The State Government’s programme to clean electronic waste (e-waste) from Government offices began from the District Collectorate on Tuesday. A total of 3000 kilograms of e-waste was collected from the collectorate as part of this drive. This includes old computers, printers, scanners and photostat machines.
The electronic equipment which have been categorised as old by the electronics wing of the Public Works department are being removed as part of the drive. The Clean Kerala company formed by the State Government will take this e-waste first to Palakkad, where it will be segregated, and from there to Hyderabad, where it will be recycled. The waste is being collected at a rate of Rs.10 per kilogram. An agency called Earthsense has taken up the job of recycling for the Clean Kerala company.
The segregation is done at Palakkad as the plastic and metal parts are recycled separately. Even the gold plating on the CPU boards is segregated, to be reused later for electroplating purposes. The first truck carrying e-waste material from the collectorate left for Kochi on Tuesday. District Collector K.Vasuki and Assistant Collector J.Priyanka flagged off the truck.
A nodal offficer has been appointed in all Government offices to ensure the following of green protocol. They have been given special training to ensure that the offices are maintained in an environmentally-friendly manner.