How should e-waste be processed? Jamshedpur shows the way | The Cleanest Cities Of India | Ep-8

Executive Producer: Arnab Pratim Dutta
Managing Producer: Joel Michael
Camera & Editing: Joel Michael, Adithyan PC, Midhun Vijayan & Aishwarya Iyer
Voice Over: Aishwarya Iyer, Tushita Rawat
Motion Graphics: Sunny Gautam

India generated 771,215 tons of e-waste in 2018-19. Next year, the figure rose 32 per cent to 1,014,961 tons. Fast forward a year ahead and India is now officially the world's third-biggest e-waste generator, producing over 3.23 million metric tons of e-waste per year, behind the US and China.

Jamshedpur or Tatanagar was India’s first planned industrial city and continues to be an industrial hub. It is a city amenable to new rules and regulations that improve public services/convenience. It takes pride in being a trendsetter in this regard. So the city administration decided to take the initiative to deal with their e-waste in a better manner.

A city built around the century-old Tata steel industry, Jamshedpur generates 0.5 tons of e-waste per day.

On June 5, 2019, after getting a go-ahead from the state pollution control board and completing logistical formalities, Hulladek started its full-fledged operation in Jamshedpur at a warehouse allotted by Jamshedpur Utility Service Company (JUSCO).

The staff of the e-waste management centre at Birupa Road collects e-waste in four ways:
Monthly door-to-door collection is carried out by two dedicated Hulladek e-rickshaws, each of them accompanied by two staff members for collection and for raising awareness about safe e-waste practices. Apart from this, about 80 vehicles that belong to the city administration also collect e-waste in a segregated manner while collecting other wastes.
During the awareness campaign, many institutes became interested in the cause of managing e-waste better and agreed to work as local drop-off points for e-waste, where people associated with them could deposit their e-waste. There are five such e-waste collection centres in Jamshedpur.
The largest quantity of e-waste comes from bulk waste generators. The list of bulk waste generators in Jamshedpur is long and it contains names not limited to the Tata Group companies.
A toll-free number has also been provided, where citizens can reach out to schedule a pick-up of e-waste.

Overall, 230 tons of e-waste has been collected to date (95.5 tons in 2021 alone).
The e-waste management centre has a capacity of 35 tons. Once enough waste has been accumulated at the centre, it is transported to the Kolkata warehouse of Hulladek which has a capacity of 160 tons. In general, the transfer of waste from Jamshedpur to the Kolkata warehouse takes place once a month. During transportation, adequate precautionary measures are taken to ensure that the e-waste is not damaged.

The story of e-waste does not end here! After transportation to the warehouse, Hulladek sends the e-waste to six recyclers authorized by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). We met one of these recyclers to understand how each item of waste is carefully broken down into its parts.

Just Dispose Pvt. Ltd. is a recycler operating from Vasai, near Mumbai. Just Dispose is a single point of contact for meeting all obligations under EPR laws as per CPCB. With a strong collection system, a reverse logistics mechanism, an in-house recycling facility to recycle E-waste, plastic waste, precious metal recovery & a robust reporting system for documentation, the company ensures scientific processing and disposal of waste.

At the Justdispose plant, an electronic item is first manually dismantled and segregated according to the type of elements they are composed of. Generally, parts are divided into ferrous metals, non-ferrous metals and plastics. There are separate sections to process and recycle these after they are segregated.

For example, plastics are shredded and mixed to be sold to different manufacturers to build roads, blocks, make ropes and nets, use as alternative fuel in cement factories etc.
Copper is separated and stripped into wires. One of the most intricate processes is extracting thin copper wires from Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) that are found in computers. The copper is converted into ingots for reuse while the fiber boards they were embedded on are used in tile manufacturing. There are special machines to recover precious metals like gold and silver which are eventually sold.

Jamshedpur authorities have understood their target audience and focussed on institutions like schools, industrial units, the chamber of commerce, etc. to good effect. Jamshedpur Utility Service Company’s tie-up with Hulladek has been beneficial to both the entities and ensures that the city’s e-waste is collected and recycled in a smooth and efficient manner. Involvement of producer responsibility organizations in the management of e-waste is an easily replicable practice as it comes at zero cost to urban local bodies while ensuring adherence to the E-waste (Management) Rules of 2016.