Context: A recent report by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India collected just 10 per cent of the electronic waste (e-waste) estimated to have been generated in the country 2018-19.
Key Findings

• India generated 708,445-tonne e-waste in 2017-18 and 771,215 tonnes the following fiscal.
• In 2019-20, the figure rose 32 per cent to 1,014,961 tonne. 
• The figures have taken into account the 21 types of electrical and electronic equipment listed in the E-Waste Management Rules, 2016. 
• These include discarded computer monitors, mobile phones, chargers, motherboards, headphones, television sets, among other appliances. 

What is Electronic-Waste (E-Waste )?

• Electronic-Waste is the term used to describe old, end-of-life or discarded electronic appliances. 

E-waste is categorised into 21 types under two broad categories

• Information technology and communication equipment.
• Consumer electrical and electronics. 
• Electronic waste (E-waste) is the fastest-growing stream of waste 

Major Causes

• The increase in production of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) has been attributed to industrialisation, urbanisation and higher levels of disposable income.
• It is increased due to higher and irresponsible consumption, shorter life spans of products and the mandatory obsolescence planned by the producers of EEE.
• Root causes of India’s e-Waste problem- By 2021, the annual total volume is expected to surpass 52 MT, considering the fact that the number of devices connected to the internet is going to be between 25-50 billion by 2020. By 2050, the volume of e-waste in the worst-case scenario could top 120 MT annually.
• In India, e-waste accounts for 4% of global e-waste and 2.5% of global GDP (2014 figures) – so it has a higher share of e-waste than its share of gross domestic product (GDP).
• The hard-to-recover substances from e-waste like mercury, arsenic make their home in landfills and keep leaching into ground water.
• Incineration is one of the most practised methods of recycling leading to high carbon emissions and poisoning of air with toxic gases.
• The poor implementation of Extended Producer Responsibility as mandated under e-Waste Management Rules, 2016 is another challenge.
• The export of e-waste from developed countries is another growing problem despite regulations under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal.

Impacts and Concerns
Environmental

• Some major effects of e-waste on the environment include groundwater pollution, acidification of soil and contamination of groundwater, and air pollution due to the burning of plastic and other remnants. 

Health

• Some of the major health effects include serious illnesses such as lung cancer, respiratory problems, bronchitis, brain damages, etc, due to inhalation of toxic fumes, exposure to heavy metals and alike.

Recycling potential

• The recycling potential of our country is poor. 
• More than 90 per cent of our E-waste is handled by the informal sector/unorganised sector that uses non-scientific and dangerous methods to extract the resource from E-waste.

Steps taken by Governments
Law on e-waste management 2011

• The government passed the first law on e-waste management in 2011, based on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
• It put the onus on the producer for the management of the final stages of the life of its product by creating certain norms in tandem with state pollution control boards. 

E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016

• E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016 had strengthened the existing rules. 
• The rule extended its purview to components or consumables or parts or spares of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE), along with their products
• Some of the salient features of the rules include e-waste classification, extended producer responsibility (EPR), collection targets (EPR) and restrictions on import of e-waste containing hazardous materials.

E-waste Awareness programme

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, MeitY, has initiated an E-waste Awareness programme under Digital India initiatives, along with industry associations in 2015.
• It aims to create awareness among the public about the hazards of e-waste recycling by the unorganised sector and to educate them about alternate methods of disposing of their e-waste.

Development of affordable technologies

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has developed affordable technologies to recycle valuable materials and plastics in an environmentally sound manner, including two exclusive PCB recycling technologies, viz 1000 kg/ day capacity (~35 MT e-waste) and 100kg/batch (~3.5MT e-waste) processes, with acceptable environmental norms.

Causes for failure of rules and regulations for e-Waste

• No independent mechanism to verify if EPR that is being implemented: The law mandates random inspections by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and state PCBs, but there’s no record of them.
• Lack of initiatives: The lack of companies’ initiative to build an image of a responsible actor, of someone consumers can believe in.
• Challenge in the waste collection: India is a vast country, setting up a collection mechanism is a big challenge. If any of the brands try individually to reach out to all corners of the country, it will economically not be sustainable or feasible.
• India has 19 PROs (producer responsibility organisations), which are hired for collection as of today but there is no level playing field.

Suggestion

• We need better implementation methodologies and inclusion policies that provide accommodation and validation for the informal sector to step up and help us meet our recycling targets in an environmentally sound manner.
• Streamlining the informal sector will ensure better management practices for handling e-waste and it will also aid in environmental protection, improve the health and working conditions of labourers and provide better work opportunities to over a million people. 
• To capture the global value of materials in e-waste and create global circular value chains, use new technology to create service business models, better product tracking and manufacturer or retailer take-back programmes.
• There is an acute lack of awareness among people as they simply don’t know that there exist collection centres that collect items for recycling. The law will fail to serve the purpose unless these changes are made on the ground.