E-Waste Awareness & Collection Drive
School-based e-waste literacy and collection camps in partnership with Samsung India.
About This Project
A targeted awareness and collection campaign across 40 schools in Kolkata, educating students and parents about the hazards of e-waste and the importance of responsible disposal. The programme integrated e-waste literacy into existing school science curricula and organised collection drives at each school.
BITAN trained teachers as 'E-Waste Champions' who could continue delivering the curriculum independently. Students were given take-home pledge cards encouraging families to register discarded electronics for collection. Samsung's authorised dismantling partner co-ordinated pickup of collected items, ensuring all materials were processed responsibly under the E-Waste Management Rules 2016.
The campaign generated significant media attention, with coverage in two Bengali daily newspapers and a feature on a regional TV channel — amplifying the message well beyond the 40 participating schools.
What We Did
- Curriculum integration — e-waste module embedded in science syllabus for grades 7–9
- Teacher training — 80 teachers certified as E-Waste Champions across 40 schools
- Student awareness sessions — interactive workshops with quiz and pledge components
- Parent outreach — take-home information kits and community collection registration drives
- 6 school-based e-waste collection camps — pick-up co-ordinated with Samsung's authorised dismantler
- Media engagement — press releases, school-level coverage, regional TV feature
From the Field
Challenges & How We Addressed Them
Motivating families to actually surrender old electronics — which many see as potentially repairable or saleable — required BITAN to train student volunteers as 'family ambassadors' who explained the hazards of informal e-waste recycling. A small 'awareness certificate' for participating families helped drive participation rates.
“My students used to think old phones just go in the bin. Now they come to school with their family's broken gadgets for the collection drive. The change in awareness is remarkable — and the teachers are continuing on their own.”
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