City engineer turns e-waste into artworks

Electronic waste is emerging as a serious public health and environmental issue globally. India is the fifth largest electronic waste producer in the world with approximately two million tons of e-waste generated annually. Though a few e-waste recycling projects are there, the amount of e-waste is increasing enormously. After understanding the harmful effects of e-waste dumping, an electronic engineer from Chennai R Durga Prasad decided to put e-waste to good use. The talented youngster started creating beautiful pieces of art using e-waste.

“It has become extremely difficult to control e-waste in today’s world. Even though I cannot control the usage of electronic equipment, what I can do is control my e-waste footprint. When I was a child, I used to collect miniature toys and store it — I have a huge collection of hot wheel art cars and happy meal toys from McDonald’s. Once I completed my studies, I wanted to put my art skills to good use. Since I work with electronic components, it made more sense to do something with e-waste,” says Durga Prasad.    

The 26-year-old, who works as a service engineer at Exide Batteries, transforms chipboards, circuit boards, diodes, computer RAMs, old batteries and other electrical spare parts to miniature e-bots, bookmarks, fridge magnets, etc. Durga Prasad recalls that it all started with a broken mosquito bat that was lying at his house. “I decided to dismantle and repair the bat. But there were some other issues and I couldn’t rectify it. I took the batteries and made a paperweight out of it. Later, I put up a stall at an art flea mart where I displayed mini e-bots and fridge magnets. It was held in Bengaluru and the reception was good. I received suggestions on how to perfect each product,” the youngster shares.

Durga Prasad also started an Instagram page called E-Art Store where he posts details about each e-waste art. Though converting e-waste into art is a huge thing in the West, this craft is slowly catching up in India. “Most of the electronics appliances are replaced because the market offers new stuff daily. So, I don’t think the consumption is going to reduce anytime soon. But, what each one of us can do is to use electronic appliances wisely. If you have some imagination and artistic skills, then you can also convert trash to treasure. I am a self-taught person — I watch YouTube videos of artists/designers who create artwork out of electronic junk and learn from them,” he sums up.