IIChE marks its diamond jubilee with e-waste management

Mumbai, May 21 (UNI) The Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE), the apex body of chemical engineering professionals in India, marked its diamond jubilee celebrations with an international conference on e-waste management.

The conference held here was the first of a series of events to be held across the country to mark the institute's sixty year record of service to industry and society. Besides the experts present in the conference, special delegates from various IIChE centres like Delhi, Bangalore and Baroda participated via video conference. The objective was to look for a road-map that would promote optimum growth with long-term sustainability for e-waste management in India, the institute said.

The Member Secretary, CPCB, B Sengupta, in his inaugural address, last week-end highlighted the plans that Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has for e-waste management and the steps for implementation of standards in India.

While the President, IIChE and member of the board, L&T, K Venkataramanan elucidated on IIChE's tradition of attracting the finest engineering talent and the need to infuse more vigour in its pursuit for intellectual capital.

Emphasising the issue of waste management, he said that e-waste is emerging as a major problem in India. ''We will like to find solutions for handling e-waste in a sustainable and cost-effective manner'', he added.

The issue of e-waste management is an extremely relevant and pertinent one in today's age of technology and electronics. The tremendous growth and technological advancements in electronic data management and communications have spurred economic growth and improved living standards, he said.

The seminar touched upon several aspects regarding the Indian as well as international scenario, recycling and reverse logistics, as well as a detailed understanding of the market dynamics. Poster and paper competitions were also conducted which saw fresh ideas being churned on how best to tackle the problem.

It was a day of discussions, debates, and deliberations on how the industry and companies can together join hands to meet the challenge that e-waste has posed.

UNI