Dig out gold from e-waste

Waste disposal, for many years, was considered as a dirty job, but when you start getting gold and silver, and obviously profits while disposing of the waste, the same waste becomes the best.

E-Parisaraa, a Bangalore-based e-waste management company, has proved it right by recovering 500 gm of gold from printed circuit board strips and 1.5 kg of silver from coated components.

E-Parisaraa has a tie-up with around 300 companies to manage the e-waste effectively.

“We have recovered 500 gm of gold last year from 36 tonnes of selective circuit boards and 1,500 gm of silver from coated components,’’ said P Parthasarathy, managing director of E-Parisaraa.

The e-waste management company, which operates from Dabaspet Industrial Area, recycles obsolete, discarded computers, peripherals, printers, fax machines, copiers, CDs, floppies, tapes, cartridges, printed circuit boards, mother boards and components, telecom equipments, telephones, cell phones, pagers, audio & video devises refrigerators, washing machines, microwave ovens, air conditioners, fluorescent & CFL lamps and batteries. “We aim for maximum material recovery, non-incineration, minimum power consumption, minimum water consumption and minimum landfill,’’ said Parthasarathy.

He said there are seven benefits such as protecting environment, conserving limited resources, promoting energy efficiency, building a strong economy, creating jobs, building community and financially rewarding. “We have a tie-up with a few watch manufacturers. We have been using the gold recovered from printed circuit board strips and components for plating of watches,’’ he said.

The company, established in 2004, has earned revenue of Rs5 crore in 2010-11 and Rs7 crore in 2011-12 and provided employment for around 100 employees and most of them hail from rural areas.

Now, the company plans to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state government to establish end of life vehicles (ELV) unit near Dabaspet. It has decided to invest Rs36 crore in that proposed unit. “It is the first of its kind in the country. We have been requesting the state government to allot 10 acres of land near Dabaspet. If everything goes as per plan, the ELV unit will become operational next year,’’ he said.

Elaborating on the ELV unit, he said that it will be useful and viable if the government decides to do away with 15-year-old vehicles. “The dismantling of end of life vehicles will be done without polluting the environment. We may get one four-wheeler and three two-and-three-wheelers per day for dismantling,’’ he said.