Wipro to offer e-waste disposal service

BANGALORE

JULY 17, 2006

Wipro is highly
conscious environmentally. We comply with all the environmental laws of India.
Our manufacturing processes, waste disposal and product specifications meet the
norms laid down by the Government of India Pollution Control Board. We are ISO
14000 compliant,” states a statement from Wipro.

The statement
comes close on the heels of environmental organization Greenpeace urging the IT
bellwether to come up with a clear roadmap on phasing out toxic chemicals from
its products

The Wipro
statement further said: “This is a larger issue and involves all the users and
owners of computers, the entire installed base of computers and all the
vendors/manufacturers in India.”

On various
measures taken within Wipro, Ashutosh Vaidya, vice-president (Personal Computing
Division), said, "Wipro has been actively working on the issue since
August, 2005. We had set up an Environment Management Team to lead Wipro's
initiatives on this front. Over the last one year, we have defined the process,
identified suitable disposal mechanisms, created service points across the
country, identified technically competent disposal agencies and setup a process
for disposal of e-waste"

On offering
e-waste disposal service to customers Vaidya, said, "We are happy to
announce that we will be offering the service of e-waste disposal to our
customers starting September 1, 2006. These services can be availed by our
customers free of cost by paying nominal freight charges. We are pioneers in
launching this service in India, and this displays our commitment to the
environment."

The IT industry is
a progressive industry, and players globally are campaigning to generate end
user awareness and influence legislation to ensure appropriate disposal of waste
by end users.

Likewise, the
Indian industry, under the aegis of Manufacturers' Association of Information
technology (MAIT) has been actively promoting end user awareness and has
submitted draft legislation on the matter.

Additionally,
Wipro is voluntarily driving efforts to maximize the usage of RoHS compliant
components.

RoHS is an
emerging global standard, which is being adopted gradually by the industry
globally. As the global legislations are mandating use of RoHS compliant
components, the manufacturing ecosystem, which is concentrated in Taiwan and
S.E. Asia, is also gearing up to meet this demand.

"The current
outlook of supply side dynamics makes us believe that we can offer RoHS
compliant electronic components in our PCs by the middle of next year. We hope
that Government legislation, industry bodies and the good work of NGO bodies
will be able to create sufficient awareness to accelerate the adoption of these
offerings," added Vaidya.