There is a new kid on the block out to address a very challenging, but crucial task. Its intent: provide safe and hazard-free co-working space to informal e-waste dismantlers, recyclers and microentrepreneurs in a country that generates around 2 million tonnes of e-waste annually.

Based in Ghaziabad, in Delhi’s north-east region, the social enterprise— E[co]work— hopes to reduce the toxic working conditions for informal e-waste dismantlers who work in chaotic shanties, illegal sheds and sometimes even from pigeon-hole residences.

E-waste recycling

The importance of E[co]work’s project lies in the fact that north-east Delhi is one of the largest informal e-waste recycling hubs in the world. And 90 per cent of e-waste recycling here is handled by the informal sector. The company hopes to provide workers and microentrepreneurs dismantling and recycling infrastructure “at par with the formal sector”. This includes clean and secure storage facilities, personal protection equipment and the disposal of all hazardous waste under one roof at affordable rental rates.

Says Deepali Sinha Khetriwal, Co-founder of E[co]work, says: “Till now, we have reached out to around 296 informal dismantlers and around 50 have visited the site… we see ourselves turning a problem into an opportunity. We’re driven with the purpose of connecting the formal and informal sectors, empowering microentrepreneurs, and creating effective solutions for safe and inclusive resource recovery.”

“The facility is licensed and been equipped with dismantling units, tables, tools, meeting rooms, equipment, and washrooms to offer the informal e-waste sector a space dedicated to dignifying and formalizing their work,” Khetriwal adds.

The founding team at E[co]work comprises e-waste experts from Switzerland and India. It says that the facility has been designed in consultation with the dismantlers keeping in mind the needs and challenges of the end users. It has also received a grant from the Union government’s LiFE Mission dedicated to bringing efficiency in the recycling sector.

Key challenge

However, to get informal dismantlers to leave their informal workspaces and shift to E[co]work’s facility is a challenge. Hence, the microentrepreneurs, dismantlers as well as companies who would like to recycle their e-waste are being invited to try out the facility for a week or a month. And hopefully, they will realise its value. Being the third largest electronic waste producer in the world, it is India’s need to help e-waste recyclers move from the informal to the formal sector.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW