'Bangladesh generates 2.8m tonnes of e-waste every year'

Electronic waste has been increasing at the rate of 20 per cent every year in Bangladesh amid lack of regulations.

The data was revealed in a workshop held in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Keynote speaker Abtab Khan Shawon said cell-phones alone produced 10,504 tonnes of e-waste in the last two decades, says a news release.

Every year around 296,302 TV sets are scrapped and generate approximately 0.17 million tonne of e-waste. While e-waste generated from ship breaking yards each year accounts for more than 2.5 million tonnes.

Approximately 50,000 children are informally involved with e-waste collection. Their exposure to e-waste causes more than 15 per cent of death, he said.

Non-government organisation Voices for Interactive Choice and Empowerment (VOICE) and Association for Progressive Communication (APC) organised the workshop titled 'Efficient Use of Digital Technology and Effective E-Waste Management in Bangladesh'.

Participants from different stakeholder groups warned that contamination of the highly toxic components in soil, groundwater and air threatens environment as well as health of the workers and communities exposed to.

A draft of ‘e-waste management rules’ was amended in 2011 and 2017. But no progress has been visible till to date.

The speakers demanded establishment of e-waste treatment plant at grassroots with the involvement of electronic goods producers.

Voices executive director Ahmed Swapan Mahmud moderated the workshop.