A Workshop on “E-Waste Management – Challenges, Prospects and Strategies” was organised at the EDC House, Panaji, on Wednesday, the 22nd March, 2017 organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with the World Trade Centre Goa, Ministry of Environment Forests & Climate Change and the Goa State Pollution Control Board.
The following personnel of the Dempo group of companies attended the event:-
| Group Company | Executive | Designation |
|---|---|---|
| Goa Carbon Ltd | Mr. Yogesh Muzumdar | Manager – Purchases & Systems |
| Goa Carbon Ltd | Mr. Mahesh Charate | Sr. Manager – Systems |
| V S Dempo Holdings Pvt. Ltd | Mr. Sainath Pednekar | Deputy Manager – IS |
The Chief Guest, Ms. Revati Mujumdar, CEO, Goa Electronics Limited, in her opening remarks opined that E-Waste is a serious concern for our country, as India ranks as the 5th largest producer of E-Waste in the world. On the positive side she noted that India ranks as the 2nd largest consumer of electronic products but lacks professional collection facilities and the mechanism to treat E-waste properly. She quoted the example of Norway which has a professional system in place for the proper collection and treatment of E-Waste. We need to take such solutions to our organizations and look at the bigger gains of making a cleaner and better , she added.
In his welcome address, Mr. Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, stated that the overall objective of the workshop was to highlight e-waste management and in context of the E-waste Rules 2016. He expressed serious concern that e-waste was posing serious problems to human health and since only 1.5% of India’s E-Waste is recycled he foresaw a problem of gigantic proportions for the coming generations. He also touched upon the challenges that the State of Goa is facing in the sphere of E-Waste collection and disposal and advocated that Goa should put in place professional collection and processing units to successfully treat the increasing amount of E-Waste that is generated.
Earlier, Mr. Cyril Desouza, Asst. Director, World Trade Centre Goa remarked that under the new rules, producers had been made responsible for the collection and recycling of e-waste. He said that the electronics industry was the world’s largest and fastest growing manufacturing vertical and it is estimated that around 1.7 million tons of e-waste is being generated in India annually which poses huge challenges but also offers immense opportunities for new business start-ups in this area.
Mr. B. K. Soni, Chairman & Managing Director, Eco Recycling Ltd. expressed the opinion that the government must focus on the three Ts namely training, transport and technology. The first T refers to imparting skills to informal kabadiwalas about eco-friendly methods of e-waste management. The second T refers to investment in reverse logistics to transport e-waste from generation points to collection centres. The third T refers to use of cutting-edge technology to recover assets from waste.
Mr. Abhinav Apte, General Manager, SWM Cell, Department of Science and Technology, Goa, elaborated on the E-waste Rules 2016 and expressed the thought that producers had a huge responsibility in the area of collection and treatment of E-waste. Household items like Compact Fluorescent Lamps and other mercury containing lamps are also included in the ambit of E-Waste. He spoke on Schedule I and Schedule II of the Rules on the classification of E-waste.
Mr. Ashley Delaney, Partner, Group TENPLUS, in his address, spoke on the strategies to address the problem of E-waste. We need to develop education programmes, he said, to address sustainability within the organization and develop a green office programme to address the E Waste issue. He also expressed the need for e-waste accounting. Organizations need to come together, form a group and make take- back easier, he opined.
Ms. Kanchan Zutshi, Secretary, Environment Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry moderated the workshop.
The next day, Thursday, the 23rd March, 2017, saw a workshop at the same venue on “Hazardous Waste Management – Challenges, Prospects and Strategies”, again organized by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Association with the Ministry of the Environment Forests & Climate Change and World Trade Centre, Goa.
The following of our personnel attended the workshop:-
| Group Company | Executive | Designation |
|---|---|---|
| Goa Carbon Ltd | Mr. Ulhas Naik | Production Manager |
| Goa Carbon Ltd | Mr. Gurudas Kalsekar | Dy. Manager – Electrical & Instrumentation |
| Dempo Shipbuilding & Engineering Pvt. Ltd |
Mr. Prabhakar Naik | Deputy Manager – Production & Safety |
Smt. R. Menaka, IAS, Director of Industries Trade & Commerce, Govt. of Goa, in her inaugural address congratulated PHD Chamber & WTC on organizing a workshop on hazardous waste. She further emphasized that hazardous waste needed to be managed properly and that 3A’s should be taken care of — Attitude, Awareness and Action. The provisions of the new rules are in line with the government’s prioritizing of responsible concerns for sustainable development and protection of the Ganga and the Yamuna. The new hazardous waste rules would help waste disposal in an environmentally sound manner and the rules had been revised indicating a stringent approach to the management of hazardous waste along with simplification of procedure. She also highlighted the fact that that the Industries Department of Government of Goa was taking various initiatives like setting up of industrial space, sheds for recycling, pre –processing, registering the workers involved in recycling, and that the undertaking of industrial skill development activities and training are in the pipe-line. She stated that she welcomed any recommendations in regard to hazardous waste management and assured that the Industries Department of Goa would work together with all the stakeholders concerned.
Mr. Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry highlighted the development that with the introduction of the new Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Trans-boundary Movement) Rules, 2016, priority actions have been set out that should be undertaken within the lifetime of the Plan in relation to:
⇒ the prevention of hazardous waste;
⇒ improved collection rates for certain categories of hazardous waste;
⇒ steps that are required to improve India’s self –sufficiency in hazardous waste management and the continued identification and regulation of legacy issues(e.g. identification, risk assessment and regularization of historic unregulated waste disposal sites).
Also he emphasized that as responsible citizens, we should take matters into our own hands in creating awareness in society at large. Industries should also take the responsibility of their actions by proper treatment and disposal of their waste products.
Mr. Abhinav Apte, GM, SWM Cell, Department of Science and Technology, Goa, talked in detail about the new Hazardous Waste Rules 2016. Further he said that for the first time, rules have been made to distinguish between hazardous waste and other waste. All the forms under the rules for permission, import/export, filing of annual returns, transportation etc. have been revised significantly and the procedure is highly simplified now. Responsibility of state governments for management of hazardous and other wastes has been introduced in the new rules and State Pollution Control Boards are mandated to prepare an annual inventory of the waste generated, waste recycled, recovered, and utilized.
Mr. Nawal Kishore Verma, Former Additional Director, Central Pollution Control Board, stressed on the three R’s — Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. The primary responsibility of the generator of hazardous waste is to prevent such waste generation. If one cannot prevent the generation, the generator must at least minimize hazardous waste. Also we should try to reuse and recycle the waste and disposal should be the last option, he added.
Ms. Parul Nanda, Senior Sales Manager, South Central, ACC Limited, said that co-processing has emerged as a sustainable and viable business model for cement manufacturers in managing hazardous waste.
Other eminent speakers who spoke at the workshop included Mr. Suraj Gaikwad, Sr. Officer, SMS Evercare Ltd., Mr. Senath Molar, Head, Mumbai Water Management Ltd., Mr. Krishna Kulkarni, Head – HSE, Vedanta Sesa Goa Iron Ore, Mr. Richard Dias, General Manager, Operations & Maintenance, Hindustan Waste Treatment (P) Ltd and Mr. Cyril Desouza, Asst. Director, World Trade Centre, Goa. Ms. Kanchan Zutshi, Secretary, Environment Committee, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry moderated the workshop.
The workshop was followed by a field visit to the Hindustan Waste Treatment (P) Ltd, Pelerine, Goa.
