E-waste management in India , Policies and Best

Practices

Aprajita Sharrma ,

JOINT CONTROLLER GENERAL OF COMMUNICATION ACCOUNTS (REVENUE)

DEPARTMENT OF TELECOM,

MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATION,

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA .

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• India is generating about eight lakh tonnes of e-waste annually. In December, 2017, the UnitedNations reported that the world generated 44.7million tonnes of electronic waste in 2016, India’scontribution to this was a significant 2 milliontonnes, being amongst top five countries in E -waste generation. According to a recently publishedreport by TechSci Research, the country’s E-Wastemarket is expected to grow at a CAGR of around30.6% during 2014-19

• E-waste generally includes discarded monitors,motherboards, power supplies, storage devices,cathode ray tubes, printed circuit boards, mobilephones and chargers, compact discs, headphones,speakers etc.

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• Due to high levels of lead, mercury and cadmium,Computers, laptops, Tablets and mobile phonesare the most dangerous, because also they arediscarded quiet frequently due to frequentupgradation and due to short battery life. Ingeneral depending upon usage average mobilephones and personal computers are discardedbetween 2.5 years to 4 years, in developingcountries and even more frequently in developedones.

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• Department of Telecommunications, Ministry ofCommunication in National Telecom Policy 2012(NTP ), puts emphasises on Periodic disposal of allelectronic waste as E-waste, Strengthening theframework to address the environmental and healthrelated concerns pertaining to the telecom sector. Itencourages enhanced and continued adoption ofgreen policy in telecom and incentivize use ofrenewable energy sources for sustainability.

• National Telecom Policy 2012 and draft NTP 2018,promotes the use of energy efficient equipment andrenewable energy technologies to achieve long termsustainability.

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• The Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) is thenodal agency in the administrative structure of theCentral Government for the planning of e- wastemanagement and sustainable environmental issues .

• Government has recently amended the E-wasteRules in a move to effectively implement theenvironmentally sound management of e-waste inIndia .These amendments in rules has been donewith the objective of channelizing the E-wastegenerated in the country towards authorizeddismantlers and recyclers in order to "formalize "the e-waste recycling sector , the collection targetsunder the provision of Extended ProducerResponsibility (EPR) in the Rules have been revisedand targets have been introduced for new producerswho have started their sales operations recently.

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• On March 22, 2018, the Ministry of Environment,Forest and Climate Change (MoEF & CC)amended the E-Waste Management Rules, 2016.These rules are called E-Waste (Management)Amendment Rules, 2018 to address the lacunasin former laws and work towards sustainableenvironmental goals.

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Major highlights of the E- Waste rules

• According to the new E-Waste (Management)Amendment Rules, 2018 the manufacturer,producer, importer, transporter, refurbisher,dismantler and recycler shall be liable to payfinancial penalties as levied under the Provisions ofthe Environment (Protection) Act. Moreover, thecollection, storage, transportation, segregation,refurbishment, dismantling, recycling and disposalof e-waste shall be in accordance with theguidelines.

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• According to the latest amendment, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) may conduct random sampling of electrical and electronic equipment placed in the market to monitor and verify the compliance of reduction of hazardous substances provisions and the cost for sampling and testing shall be borne by the government, which was not the case in the previous amendment. Previously , the cost was borne by the producers.

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A brief of responsibilities assigned to various stakeholders are as follows:

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Manufacturer Responsibility • Manufacturers will have the responsibility to

collect e-waste generated during themanufacturing of any electrical and electronicequipment and channelize it for recycling ordisposal.

• Manufacturers will ensure that no damage iscaused to the environment during storage andtransportation of e-waste.

• Manufactures will maintain records of the e-waste generated, handled and disposed inprescribed forms and make such recordsavailable for scrutiny by the concerned StatePollution Control Board.

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Producers Responsibility

• The producer of electrical and electronic equipmentlisted in prescribed Schedule shall be responsiblefor implementing the Extended ProducersResponsibility with the following frameworks,namely, collection and channelisation of e-wastegenerated from the ‘end-of-life’ of their products or‘end-of-life’ products with same electrical andelectronic equipment code and historical wasteavailable on the date from which these rules comeinto force as per prescribed Schedules. Themechanism used for channelisation of e-wastefrom ‘end-of-life’ products includes collectingthose from their service centres, taking them toauthorised dismantler or recycler inaccordance with the Extended ProducerResponsibility (overall product life cycle)

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• In cases where recyclers are not available likedisposing off fluorescent and other mercurycontaining lamps, channelisation may be fromcollection centre to the treatment, Storage andDisposal Facility as for disposal in Treatment,Storage and Disposal Facility, a pre-treatment isnecessary to immobilize the mercury and reduce thevolume of waste to be disposed off.

