Global E-waste Monitor 2017 Report of United Nations University says that in 2016, the annual generation of e-waste in India was two million tonnes. If after hearing this you are guiltily thinking about that old phone catching dust or a malfunctioning tab rotting away at home, Green Waves Environmental Solutions can take care of it for you. They will even pick it up from your house if you want!
P Anil Chowdary, Managing Director, Green Waves Environmental Solutions tells us how after completing his second postgraduation from New Zealand's Waiariki Institute of Technology in Resource Management, he wanted to offer multiple waste management solutions and upon consultation with K Kameswara Rao, Professor of Environmental Sciences from Andhra University, he decided to take on the mammoth task of dealing with e-waste. Though it took over a year to get clearances from the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board, with their head office in Visakhapatnam they started their operations in 2015. "In the first six months, I was of the opinion that people will be self-motivated to drop in their e-waste themselves," confesses and laughs the jovial 32-year-old. Today, he knows better and operates a three-member team in three cities including Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad and Goa. They have also partnered with 150 industries, leading pharma companies, Visakhapatnam Port Trust and more to help them deal with their e-waste.
"Today, the way people are concerned about plastic, in the coming years, they will be concerned about e-waste," says Anil, who also has a postgraduation degree in Environmental Studies from GITAM in Visakhapatnam. Agreeing to the fact that electronic devices are indispensable, he points out that the processes adopted by the current informal sector, which is usually designated to deal with e-waste, tends to pollute the air, water and soil. Giving us an example, Anil says, "Think about CFL lights, which are hazardous due to the mercury in them. If you dispose it off in the dry waste bin, where will it go? It will enter our air, soil and food," explains Anil who was born in Vijayawada and brought up in Hyderabad.
Next, Anil wants to focus on the waste generated by the fashion industry, "something which no one talks about." His mother has been running a boutique for 15 years now and post collecting the waste cloth from there and other places, they make cloth bags. "Because the general problem with cloth bags is that they are too expensive, we are able to offer them at a reduced price because we use waste cloth," explains Anil and adds that they sell cloth bags for Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 15.
They have also engaged students in the task of repurposing materials, including students from St Joseph's College For Women in Visakhapatnam, St Ann's College and VNR VJIET from Hyderabad. They help them form environmental clubs, separate wet waste and dry waste. While the former is used to make compost, the latter is taken to their warehouse. Recently, they also worked with a government school in Rajahmundry, took all their newspapers and question papers and offered them repurposed products at a reduced cost. "The activity is very small, but the ideology is right," says Anil with a smile.
Some of the products they offer:
For more on them, check out greenwavesrecyclers.in
