TimesView As the largest consumer of cellphones and other gadgets, the country is sitting on an eco time bomb. The ever-expanding pile of e-waste is becoming too big to ignore, but the mitigation efforts on the ground are too few. With no system in place, toxic waste is handled by an ill-equipped informal sector. Lack of awareness is a major problem. Manufactures should be held accountable for not educating customers on safe disposal of products. Creating the infrastructure for collection and management of e-waste is needed and involving young people in the process is a smart move. BENGALURU: Over 10kg e-waste has been collected by 8,000 students of 40 schools in Bengaluru over the past four months, as part of an e-waste management drive.Students of the Delhi Public School North collected the maximum, followed by students of Euro School in Chimney Hills.The e-waste management drive, initiated by Karo Sambhav, a tech-enabled producer responsibility organization (PRO) engaged in developing and implementing responsible electronic waste management solutions across India, was designed for students from class V to X. The students were felicitated in the city on Tuesday.Pranshu Singhal, founder of Karo Sambhav, said: “We’re building a cohesive e-waste movement across India. We aim to make a long-term behavioural change with respect to critical environmental issues through Karo Sambhav School programme. We’ve partnered with International Finance Corporation (IFC), member of World Bank Group, to build sustainable e-waste solutions for India with a focus on awareness generation, capacity building and knowledge exchange.”All the collected e-waste will now be recycled ‘responsibly', he added.Sarina Bolla, programme manager for IFC’s India E-waste Programme, said: “The use of technology is increasing exponentially and building awareness among future generations will enable more responsible use and disposal of electronic waste. We encourage students to join the movement.”Since July 2017, Karo Sambhav has engaged with over 1,800 schools across India, in collaboration with the state education departments, and the state pollution control boards.

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