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Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

• The EPR is a policy approach under whichproducers are given a significant responsibility—financial or physical—for the treatment ordisposal of post-consumer products.Responsibility of the producer for collection ofwaste Electrical and Electronic Equipment fromthe Electrical and Electronic Equipment placedon the market earlier, such as through dealer,collection centres, through buy-backarrangement, exchange scheme, Deposit RefundSystem, etc. whether directly or through anyauthorised agency and channelising the items socollected to authorised recyclers.

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Consumer Support with regards to Extended Producer Responsibility

• Producers are suppose to providing contactdetails such as address, e-mail address, toll-freetelephone numbers or helpline numbers toconsumer, or bulk consumers through theirwebsite and product user documentation so as tofacilitate return of end-of-life electrical andelectronic equipment, creating awarenessthrough media, publications, advertisements,posters, or by any other means of communicationand product user documentation accompanyingthe equipment, information on hazardousconstituents as specified in electrical andelectronic equipment

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• Consumer information on hazards of improperhandling, disposal, accidental breakage, damage orimproper recycling of e-waste, instructions forhandling and disposal of the equipment after itsuse, along with the Do’s and Don’ts, affixing avisible, legible and indelible symbol given below onthe products or product user documentation toprevent e-waste from being dropped in garbage binscontaining waste destined for disposal, andmechanism available for their consumers to returne-waste for recycling including the details of DepositRefund Scheme, if applicable.

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• The producer shall opt to implement ExtendedProducer Responsibility individually or collectively.In individual producer responsibility, producer mayset up his own collection centre or implement takeback system or both to meet Extended ProducerResponsibility. In collective system, producers maytie-up as a member with a “Producer ResponsibilityOrganisation" or with e-waste exchange or both. Itshall be mandatory upon on the individual producerin every case to seek Extended ProducerResponsibility the import of electrical and electronicequipment shall be allowed only to producers havingExtended Producer Responsibility authorisation,they have to maintain records of the e-wastehandled and make such records available forscrutiny by the Central Pollution Control Board orthe concerned State Pollution Control Board andfile annual returns. In case of the Producer withmultiple offices in a State, one annual returncombining information from all the offices shall befiled.

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• The producer shall be responsible to get e-wastecollected on his behalf by dismantler or recycleror refurbisher including those arising fromorphaned products, the collection centresestablished by producer can also collect e-waste onbehalf of dismantler, refurbisher and recyclerincluding those arising from orphaned products,ensuring that the facilities are in accordance withthe standards or guidelines issued by CentralPollution Control Board ( Apex body for pollutioncontrol) also from time to time ensure that the e-waste collected by them is stored in a securedmanner till it is sent to authorised dismantler orrecycler as the case may be.

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• The Producer has to ensure that no damage iscaused to the environment during storage andtransportation of e-waste, maintain records inprescribed formats of the e-waste handled as perthe guidelines of Central Pollution Control Boardand make such records available for scrutiny by theCentral Pollution Control Board or the concernedState Pollution Control Board as and when askedfor.

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Responsibilities of dealers. • In the case the dealer has been given the

responsibility of collection on behalf of the producer,the dealer shall collect the e waste by providing theconsumer a box, bin or a demarcated area to deposite waste, or through take back system and send thee-waste so collected to collection centre ordismantler or recycler as designated by producer.

• The dealer or retailer or e-retailer shall refund theamount as per take back system or Deposit RefundScheme of the producer to the depositor of e-waste ,like in case of Nokia in India Kiosks to deposit usedmobiles are placed in dealers outlets where userscan deposit old mobiles for recycling dealer shallensure that the e-waste thus generated is safelytransported to authorised dismantlers or recyclers ,ensuring that no damage is caused to theenvironment during storage and transportation of e-waste.

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Responsibilities of the refurbisher• Refurbisher is suppose collect e-waste generated

during the process of refurbishing and channelisethe waste to authorised dismantler or recyclerthrough its collection centre , in accordance with theprocedures laid down ,the authorised Refurbishershall be required to submit details of e-wastegenerated to the concerned State Pollution ControlBoard on yearly basis ensuring that no damage iscaused to the environment during storage andtransportation of e-waste also ensure that therefurbishing process do not have any adverse effecton the health and the environment.

• Not only ensuring that the e-waste thus generated issafely transported to authorised collection centres ordismantlers or recyclers but also maintainingrecords of the e-waste handled which should bereadily available for scrutiny by the appropriateauthority.

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Responsibilities of consumer or bulk consumer.

