NEW DELHI: PM Narendra Modi, in his Mann Ki Baat radio address, on Sunday stressed on proper disposal of ‘e-waste’, saying “today’s latest devices are also future’s e-waste”.
In his first radio address of 2023, PM Modi said “today’s devices like mobile phones, laptops and tablets have become common in every household. Their number will be in billions across the country. Whenever someone buys a new device or replaces one’s old device, it becomes necessary to keep in mind whether it is discarded properly or not. If e-waste is not disposed of properly, it can also harm our environment.”
Taking note of the post of a social media user and Telangana-based engineer Vijay, who requested a discussion on e-Waste on ‘NaMoApp’ in the program, PM Modi said if the “e-waste is discarded properly and carefully then it can become a great force in the circular economy of recycling and reusing”.
Citing a UN report on e-waste, Modi said, “It was mentioned in a United Nations report that 50 million tonnes of e-waste are thrown away every year. Can you guess how much? Even if the weight of all the commercial planes that have been built in the history of mankind is combined, it will not equal the amount of e-waste being released. It is like every second 800 laptops are being thrown away.”
The PM said, “You will be surprised to know that about 17 types of precious metals can be extracted from this e-waste through different processes. These include gold, silver, copper and nickel, so using e-waste is no less than making ‘kachre ko kanchan’. Today, there is no dearth of startups that are doing innovative work in this direction. At present, around 500 e-waste recyclers are associated with this sector and many new entrepreneurs are also being associated with it,” the PM said.
“E-Parisaraa of Bengaluru is engaged in one such effort. It has developed an indigenous technology for extracting precious metals from printed circuit boards,” he said.
“Similarly, Ecoreco working in Mumbai has developed a system to collect e-waste through a mobile app. Attero Recycling of Roorkee has obtained many patents in this field worldwide. It has also earned a lot of awards by preparing its own e-waste recycling technology. Tonnes of e-waste is being collected in Bhopal through a mobile app and the website ‘Kabadiwala’, and many more. All these are helping to make India a global recycling hub. But there is also an essential condition for the success of such initiatives — people have to be made aware of safe and useful methods of disposal of e-waste,” he added.
In his first radio address of 2023, PM Modi said “today’s devices like mobile phones, laptops and tablets have become common in every household. Their number will be in billions across the country. Whenever someone buys a new device or replaces one’s old device, it becomes necessary to keep in mind whether it is discarded properly or not. If e-waste is not disposed of properly, it can also harm our environment.”
Taking note of the post of a social media user and Telangana-based engineer Vijay, who requested a discussion on e-Waste on ‘NaMoApp’ in the program, PM Modi said if the “e-waste is discarded properly and carefully then it can become a great force in the circular economy of recycling and reusing”.
Citing a UN report on e-waste, Modi said, “It was mentioned in a United Nations report that 50 million tonnes of e-waste are thrown away every year. Can you guess how much? Even if the weight of all the commercial planes that have been built in the history of mankind is combined, it will not equal the amount of e-waste being released. It is like every second 800 laptops are being thrown away.”
The PM said, “You will be surprised to know that about 17 types of precious metals can be extracted from this e-waste through different processes. These include gold, silver, copper and nickel, so using e-waste is no less than making ‘kachre ko kanchan’. Today, there is no dearth of startups that are doing innovative work in this direction. At present, around 500 e-waste recyclers are associated with this sector and many new entrepreneurs are also being associated with it,” the PM said.
“E-Parisaraa of Bengaluru is engaged in one such effort. It has developed an indigenous technology for extracting precious metals from printed circuit boards,” he said.
“Similarly, Ecoreco working in Mumbai has developed a system to collect e-waste through a mobile app. Attero Recycling of Roorkee has obtained many patents in this field worldwide. It has also earned a lot of awards by preparing its own e-waste recycling technology. Tonnes of e-waste is being collected in Bhopal through a mobile app and the website ‘Kabadiwala’, and many more. All these are helping to make India a global recycling hub. But there is also an essential condition for the success of such initiatives — people have to be made aware of safe and useful methods of disposal of e-waste,” he added.
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