Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board to partner with RLG to undertake IEC Awareness & Collection Drive

Why in news:

• Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB) is collaborating with RLG India to launch IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) awareness and collection drive in Rajasthan.
• RLG India is a part of Munich-headquartered Reverse Logistics Group (RLG), a leading global service provider of comprehensive reverse logistics solutions.

Key Points:

• To mark the 4th International E-Waste Day on October 14th, RLG India is taking an initiative to educate multiple stakeholders in the districts of Rajasthan about the need for formal e-waste recycling.
• Under the ‘Clean to Green on Wheels’ (C2G) campaign, an awareness drive will be launched across 4 districts of Rajasthan – Alwar, Bhilwara, Jodhpur and Bhiwadi.
• With this, C2G will flag off collection drives, covering strategic cities and towns of Rajasthan and foster organic collection of Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).
• The collection vehicles will be flagged off from the Rajasthan State Pollution Control Board (RSPCB)’s office in Jaipur, and travel across 12 districts and 22 towns.
• The exercise will end up conducting 45 activities over a period of 10 days, expecting to reach out to more than 20,000 individuals.
• Some of the check points and activities of the exercise involve Clean to Green Collection Vehicles that are flagged off from Bhilwara Municipal Corporation and will cover various RWAs (Resident Welfare Associations) and nearby areas.
• Steering its awareness drive into the state of Rajasthan, RLG, in collaboration with RSPCB, are conducting activities that include launching of takeback portal and promoting doorstep E-Waste collections.
• Under the drive ‘Feet on Street’ have been deployed in 4 cities for maximal coverage across bulk consumers, residential area, informal sector, dealer/retailer market and educational institutes.

Significance of the initiative:

• e-waste management is currently one of the prime concerns in Rajasthan.
• A major roadblock that the state faces today is the lack of awareness among stakeholders about the importance of proper e-waste disposal.
• That is the reason why the state government has joined hands with RLG’s C2G campaign to be a part of their great initiative of launching an awareness drive.
• The drive will not only educate the stakeholders but will also conduct activities across multiple districts of Rajasthan to set a practical example of sustainable e-waste management.
• The surge in demand for electronics makes it imperative to build awareness that promotes collection of EEE (Electrical and Electronic Equipment) from the end users.
• With the launch of IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) Awareness & Collection drive in Rajasthan, RLG strives to permeate into all big/small cities and towns to provide them with the solutions for the e-waste problem.
• This is a part of the global community’s commitment to the aim of building clean and green India and world for current and future generations.

The need for a global standard on e-waste:

• According to the global e-waste monitor 2020, in 2019, the world generated a striking 53.6 Mt (Metric Tonnes) of electrical and electronic waste, an average of 7.3 kg per capita.
• The global generation of e-waste grew by 9.2 Mt since 2014 and is projected to grow to 74.7 Mt by 2030 – almost doubling in only 16 years.
• The monitor also underlines the inequality of e-waste disposal.
• In middle- and low-income countries, the e-waste management infrastructure is not yet fully developed or, in some cases, is entirely absent.
• Hence, e-waste is managed mostly by “the informal” sector.
• In this case, e-waste is often handled under inferior conditions, causing severe health effects to workers as well as to the children who often live, work and play near e-waste management activities.
• While discarded products can sometimes still be refurbished and reused, and thus are usually shipped as second-hand products from high-income to low- or middle-income countries, a considerable amount of e-waste is still exported illegally or under the guise of being for reuse or pretending to be scrap metal.
• It can be assumed that the volume of transboundary movements of used EEE or e-waste ranges from 7 to 20% of the e-waste generated.

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)

• The International Electrotechnical Commission is an international standards organization that prepares and publishes international standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies – collectively known as "electrotechnology".
• IEC standards cover a vast range of technologies from power generation, transmission and distribution to home appliances and office equipment, semiconductors, fibre optics, batteries, solar energy, nanotechnology and marine energy as well as many others.
• The IEC also manages four global conformity assessment systems that certify whether equipment, system or components conform to its international standards.
• All electrotechnologies are covered by IEC Standards, including energy production and distribution, electronics, magnetics and electromagnetics, electroacoustics, multimedia, telecommunication and medical technology, as well as associated general disciplines such as terminology and symbols, electromagnetic compatibility, measurement and performance, dependability, design and development, safety and the environment.