Greenpeace raises a stink over Wipro's IT waste

International non-government organisation Greenpeace on Wednesday charged Bangalore-based information technology company Wipro Technologies with neglecting health and environment concerns, and said the company should present a roadmap at its annual general meeting on July 18 to phase out toxic chemicals from its products.

Addressing a press conference in Bangalore, Greenpeace India toxics campaigner Vinuta Gopal said, "Wipro, which claims to be a forward-looking firm, has completely ignored serious health and environmental threats posed by toxics such as heavy metals in their products. Global leaders in the electronics industry have shown that it is possible to phase out toxic substances. What is stopping Wipro from doing the same?"

In response, Wipro vice-president (corporate business unit) Anil K Jain said the company recognised the seriousness of the issue.

"We have taken up a drive to educate our customers on upgrading their old equipment and have an upgrade programme in place. Additionally, we have initiated action to dispose of e-waste through authorised agencies," he said.

The cumulative sale of personal computers in India crossed 5 million units in 2005-06, 32 per cent more than the sale of 3.77 million units in 2004-05. However, 1.38 million of these are either 486s or below. This represents a vast amount of equipment soon to be added to the waste as a result of upgrade.

There is no benchmark survey by Indian hardware and software companies on e-waste. The government is planning to come out with guidelines on the issue through the Central Pollution Control Board and the ministry of environment and forest.

The government has formed an Electric Waste Authority, in league with Manufacturers' Association for Information and Technology, companies and environmental NGOs.

MAIT Vice-President Vinnie Mehta said, "The main agenda of EWA will be to create awareness on electric waste. The authority will also train companies in e-waste recycling."

"But there is a need to create a supply chain for e-waste management," Mehta added.

Although Wipro's contribution to electronic waste in India is a mere 2 per cent, Greenpeace wants it to take the lead in phasing out toxic chemicals.

"Wipro claims to be the leader in thought processes. In fact, nine months ago, Wipro had told us that a policy will be developed to phase out the toxic chemicals. Their time is long since up," Gopal said.