Context: Recently, the Environment Ministry released the draft notification for electronic waste management for public feedback. India has a formal set of rules for electronic waste management.

• These were first announced in 2016 and amended in 2018. The latest rules are expected to come into effect by August.

Key highlights

• Consumer goods companies and makers of electronics goods have to ensure at least 60% of their electronic waste is collected and recycled by 2023.
• The targets should be increased to 70% and 80% in 2024 and 2025 respectively.
• The rules also bring into effect a system of trading in certificates, akin to carbon credits, that will allow companies to temporarily shore up shortfalls.
• The extended producer responsibility (EPR) certificates certify the quantity of e-waste collected and recycled in a particular year by a company and an organisation may sell surplus quantities to another company to help it meet its obligations.
• Companies will have to register on an online portal and specify their annual production and e-waste collection targets.
• Monitoring authority: Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is the chief entity that coordinates the trade of EPR certificates and monitors if companies are meeting their targets. A steering committee to be headed by the Chairman of the CPCB will oversee the overall implementation of these regulations.
• Non-Compliance: Companies that don’t meet their annual targets will have to pay a fine or an “environmental compensation”, but the draft doesn’t specify the quantum of these fines.
• Provisions to comply at later date: Companies that fall short of the annual target can meet a year’s target, even after three years. Those that meet their targets with a year’s delay will be refunded 85% of their fine, and 60% and 30% after the second and third year, respectively.

Role of State governments

• The responsibility of earmarking industrial space for e-waste dismantling and recycling facilities and 
• Establishing measures for protecting the health and safety of workers engaged in the dismantling and recycling facilities for e-waste.

Key Significance

• The earlier rules stressed collection targets. Now the government is emphasising the EPR, recycling and trading. This follows the government’s objective to promote a circular economy.

India and e-waste

• According to the Global E-Waste Monitor 2020, India generates about 3.2 million tonnes (MT) of e-waste annually and ranks third among e-waste producing countries.
• China tops the ranking.
• Government and industry sectors generate more than 70% of e-waste, while households contribute around 15%.
• Less than 5% of e-waste in India is recycled through formally regulated units through hazardous and unsafe practices such as open-air incineration and acid leaching.

Regulation of E-waste in India:
E-waste (Management) Rules of 2016

• Outlines the procedures for producers/manufacturers, dealers, recyclers, and dismantlers to obtain authorization from relevant government agencies and administrative bodies to manage e-waste.

Mandates the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) mechanism

• Introduces a Deposit Refund Scheme which allows producers to charge a deposit fee when selling a product and refunding the amount, along with interest earned, when the consumer returns it at the end of its lifecycle.

Shortcomings of E-waste (Management) Rules of 2016

• The rules are relatively weak in term of ensuring compliance.
• They do not specify the penalties imposed on EPR defaulters, or on consumers who do not dispose e-waste at dedicated recycling centers.
• It fails to directly address the major role played by informal sector workers in handling and recycling e-waste.

Challenges for E-waste management in India

• The major challenge for India’s policy makers is to improve the effectiveness of e-waste management and reduce associated environmental and health risks in cities and communities.
• Lack of market information and financial incentives;
• Public awareness of e-waste hazards and recycling is low.
• The majority of individual and urban household consumers sell their waste to kabadiwalas or get some discount in exchange.
• Poor infrastructure for enabling industrial-scale recovery and recycling of e-waste;
• Formal sector recycling is limited to manual sorting and mechanical dismantling of e-waste.
• Shortage of formally approved e-waste recycling centers.
• The currently existing centers operate far below their capacity due to poorly organized supply chains between them and the majority of informal sector collectors of e-waste.

Suggestions

• Providing market information regarding e-waste prices.
• Incentivizing e-waste recycling
• Upskilling informal sector players
• Deploying readily available and mature recycling technologies
• Developing innovative methods and technologies for processing new forms of e-waste.
• Australia has considerable expertise in e-waste policymaking and management.
• Australian industries and researchers could also collaborate with their Indian counterparts on joint research projects to test and further develop innovative technologies.

International Efforts to manage E-waste

• The Basel Convention started to address e-waste issues since 2002 which include,
• Environmentally sound management;
• Prevention of illegal traffic to developing countries and;
• Building capacity around the globe to better manage e-waste.

By: Shubham Tiwari