Written by PPL Newsroom• October 3, 2026• 5:43 am• Policy

Wayanad aims to become India’s first e-waste-free district by 1 November

After collecting 31 tonnes from government offices in three days, the Kerala district will extend the drive to homes, shops and private institutions.

Wayanad, in Kerala, is working to clear discarded electronics from the whole district by 1 November, the state’s formation day. Minister T Siddique said on Friday that the first phase, covering government offices, is already done. Households and businesses come next, according to news agency reports of his Gandhi Jayanti address.

What has been collected so far

Siddique said 31 tonnes of e-waste were gathered from government offices between 28 and 30 September. By his account, Kalpetta supplied 12 tonnes, Sultan Bathery 12 tonnes, Mananthavady five tonnes and Panamaram two tonnes. An earlier ETV Bharat report, based on the district planning officer’s account, put the total at around 30 tonnes, with a slightly different town-wise split. The figures are provisional.

For scale, 31 tonnes is roughly the weight of several large trucks’ worth of old computers, printers, cables and appliances. The minister said officials from 184 government institutions took part. He also honoured 56 contingent employees at the Collectorate for their role.

The aim, he said, is to keep mercury, lead and cadmium out of soil and water. These substances are released when electronic items are dumped or broken up unsafely.

How the system works

The collected material is sorted into about 50 categories and handed to the Clean Kerala Company for final disposal, according to the minister. A fixed price is paid for what is collected. ETV Bharat reported the current rate at about ₹10 per kilogram, and said it may vary by item.

Haritha Karma Sena members, the local women-led green workforce, will help with collection. Local self-government bodies and the Suchitwa Mission, the state’s sanitation agency, are also involved. ETV Bharat reported that the Hyderabad-based Vishwashanthi Foundation and EYGDC are partners, and that the work falls under the district’s “Bhoomi” sustainable development initiative.

The second phase will cover households, private institutions, commercial establishments and residents’ associations, Siddique said. Onmanorama reported that he has asked panchayat presidents and local body heads to speed up collection from offices in their areas. It also reported that taluk-level collection centres have been set up.

What this means for India

India has rules requiring electronics to be collected and recycled, but households and small offices often lack a convenient, paid route to hand over old devices. Wayanad is testing one: a fixed price per kilogram, local collectors, sorting into categories and a single processing agency. If the second phase reaches homes and shops by 1 November, other districts will have a measurable model to compare against. Note that “e-waste-free” here means cleared of accumulated stock, not an end to future e-waste.

What happens next

Onmanorama reported that Wayanad was to be declared an e-waste-free “institutional” district on 2 October, with the full-district target set for 1 November. The drive is part of “Nirmalam”, a five-year state campaign that Siddique launched at district level. It aims for a fully waste-free Kerala by 30 March 2031, observed as Zero Waste Day.

Several things will decide whether the November deadline is met. One is how many households hand over devices. Another is whether collection centres can keep up with the volume. A third is whether the payment rate attracts enough material. Officials have not yet published figures for the second phase, so the district’s progress will be easier to judge once household collection data emerge.