Making a livelihood out of e-waste

Md Azhar was roaming around the alleys at Shanir Akhra on the outskirts of Dhaka with an empty rickshaw-van and was yelling at residents of the area on a small megaphone seeking to buy electronic junks such as discarded mobile phones, computers, televisions, IPS and its batteries, or soundboxes.

He said he collects such scrapped articles from different areas across the city and sells those at Sher-e- Bangla Road in Tongi, on the other side of the city.

At Tongi, there are people who buy certain scrapped articles. Some buy only IPS batteries, some only scrapped televisions, and some buy computer CPUs. Azhar needs to visit all of them to clear his collection. He works as a collecting agent of some shops there.

The hard labour meets his daily expenses and he can save Tk 15,000 to Tk 20,000 a month.

“It is a very laborious job,” said Azhar.

He said if he buys a battery weighing 15 kg he pays Tk 30 per kg and the shop owner collects it from him at Tk 31 to Tk 32 per kg. IPs battery is a hot item among scrapped articles.

Like Azhar, there are several thousand scrap collectors who act as agents of these shops. There is no data of how many people are making a livelihood out of electronic waste. A survey of the Department of Environment found 1,20,000 of the urban poor were involved in the recycling trade chain in Dhaka but it did not specify the number involved with e-waste. The workers earn an average of Tk 500 a day.

Md Kawser is the owner of Siam Electric at Tongi. He buys only scrapped computer monitors and televisions from street hawkers, agents and other sources. Then he restores those with necessary repairing, changing casings and painting and resell them at a cheaper price to a group of people who market the restored items across the country, particularly in the northern districts.

Kawser said that he has been in this business for the past 10 years and he earns more than Tk 80,000 per month and can save about Tk 20,000 per month after meeting all his expenses.

Md Liton, owner of Maa Enterprise, at Sher-e- Bangla Road, buys only IPS and its batteries. He said that he bought these items at various prices from the hawker and other sellers depending on their quality.

Liton just collects the batteries and IPSs and put them on display and wholesale buyers collect those from him. This simple trade earns him Tk 90,000 to Tk 1,00,000 per month and he has an expense of more than Tk 50,000 for the shop and employees.

IPS and its batteries are hot junk items and similar shops are there at Nimtali, Dayaganj, Dolair Par, and Gendaria in Old Dhaka and Jinjira in Keranignaj. All these shops have roving agents who collect junk batteries from across the city.

Md Helal is the owner of such a battery shop at Dolair Par. After collecting the batteries, he said they sort them in various categories such as weight, size, and manufacturer and sell those to wholesale buyers. Helal earns Tk 35,000 to Tk 40,000 a month.

Helal said the battery producing companies buy the recycled batteries from his wholesale buyers.

Md Belal runs a battery shop at Dayaganj. He said the recycling chain benefits everyone involved with the business. Belal has five employees in his shop. He collects used batteries and supplies those to battery producers. After all his expenses, he has around Tk 50,000 left every month.

The generation of electronic waste is sharply increasing in Bangladesh.

In 2018, the generation of e-waste was 0.4 million tonnes and it was 0.13 million tonnes in 2010, according to the Department of Environment.

The department fears that by 2035, the generation of e-waste would be 11 times higher — 4.62 million tonnes.