Last week, after Greenpeace activists targeted the Essar offices here and in London on the issue of environmental damage at Mahan in Madhya Pradesh, the Ruia-owned group slapped a Rs 500-crore defamation suit (Rs 1,000-crore suit, says Greenpeace) against the global pro-environment group in the high court (HC) here.

Even as companies take legal steps against environmental groups, chief executives say they realise the importance of the concerns raised by environmental groups; they insist they have taken initiatives themselves, too, in the area.

The Karnataka government has indicated that it would support developing sustainable business models for handling as well as dsposal of electronic waste(e-waste), which if of late recognized as a ma

Bangalore generated over 37,000 metric tonne (MT) of electronic waste in 2012 and stands third in the country after Mumbai and Navi Mumbai generating 61,500 MT followed by NCR (National Capital Re

The organised sector handles only 10 per cent of e-waste. The rest is handled by the unorganised sector that employs unscientific methods.

Bangalore surely basked in the global glory of its “IT hub” tag for years. Thanks to the huge IT revenues it generated and the big ticket firms that dug deep roots here, Bangalore deserved that. But now, it is wake up time. No, not from its unrelenting garbage piles or its mounting civic problems, but this time from the rising threat of its electronic waste. Rising because, the city’s e-waste volumes are going beyond 18,000 metric tonnes per annum, an astounding piece of statistic brought home by a recent Assocham survey.

With the new Companies Act, 2013, making it mandatory for all the companies with a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or net profit of Rs 5 crore or more to earmark 2 per cent of their net profit for the p

Cos gain from rules that mandate producers & bulk consumers to dispose used gadgets

Numerous companies that recycle electronic waste are seeing a spurt in growth and drawing investor interest after new rules placing the onus on producers and bulk consumers for the safe disposal of used gadgets came into effect last year.

Thanks to its adoption of solar energy to power its traffic signals, the City traffic police have hit paydirt saving a whopping Rs 1.73 crore in energy bill.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) M A Saleem, said: “We paid a total of Rs 19.58 lakh to Bescom in 2012. The solar-powered traffic signals, installed since 2001, have helped us a lot. We have solar-powered traffic signals at all busy junctions in City.” “Today we have around 251 timers as energy consumed by solar-powered traffic signals has reduced drastically. There are over 343 regular signals and 42 pedestrian control signals, all of them with LED lights.”

Attero Recycling, India’s sole integrated recycling company for e-waste, has hit upon a novel method of teaching the local kabariwallahs how to handle hazardous waste.

Attero Recycling, founded by brothers Rohan and Nitin Gupta, has developed its own proprietary technology to extract precious metals, including copper, lead and gold, and also recycling hazardous materials emanating from electrical appliances.