TECHNOLOGY

CEA and partners launch e-waste management project

The Central Environment Authority (CEA) along with fourteen business organisations in home electronics, information technology, telecommunication industries and waste management service providers have launched an electronic waste management project to eradicate the growing e-waste crisis in Sri Lanka.

Minister of Environment, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa

E-waste could be handed over to any of the partner organisations appointed by the CEA. Acting as collection centres of e-waste, the islandwide network of already existing branches of these partner organisations will accept or pick up any unwanted electronic appliances from the public.

According to the CEA, 'Electronic waste' may be defined as all obsolete electronic devices such as computers, servers, main frames, monitors, TVs and display devices; telecommunication devices such as cellular phones and pagers, calculators, audio and video devices, printers, scanners, copiers and fax machines; refrigerators, air-conditioners, washing machines and microwave ovens.

E-waste also covers recording devices such as DVDs, CDs, floppies, tapes, printing cartridges, military electronic waste, automobile catalytic converters, electronic components such as chips, processors, mother boards, printed circuit boards; industrial electronics such as sensors, alarms, sirens, security devices, automobile electronic devices; whether sold, donated, or discarded by their original owners.

This definition includes used electronics which are destined for reuse, resale, salvage, recycling, or disposal. Rapid changes in technology, low initial cost, and planned obsolescence have resulted in a fast-growing surplus of electronic waste around the globe.

Chairman, CEA, Charitha Herath regards electronic waste as a "rapidly expanding" issue. "With the steady growth of new technology and the extensive use of computers and electronic equipment, the quantity of electronic items for disposal shows a rapid increase globally.

As the responsible regulatory agency for sustainable environmental management, CEA is pleased to collaborate with fourteen private sector parties on launching this program on e-waste management.

I have no doubt that this joint program will help in reaching our goal of a clean and green environment, free of pollution due to e-waste," he said. Minister of Environment, Anura Priyadharshana Yapa stated that, "A well organised strategy including a comprehensive legal framework and practical management system is essential for environmentally sound management of e-waste.

The cooperation and collaboration of all sectors, most importantly the public is vital. The program is a milestone in achieving a healthy and safe environment.

The timely involvement of the CEA to minimize environmental pollution from e-waste is praiseworthy." Associated with the CEA on the e-waste management project are 14 partner organizations - including Sri Lanka Telecom, Mobitel, Dialog, Etiselat, Hutch and Lanka Bell from the telecommunications industry, Singer and Abans from the home appliances industry, Metropolitan, E-Wis, Virtusa and ABC Trade & Investments from the office appliances industry together with service providers Geo Cycle and Green Link for bulk quantities and e-waste, who's management was seen signing the all important memorandum of understanding with the Minister of Environment and the Chairman of the CEA at the launch held at the BMICH recently.

"Products and their disposal in a manner that will cause minimum adverse impact on the environment" is a social responsibility of every citizen.

The CEA is sending out an appeal to everyone to be a part of this program to ensure a healthy tomorrow for generations to come.

Messages from partners

Mobitel

"With the proliferation of waste associated with technology, addressing the issue of e-waste and its impact on society has become pivotal. We are privileged to partner CEA in an initiative to mitigate the adverse effects of e-waste on the environment."

SLT

"SLT is happy to be a participant of this national level e-waste management program, which we believe will advance sustainable development in the country."

Hutch

"E-waste in the mobile industry is far and large since Sri Lanka has a mobile penetration of over 12 million. As phones contain toxic metals and chemicals that can contaminate our water resources and soil, it should be disposed in a systematic and proper manner.

If unregulated dumping or disposal happens over a period of time it can end up as a major environmental disaster.

Hutch will support the CEA by opening up its Hutch Shop outlets to be collection points/centres around the country to collect old/discarded mobiles. We urge the public to be a part in contributing to a cleaner, better environment"

Etisalat

"Etisalat is committed in supporting this venture and will provide every effort to help make Sri Lanka a better place for our future generations."

Dialog

"As the first company to initiate a mobile recycling program together with the CEA in 2007, we reiterate our commitment to the CEA's e-waste management program.

Lanka Bell

"As a truly Sri Lankan company with a customer base of over 1.2 million subscribers, we are ready to extend our support to make this venture a success."

Singer

"The Singer Group of Companies are pleased to be associated with the Central Environment Authority on the E-Waste Management Project.

We believe that this program will help the Sri Lankan customers to dispose of their e-waste without causing any issues to the Environment."

Abans

"We, as a Socially Responsible Corporate, are committed to managing e-waste to ensure pollutions free environment for our future generations."

Metropolitan

"We collect for recycling all types of workplace related electronic waste, thereby ensuring that electronic waste is disposed of in an environmentally healthy and safe manner."

Virtusa

Environmental accountability is an integral part of Virtusa's business operations.

We hope that our E-Waste Management project will encourage our employees as well as others at the Orion City Office Complex to manage e-waste in a responsible manner.

ABC

A subsidiary of ABC, Trade & Investments (Pvt) Ltd., started printer cartridge recycling in 2005, as there was a large number of used printer cartridges being dumped to the environment. Our state-of-the-art technology in ink and toner cartridge recycling benefited both the customer and the environment equally in terms of cost savings and environment protection. We are very happy to partner with the CEA in this project."

E-Wis

"To utilize our maximum potential by implementing an eco-friendly approach in everything we do to direct the national ICT sector towards a greener platform in order to preserve the environment for future generations to come."

Green Link

"We at Green Link provide the best solution for electronic waste management for our clients by collecting, pre-processing and exporting for recycling according to national and international standards."

Geo-cycle

"Geo-cycle, the waste management arm of Holcim Lanka, strives to keep Sri Lanka green through consultancy services to safely manage electronic waste disposal - because tomorrow matters!"

IFS develops social media for business use

IFS Labs, the research and development unit dedicated to developing future functionalities for business applications, is taking inspiration from social applications such as Facebook, Twitter and Skype to make IFS Applications more user friendly and efficient.

As global business gets more complex, IFS recognises that the IT applications that support it need to do the exact opposite - help simplify the process of capturing and sharing information within a business. With IFS WikiHelp, IFS Board and IFS Communicator - the latest 'proof of concept' features from IFS Labs-users can comment, participate in discussions and search databases as you do Google, all within a secure environment.

Unlike existing social media tools, which are accessible to all, IFS Labs' social media tools have been developed to bring social media functionality to the business environment with built-in security. Users do not need to leave the core system to find relevant information, meaning all information is contained and only available to IFS Applications users. Director IFS Labs David Andersson said, "today, users expect the same functionalities from their ERP system as they use in their personal lives. It makes sense to embrace the look and feel of the applications people are most familiar to improve the usability of our own business solutions. Enterprise applications are only as powerful as the information that resides within them, therefore making them familiar and easy to engage is critical."