The CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory (NML-Jamshedpur), a central government entity, has initiated a specialized training programme for master trainers. These trainers will develop plans to educate the informal sector on environmentally friendly e-waste recycling through awareness and teaching.
Programme Details
Sponsored by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy), Government of India, the week-long programme began on Monday. It aims to sensitize participants on practical methods to recover valuable metals such as copper, aluminium, and gold from printed circuit boards (PCBs) and other e-waste materials. Master trainers will be trained to view e-waste as a secondary resource and a business opportunity.
Scale-Up Process
The programme also aims to develop a scale-up process to treat PCBs (100 to 300 kg/day) for recovering copper, silver, and gold using pyrometallurgical routes, officials said.
Targets
The programme seeks to create 50 master trainers who will handhold and train 15,000 informal operators. These operators will be upgraded to micro-entrepreneurs for e-waste dismantling and segregation through 300-day workshops in different states.
Environmental Impact
A senior scientist at NML emphasized the significance of the training, noting that unhindered discharge of e-waste chemicals has led to leaching into nature, destroying ecology in towns like Moradabad and smaller areas such as Seelampur and Mustafabad in Delhi. “The material flows to informal channels is the greatest environmental and health risk which the country faces today. Unscientific processing of e-waste by such actors which collect e-waste from individuals and bulk consumers to extract precious metals, discharge the residue chemicals into the soil and water bodies. The unhindered discharge has led to chemicals leaching into nature,” the scientist said.
Mission Objective
NML director Sandip Chowdhury stated that the overall objective of this mission is to upgrade informal sector operators engaged in e-waste recycling. This will enhance capacity building, skill sets, and assist them with indigenous technology to process e-waste in an environmentally sound manner. “The informal sector will be facilitated with MSME cluster formation scheme (CFC) to create cluster through respective state governments,” he said.
