An international expert Wednesday called for policy reforms to face the challenge of electronic waste, or eWaste, that is threatening many states in the country.

"There is no policy at the state or national level in India to address the challenges posed by e-waste", said Jurgen Porst, a German eWaste management expert and senior advisor with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.

In India, the average lifetime of a computer is calculated at eight years, but "in the next two years, the life span of computers is going to come down to six years, generating more eWaste than ever before," he said.

Porst was participating in the Enviro 2005, a two-day conference on environmental safety and health organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, which began Tuesday.

A city like New Delhi disposed off more than 12,000 tonnes of eWaste in 2004, Porst said.

In the same year, Bangalore, which has 1,322 software companies, BPOs and 36 hardware units, generated 8,000 tones of eWaste including discarded computers, mobiles and TVs in 2004.

The IT industry in Bangalore dumps around 20,000 computers every year. The city has only two modern recycling units, but over 20 precious metal recovery units and a 100 scrap dealers.

In 2004, the IT and manufacturing units in Bangalore destroyed Rs.160 million worth of computers in order to auction the pieces to scrap dealers.

Porst said, "the informal recycling units are lured by the small quantity of gold and high value metal deposits that can be found in the electronic components".

These units, however, were putting workers' health and environment at risk with their crude recycling practices, burning toxic metals in the open air.

He said that in the absence of systematic eWaste management units and policy guidelines, the user industry was forced to dispose off eWaste to illegal traders.

"Even when companies give computers to charities and educational institutions, within no time they find their way to the informal recycling markets", he said.

It was, therefore, very important to train and upgrade informal recycling units in India, the expert said.

"State governments should incorporate 'extended manufacturers responsibility' in their IT policies and provide guidelines that user industries have to follow while disposing their eWaste," he suggested.

"There is an urgent need to undertake Rapid Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Assessment in Chennai, to know the inventorisation of eWaste that is posing a great environmental and health threat", Porst said.

He urged the Tamil Nadu government to set up a nodal agency in Chennai, on the lines of one in Karnataka, to look into eWaste management in Chennai city.

The expert also urged replacement of the "present informal recycling systems" with "a scientific landfilling, covered by compacted clay layer, HDPE sheets and geo-textile sheets".