Program to deal with electronic waste
Chamikara Weerasinghe
The Central Environment Authority is formulating a program to deal
with electronic waste found at State institutions as huge amounts of
unused electrical and electronic equipment have piled up without being
disposed of for years.
The Authority’s Director General Pasan Gunasena said , tons of post-
consumer electronic items having reached the end or neared the end of
their “useful life”, among them mainly computers, printers , VCRs,
copiers, fax machines mobile phones and typewriters, have piled up at
Government departments and institutes without being properly disposed
and taken care of.
”These electrical and electronic discards have become one of the
nation’s fastest growing segment of waste streams in the country,”
Gunasena pointed out. The Authority considered that it should deal with
the menace of electronic refuse on reduce, recycle and reuse basis, but
presently we are exploring the possibilities of exporting them, he said.
”Our efforts to manage electronic waste could end up in public and
private participation because these materials had to be disposed of
effectively and without causing delay,” he added. |
