Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a part of the World Bank group, organised the first stakeholder workshop Friday to deliberate on strategic solutions for making Bhubaneswar e-waste free.
Held on the Infosys campus at Info City, Patia, the Clean e-Bhubaneswar Project brought together government, private sectors and the academia.
In the backdrop of Bhubaneswar witnessing a surge in consumption of electronic gadgets and electrical appliances in the past decade, the project assumes significance.
The project aims to minimise the hazardous effects of unscientific way of recycling e-waste and develop a sustainable model for e-waste management in the city with the goal of establishing a first-of-its-kind collaboration between the local government entities, including BMC, State Pollution Control Board, IT Department and the private sector.
The Clean e-Bhubaneswar Project is a part of the IFC-European Union Eco-Cities Programme. The Eco-Cities India is a multi-year climate-change focused programme aligned with Government of India’s Smart Cities initiative. It is structured around designated ‘Smart Cities’ – Bhubaneswar, Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Pune.
The implementation of the project is being undertaken by the consortium of Sofies Sustainability Leaders Pvt. Ltd. and city-based Siddha Development Research and Consultancy.
The consortium will focus on establishing an effective e-waste collection system in the city to ensure proper channelisation of e-waste, generating awareness and developing a sustainable e-waste ecosystem in the city. It would also address another important aspect of integrating the informal sector by creating appropriate linkages with formal e-waste supply chain, leading to a profitable business value proposition in local recycling and processing of e-waste.
The workshop has spread awareness on the official Clean E-Bhubaneswar Project website. Companies and residents can visit the Clean E-Bhubaneswar initiative website http://www.cleanebhubaneswar.in/ or call the toll-free number 1800-120-2723 to request a free pickup of e-waste.
PNN