Dell has announced a partnership with Indian trade association MAIT in order to properly dispose of toxic electronic waste throughout India.
India is one of the nations that have been flagged as having a mounting issue with WEEE, or e-waste. IT companies, such as Dell, often see their products dumped in the developing nations either by contracted waste firms or by users who no longer want them. Dell has said it will look into exploring the issue, in order to prevent harmful build up of dangerous methane gases at landfills.
Part of Dell’s plans to do this may include investing in recycling plants within the country. Dell says it supports efforts like Step - a consortium of bodies at the UN working on technology waste issues. Currently, in India there is no functional infrastructure for dealing with e-waste. The technology often contains much-needed reusable resources such as copper. However, many adults and children in poorer areas have taken to burning the hardware to get the reusable goods for resale. However, this releases toxic substances that can cause cancer and other harmful side affects.
MAIT has been establish by the Indian government to operate as a trade association for the growing IT hardware industry in the country. Currently, the body is working in line with legislatures to deal with handling the electrical and electronic waste accumulating in the nation.
Dell has also supported Pace, a recycling organisation. According to a spokesman from Dell, the company is on track to meet its target goal of eradicating BFRs and PVC from all its computers towards the end of 2011. The company’s original target to eradicate such material was in 2009, and Greenpeace has criticised the IT firm for missing that deadline.
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