E-Waste: ITI Berhampur Students Make Eco-Sculptures To Create Awareness

Berhampur: What do you do with your electronic waste like damaged and old television sets, monitors, PCB boards, mouse, mobile phones, remotes, AC circuits, electronic toys, mother circuit, etc? Most of us throw them away.

Many of us don’t know that such E-waste can have a horrible impact on our environment and eventually our health.

Students and faculty members of the Government Industrial Training Institute (ITI) Berhampur have found a creative solution for this. They were recently in the news for erecting huge sculptures from scrap iron, chain, cranks, and other metals are now ready to do their bit by creating E-waste sculpture and art.

To begin with, they opened an E-waste collection centre at ITI Berhampur on Saturday. Rajat Kumar Panigrahi, Principal of the institute said that E-waste art is exactly how it sounds – creating art by recycling electronics that are no longer in use. This news concept will inspire creativity among students. We are now preparing a 30-feet robot with E-waste, he said.

The goal of this concept is to raise awareness about E-waste and how to reduce it. By bringing awareness to the increasing rate of E-waste and its hazards, our students will try to achieve what environmental activists have been trying to do for years. We will collect more E-waste, recycle it and create it into works of art, the Principal said.

While the various components in our electronics are safe when in use, once they end up in a landfill, they become biohazards. The toxins in E-waste can seep into the soil or water bodies and create a health hazard for people and the environment. We must be careful, he said.

India generated 3.2 million tonnes of E-waste last year, ranking third after China (10.1 million tonnes) and the United States (6.9 million tonnes). It might rise to 5 million tonnes by 2021. Computer equipment and mobile phones are the principal waste generators in India. With COVID-19 keeping people mostly indoors, the usage is only getting higher; and without proper intervention, it is likely to be over 100 million tonnes by 2050, said Rajat Kumar Panigrahi.

We have years of experience in making eco-sculptures with world records by using scrap metals. We strive to help people find sound ways of repurposing their Ewaste. We take things that others perceive as junk and turn them into works of art, he said.