Scrap dealers in city rising to the challenge

THIRUVANANATHAPURAM: E-waste has become one of the emerging environmental problems around the globe and governments are racking their brains to find a solution. Well, in the city, it is not the government or the City Corporation, but a group of traders who are managing this problem quite admirably.Husain, in the field for the past several years, says that a good majority of old computers reach them from computer centres and offices. Individuals selling computers to scrap shops are very rare and most of the people sell them to visiting scrap dealers, he says. Most of the shop owners say that they, after dismantling the computer, sell the reusable parts in the domestic market. But only a few parts have takers here and the main parts are bought by agents of e-waste companies from North India, they say.Switched-Mode Power Supply (SMPS) is the most sold item in the domestic market, says Ashraf, a shop owner. ‘Computer business’ doesn’t fetch much profit, adds Ashraf, whose shop is filled with iron and plastic scraps. ‘’There are several days in a month when I can’t even sell a single part,’’ Ashraf says. While an old SMPS is priced below Rs 50, the cabins are sold for anything between Rs 150 and Rs 300, he says. Raju, who deals with computer scrap as a side business along with his antiques shop in Aryasala, says that he doesn’t bother to dismantle computers. ‘’It’s not a very profitable business and I usually sell the monitors and CPUs as such,’’ Raju says, pointing to the monitors and CPUs displayed in the verandah of his antiques shop.  Raju usually purchases old computers from his friends and relatives. ‘’Majority of my customers are hardware students and mechanics,’’ he says.Though not many new shops are coming up, the business is alive with itinerant scrap dealers showing interest in the new business, says Husain.  ‘’To run a shop exclusively dealing with computer scraps is uneconomical,’’ he says. Moreover, new laws making it mandatory to possess a government certificate to deal with e-waste makes it impossible for medium-level traders to participate in auctions held at government offices, he says.