs, experts warn. They can very soon get into the groundwater and the atmosphere. Our city is fast becoming an e-graveyard of discarded electronic components, driven to e-obsolescence by the fast pace of new age technology that makes people or organizations using gadgets like laptops, computers, televisions or mobiles from 1990s look like Neanderthals in the Darwinian landscape.

Bangalore is the hub to over 1,100 software units, aircraft and space industry, besides hundreds of electronic components and goods manufacturers. Annually, about 30 per cent of the equipment becomes obsolete in each IT company; the customs regulations do not permit their sale, so the discarded stuff stockpiles in the company godowns and is later passed on to ‘recyclers’. Coupled with domestic appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, microwave ovens and the ubiquitous TV set, the electronic discards assume massive proportions.

Bangalore has more than 500 recyclers of discarded computers and electronic components. Many households in Goripalya, near the City Market, Nayandanahalli and Bytarayanapura in Bangalore are reportedly engaged in e-scavenging. They sell second-hand parts to computer assemblers in the grey market; and for the rest, they employ labourers, some of them children, to extract with bare hands precious metals such as gold and silver using crude chemical processes. Apart from gold or silver, one can recover platinum, silicon, cadmium, nickel, copper, lead and iron during the recycling process. After the extraction of the precious metals, most then burn the waste, or bury them, mainly plastics and printed circuit boards, in illegal dump yards near residential colonies - releasing toxic and carcinogenic substances into the air.

Brominated flame retardants used in many electronic equipments release, when incinerated, toxic substances that can build up in human tissues, stored in fatty tissues and fluid, such as breast milk, and can be passed on to fetuses and infants during pregnancy and lactation.

Mercury used in relays, switches and PCBs can cause chronic respiratory damage and skin disorders, whereas the beryllium used in motherboards is carcinogenic. Workers inhaling fumes and dust are known to suffer from chronic beryllium disease or be

dwater and the atmosphere. Our city is fast becoming an e-graveyard of discarded electronic components, driven to e-obsolescence by the fast pace of new age technology that makes people or organizations using gadgets like laptops, computers, televisions or mobiles from 1990s look like Neanderthals in the Darwinian landscape.

Bangalore is the hub to over 1,100 software units, aircraft and space industry, besides hundreds of electronic components and goods manufacturers. Annually, about 30 per cent of the equipment becomes obsolete in each IT company; the customs regulations do not permit their sale, so the discarded stuff stockpiles in the company godowns and is later passed on to ‘recyclers’. Coupled with domestic appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, microwave ovens and the ubiquitous TV set, the electronic discards assume massive proportions.

Bangalore has more than 500 recyclers of discarded computers and electronic components. Many households in Goripalya, near the City Market, Nayandanahalli and Bytarayanapura in Bangalore are reportedly engaged in e-scavenging. They sell second-hand parts to computer assemblers in the grey market; and for the rest, they employ labourers, some of them children, to extract with bare hands precious metals such as gold and silver using crude chemical processes. Apart from gold or silver, one can recover platinum, silicon, cadmium, nickel, copper, lead and iron during the recycling process. After the extraction of the precious metals, most then burn the waste, or bury them, mainly plastics and printed circuit boards, in illegal dump yards near residential colonies - releasing toxic and carcinogenic substances into the air.

Brominated flame retardants used in many electronic equipments release, when incinerated, toxic substances that can build up in human tissues, stored in fatty tissues and fluid, such as breast milk, and can be passed on to fetuses and infants during pregnancy and lactation.

Mercury used in relays, switches and PCBs can cause chronic respiratory damage and skin disorders, whereas the beryllium used in motherboards is carcinogenic. Workers inhaling fumes and dust are known to suffer from chronic beryllium disease or be

the customs regulations do not permit their sale, so the discarded stuff stockpiles in the company godowns and is later passed on to ‘recyclers’. Coupled with domestic appliances such as washing machines, refrigerators, microwave ovens and the ubiquitous TV set, the electronic discards assume massive proportions.

