Collection of e-waste will protect environment

by Lakshmi Parasuraman

"A program to collect mobile phone batteries will be launched by phone companies shortly to prevent environmental pollution", Chairman of Central Environment Authority, Wimal Rubasingha said.

The Environment and Renewable Energy Ministry will implement this program through mobile phone companies to avoid pollution in the country, he said.

Studies show that mobile phone batteries have chemicals to destroy the nature of the land, for example 600 Cu. ft. from where it is placed and turn it into poison.

The plants in the land will be affected and the consumption of such poison will double its ill-effects on the human beings through the food chain. To avoid this environmental pollution, the Ministry will launch a program to collect mobile phone batteries, he said.

Special discounts will be given to customers if they return their old or broken phones with the batteries when they buy a new one. This is an incentive to collect the worn out or broken mobile phone batteries, he said. The Renewable Energy Ministry has decided to sign several agreements with the mobile phone companies to collect phone batteries and to introduce a discount system. The e-waste, discarded electrical or electronic devices can cause major pollution.

There are many successful companies which collect computer parts on a special discount, he said. Public awareness in this regard is much important, specially as e-waste such as computer parts, mobile phone batteries and reading metres common in hospitals have the high risk of polluting the land. We are living in an electronic age. Though there are advantages and disadvantages we are accustomed to use mobile phones which we cannot do away with. There is hardly a person today without a mobile phone in Sri Lanka. The public must be better aware of the dangers of e-waste which causes serious health and pollution problems, he said.

Under the Geneva Convention many developing countries including India have started collecting e-waste such as mobile phone batteries. The government of Sri Lanka is taking steps to cultivate organic food for a healthy life. The project to collect the discarded electronic devices will add more muscle to projects to protect the environment.