Do you know that India alone generates more than 4 lakh tones of electronic waste, which is highly toxic in nature and requires appropriate technology and process for its sound management?, writes Toxics Link. If not, then take cue from the students of St. Paul’s School Delhi, who are well aware of the magnitude of the problem and have therefore collaborated with Toxics Link in an initiative towards collecting Electronic and Electrical Waste from their school, and are giving it to an authorized recycler to ensure that the collected e-waste is recycled properly without harming the environment.
Currently 90 percent of this waste is being handled by the informal sector, which use rudimentary processes for handling it and hence is a major cause of concern to environment and human health. The students of St. Paul’s school Delhi in collaboration with Toxics Link have therefore established a collection mechanism for eliminating this hazardous E waste from their school.
Under an initiative by Toxics Link, St Paul’s school’s team of eleven students, part of the eco club of the school, along with teacher in-charge Manju Chawla, have pioneered this task of spreading the word about e waste hazards and the need for its safe management. A special bin has now been placed in the school campus wherein the students drop all kinds of E waste generated within the school premises and also bring it from their respective homes. They have plans to include the school neighborhood also in the collection programme for e waste, thus involving peoples participation in finding solution to this complex issue of managing e waste.
“This is a pioneering effort and also the need of the hour as there are no public collection systems currently for e-waste”, says Priti, who has been working on the issue of E-waste for many years now. The students have come forward with this intervention and need encouragement from all sections as they have taken upon themselves the role of change makers to find solutions.
Rema Alex Daniel, Principal of St Paul’s school acknowledges efforts made by students and says, “We are really happy to collaborate with Toxics Link and put up a special bin in the school for collecting e waste and giving it to the recycler for proper recycling.”
Robin Thomas, student of St Paul’s school and leader of this newly formed e-waste group in the school, feels responsible. He says, “Contributing to the society and environment gives us a sense of achievement and an impetus to put in more of such programmes for the society and country”.
Earth Sense, the recycling company which collects e-waste from the school feels that the initiative taken by the school is the need of the hour due to rise in e-waste at the global and national level. After collecting all e-waste from the school, the segregation and dismantling is done at their factory in Manesar.
Satish Sinha, Associate Director, Toxics Link stressing on the critical problem, points out, “E-waste generation and its improper recycling is a grave concern for the country today. Let’s hope that there may be more initiatives like the one in St Paul’s school, which can also be a learning lesson for for many others.”
