Test Drive: How to dispose e-waste in Delhi

Delhi generates an estimated 200,000 tonnes of e-waste each year. But the city still relies on registered e-waste collection centre in Mandoli

Published on: Apr 24, 2023, 16:25:00 IST

By Jasjeev Gandhiok

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

The proper disposal of electronic waste (e-waste) is an issue that plagues Delhi. The Capital is estimated to generate around 200,000 tonne of e-waste per annum, but with no fixed mechanism for the safe and convenient disposal of this waste, around 90% of electronic products end up in landfills, or reach the informal sector, where they are dismantled in the open. HT correspondent Jasjeev Gandhiok tried to get rid of an old smartphone and a broken powerbank to assess how e-waste can safely be disposed of in the Capital.

In April 2021, the Delhi government announced it would set up the country’s first electronic waste (e-waste) park . Two years on, the government has only identified a site to set up the park — in northwest Delhi’s Holambi Kalan. (Mohit Suneja/HT illustration)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasjeev Gandhiok
Jasjeev Gandhiok is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times, where he covers environment, climate change, the clean energy transition and wildlife at the National Bureau. Gandhiok has over a decade of experience in journalism and is based in Delhi. He has reported extensively on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes the region's air pollution woes, a polluted Yamuna and on urban wildlife still thriving in the region. He joined HT in October 2021. Prior to that, he had five-year stint at The Times of India in Delhi, where he also covered Delhi, with a focus on environment and wildlife. Gandhiok has covered some recent events around the Capital too, ranging from the farmers' protests, the northeast Delhi riots and the CAA-NRC protests, reporting from the ground on all of these. He also travels across the country to report on how environment and climate change impact everyday life, while also writing on endangered species. His reports in 2019 on toxic leachate from Delhi's landfills led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) taking suo motu cognisance and ultimately asking the state government to start bio-mining to flatten and remove all three landfills in the capital. He also closely tracks the implementation of government policies on climate, renewable energy and environmental protection. His focus remains on impactful, public-interest journalism which explains how environmental decisions affect people's everyday lives.Read More