COIMBATORE: Rajeshwari R, a resident of R S Puram, has been in desperate need to clear her home of her old computer monitor, tape recorders and printing machines. "Every month, several electronic items get accumulated in the store room at my residence, but I do not know whom to approach or where exactly to dispose them" she said.

The problem is not just hers, as per data from various scrap dealers in the city, nearly 50 tonnes of e-waste is generated monthly. The Coimbatore Corporation has plans to set up an E-waste warehouse soon in Coimbatore to ensure proper management of these devices, which contain about 40 to 50 types of chemicals, that can cause mercury or lead poisoning.

"Only 2 to 5 tonnes of e-waste generated in Coimbatore is collected by authentic dealers who dispose it as per norms. Other scrap dealers end up illegally dumping it or just burn it causing land and air pollution," said P Jeevanantham, general manager, Green Bhoomi, an e-waste management company in Coimbatore. The civic body will prepare a detailed project report at the cost of 25 lakh and a location will be selected for the construction of a modernized e-waste management ware house.

The corporation's decision for the e-waste disposal unit comes in the wake of Coimbatore's rise as an industrial hub, and as more e-waste is expected to be produced in the coming years. "The rate at which technology is getting updated, we discard several computers and electronic devicesstocked up in our company store houses. We ask the dealer who sold us the products to take it back most of the times," said Autokast Ltd vice-president K Ilango. Premier Mills director K V Srinivasan, said, lack of authentic dealers generally force companies to sell e-waste to scrap dealers. "Since we do not have a proper mechanism or conditions imposed, people are unaware on how to dispose their e-waste," he said.

A survey by a city school revealed that 72% of the households just simply disposed the e-waste, 11% stored it in their houses while 8% reused them. Only 2% were recycling the devices. in duration of three years.

K Nalini, environmental engineer, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board, north zone, said

"In my visit to the Vellalore dumpyard, I realized that 1,000 remote controls were thrown away daily by residents. Each consist of batteries and other metals which if not disposed properly can cause harm to the environment," she said. She said in her research she found that one tonne of e-waste produces 240-400gms of gold. And 5-8 mobile phones produce 1-5gms of gold.

"When burnt in the open could be harmful for the environment. As they contain good quantity of metals that could be re-used, most people buy e-waste" said Nalini.

She added that as per law, product manufacturers are responsible to set up collection centres so that e-waste can be recycled.