BANGALORE, India — A relatively new but deadly waste stream is exploding in our midst -Electronic scrap or E-waste. Bangalore, the IT centre of India, alone generates over 8000 tonnes of e-waste loaded with toxic chemicals and heavy metals that cannot be disposed of or recycled safely. Greenpeace India activists today called upon the Bangalore headquarters of the iconic brand Wipro with 500 kilos of their e-waste, asking the company to ‘Apply Thought’, adopt Clean Production and put in place mechanisms to Take-Back their end-of-life products.
Greenpeace activists return ewaste to the Wipro corporate headquarters in Bangalore.
Why Wipro? Because we at Greenpeace India use Wipro products:
laptops, desktops, printers et al and during our investigations of
the Indian recycling yards in Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore we were
surprised at the quantum of Wipro waste being scrapped at these
yards.
When we started our
global campaign earlier this year we were targeting the biggest
brand names in the business like Hewlett Packard, Samsung, Dell, LG
etc, and demanding that these multinational companies pay heed to
the toxic disaster unfolding in the e-waste recycling yards of
China and India. Simultaneously, we at Greenpeace India decided
that we needed to engage with the most iconic Indian IT brand; one
that prides itself on its strength in the Technology and Enterprise
domains. We have a strong belief that if Wipro were to use these
strengths to make the much-needed shift to clean production it
would build a competitive edge by introducing products that do not
cause harm to the environment and human health.
A recent Greenpeace report
"Toxic Tech: recycling electronic wastes in China and India",
released on 17th August 2005, has conclusively proved that heavy
metals including lead and cadmium, acids and organic contaminants
are released into the workplace and in many cases, into the
surrounding environment, during the e-waste recycling and scrapping
process.
Greenpeace considers that the only way to deal with the growing
problem of electronic waste is for companies to design clean
electronics with longer life spans, that are safe and easy to
recycle and will not expose workers and the environment to
hazardous chemicals.
So on Monday, 5th September, 2005 we took about 500 kilos of
e-waste sourced from recycling yards around the country to the
Wipro Corporate Office in Bangalore - to remind them that Wipro
products contribute to the growing menace of dangerous chemicals
being released to the environment during the recycling
processes. To also inform them that companies like Samsung, LG,
Sony have already committed to phasing out dangerous chemicals and
substituting them with safe and environment-friendly alternatives
while reviewing their extended producer responsibility and
'take-back' policies. To ask that Wipro review its own policies for
clean production and take back to ensure that none of their
products harm environmental and/or human health at any stage of
their life-cycle - from cradle to grave.
Incidentally, we are not the first ones to remind Wipro of their
role in this crisis. Earlier this year, the
Karnataka Pollution Control Board (KPCB) served notice to Wipro
for having sent significant volumes of electronic waste to
unauthorized recycling yards.
At the end of our two hour activity outside Wipro, we were happy
that senior management from Wipro, despite their initial
hesitation, promised Greenpeace activists and volunteers that the
company would review its take-back policy, support any government
legislation on extended producer responsibility and find out how to
substitute hazardous chemicals in their products and keep pace
with the likes of Sony, Samsung and LG.
Now that's we call a progressive Indian company! And we are sure
that when we meet them again on October 5th as committed by them,
Wipro would have 'applied thought' and found a way to become
India's most iconic environment friendly brand.
View the
scientific report
Visit the
e-waste campaign
View the
e-waste video
View the
e-waste in India slideshow
See the related
Press Release