Bangalore has more than 500 recyclers of discarded computers and electronic components. Many households in Goripalya, near the City Market, Nayandanahalli and Bytarayanapura in Bangalore are reportedly engaged in e-scavenging. They sell second-hand parts to computer assemblers in the grey market; and for the rest, they employ labourers, some of them children, to extract with bare hands precious metals such as gold and silver using crude chemical processes. Apart from gold or silver, one can recover platinum, silicon, cadmium, nickel, copper, lead and iron during the recycling process. After the extraction of the precious metals, most then burn the waste, or bury them, mainly plastics and printed circuit boards, in illegal dump yards near residential colonies - releasing toxic and carcinogenic substances into the air.

Brominated flame retardants used in many electronic equipments release, when incinerated, toxic substances that can build up in human tissues, stored in fatty tissues and fluid, such as breast milk, and can be passed on to fetuses and infants during pregnancy and lactation.

Mercury used in relays, switches and PCBs can cause chronic respiratory damage and skin disorders, whereas the beryllium used in motherboards is carcinogenic. Workers inhaling fumes and dust are known to suffer from chronic beryllium disease or be

ond-hand parts to computer assemblers in the grey market; and for the rest, they employ labourers, some of them children, to extract with bare hands precious metals such as gold and silver using crude chemical processes. Apart from gold or silver, one can recover platinum, silicon, cadmium, nickel, copper, lead and iron during the recycling process. After the extraction of the precious metals, most then burn the waste, or bury them, mainly plastics and printed circuit boards, in illegal dump yards near residential colonies - releasing toxic and carcinogenic substances into the air.

Brominated flame retardants used in many electronic equipments release, when incinerated, toxic substances that can build up in human tissues, stored in fatty tissues and fluid, such as breast milk, and can be passed on to fetuses and infants during pregnancy and lactation.

Mercury used in relays, switches and PCBs can cause chronic respiratory damage and skin disorders, whereas the beryllium used in motherboards is carcinogenic. Workers inhaling fumes and dust are known to suffer from chronic beryllium disease or be

c substances into the air.

Brominated flame retardants used in many electronic equipments release, when incinerated, toxic substances that can build up in human tissues, stored in fatty tissues and fluid, such as breast milk, and can be passed on to fetuses and infants during pregnancy and lactation.

Mercury used in relays, switches and PCBs can cause chronic respiratory damage and skin disorders, whereas the beryllium used in motherboards is carcinogenic. Workers inhaling fumes and dust are known to suffer from chronic beryllium disease or beryllicosis.

While the government sets about fixing the responsibility on who is supposed to handle the e-waste: the municipality or the producers, civic agencies like Greenpeace want companies to take more responsibility for the hardware they sell once it becomes obsolete. Under its pressure, Wipro Ltd. agreed recently to offer a free e-waste disposal service to its PC customers. It has also made a commitment to 100% RoHS compliance by June 2007. (RoHS, or Restriction of Hazardous Substances, is a European directive that requires the electronics industry to eliminate heavy metals like Lead, Cadmium, Chromium and Mercury from its products). Sustained campaigning from Greenpeace is forcing international market leaders like HP, Dell, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Nokia to eliminate some of the most hazardous chemicals from their products and substitute safer alternatives in their place.

Recently, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board gave authorisation for two commercial enterprises to handle e-trash in Bangalore- E-Parisaraa Pvt Ltd and Ash Recyclers. E-Parisara has equipment to recycle up to three tonnes of waste a day, but is dealing with around one tonne right now. Many corporates such as IBM, Tate Elxsi, and Phillips are among its clients.

What can you do as a responsible consumer?

1. Chant "Reduce, Recycle, Reuse..." when just about to discard computers, or their accessories, and other electronic equipments. You could donate them to students or non-profit organizations. People can organize to collect old electronic goods from houses in their residential areas and contact the authorized recyclers to pick up the equipments from their premises.
2. You may deposit old batteries, CDs, floppies, casettes at the special collection bins kept by Saahas, a non-governmental organisation in the city, at The Forum in Koramangala, GK Vale on MG Road, Jayanagar and Indiranagar, Fabmall in Indiranagar and Bannerghatta Road, Safina Plaza and Fitness One in Jayanagar and Koramangala. Saahas has also made arrangements with over 30 schools in the city and routes the collection to E-Parisaraa.