Consumers or bulk consumers of electrical andelectronic equipment shall ensure that e-wastegenerated by them is channelized through collectioncentre or dealer of authorised producer or dismantleror recycler or through the designated take backservice provider of the producer to authoriseddismantler or recycler, whereas bulk consumers ofelectrical and electronic equipment shall maintainrecords of e-waste generated by them and makesuch records available for scrutiny by the concernedState Pollution Control Board. They shall also ensurethat such end-of-life electrical and electronicequipment are not admixed with e-waste containingradioactive material as covered under the provisions.

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Responsibilities of the dismantler.

• Ensuring that the facility and dismantlingprocesses are in accordance with the standardsor guidelines prescribed, ensure that no damageis caused to the environment during storage andtransportation of e-waste, ensure that thedismantling processes do not have any adverseeffect on the health and the environment,ensuring that dismantled e-waste are segregatedand sent to the authorised recycling facilities forrecovery of materials and at non-recyclable ornon-recoverable components are sent toauthorised treatment storage and disposalfacilities , maintain record.

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Responsibilities of the recycler • Recyclers have to ensure that the facility and

recycling processes are in accordance with the standards or guidelines prescribed , ensures that no damage is caused to the environment during storage and transportation of e-waste , ensuring that the recycling processes do not have any adverse effect on the health and the environment , ensure that the fractions or material not recycled in its facility is sent to the respective authorised recyclers , ensure that residue generated during recycling process is disposed of in an authorised treatment storage disposal facility , maintain record of e-waste collected, dismantled, recycled and sent to authorised recycler and make such record available for scrutiny by the Central Pollution Control Board or the concerned State Pollution Control Board , they may accept waste electrical and electronic equipment or components not listed in prescribed Schedules for recycling provided that they do not contain any radioactive material and same shall be indicated while taking the authorisation from concerned State Pollution Control Board.

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Responsibilities of State Government for environmentally sound management of E-waste

• Department of Industry in State or any othergovernment agency authorised in this regard by theState Government, to ensure earmarking orallocation of industrial space or shed for e-wastedismantling and recycling in the existing andupcoming industrial park, estate and industrialclusters.

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• Department of Labour in the State or any othergovernment agency authorised in this regard bythe State Government shall ensure recognitionand registration of workers involved indismantling and recycling, assist formation ofgroups of such workers to facilitate setting updismantling facilities, undertake industrial skilldevelopment activities for the workers involvedin dismantling and recycling, undertake annualmonitoring and to ensure safety & health ofworkers involved in dismantling and recycling,State Government to prepare integrated plan foreffective implementation of these provisions,and to submit annual report to Ministry ofEnvironment, Forest and Climate Change.

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• Central Pollution Control Board shall conductrandom sampling of electrical and electronicequipment placed on the market to monitor andverify the compliance of Reduction of HazardousSubstances provisions and the cost for sample andtesting shall be borne by the Producer. The randomsampling shall be as per the guidelines of CentralPollution Control Board. If the product does notcomply with Reduction of Hazardous Substancesprovisions, the Producers shall take correctivemeasures to bring the product into compliance andwithdraw or recall the product from the market,within a reasonable period as per the guidelines ofthe Central Pollution Control Board.

• Central Pollution Control Board shall publish themethods for sampling and analysis of HazardousSubstances .

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Transportation of e-waste

• The transportation of e-waste shall be carried outas per the manifest system from manufacturingor recycling destined for final disposal to atreatment, storage and disposal facility shallfollow the provisions under Hazardous Wastes

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Accident reporting

• Where an accident occurs at the facilityprocessing e-waste or during transportation of e-waste, the producer, refurbisher, transporter,dismantler, or recycler, as the case may be, shallreport immediately to the concerned StatePollution Control Board about the accidentthrough telephone and e-mail.

• Liability of manufacturer, producer, importer,transporter, refurbisher, dismantler and recycler.

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• The manufacturer, producer, importer, transporter,refurbisher, dismantler and recycler shall be liablefor all damages caused to the environment or thirdparty due to improper handling and management ofthe e-waste, The manufacturer, producer, importer,transporter, refurbisher, dismantler and recyclershall be liable to pay financial penalties as levied forany violation of the provisions .

• Urban Local Bodies (Municipal Committee orCouncil or Corporation) shall ensure that e-wastepertaining to orphan products is collected andchannelised to authorised dismantler or recycler.

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• The integration of the existing informal sector likewaste pickers and help their transition into theformal economy in the is also a progressive feature.

• Also more than 200 manufacturers of electronicgoods, including some e-giants, were served noticesrecently by the Central Pollution Control Board(CPCB) for not complying with e-waste procurementnorms.

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Way forward

• In spite of its growing environmental impact,management of electronic waste has received leastconcern until now and with not much headway forvarious reasons. Solid waste management policyhas to focus on segregating and recycling,Hazardous materials, including heavy metals, e -waste before they are dumped in garbage yards.The informal sectors have major role to play inwaste management in India, garbage collectors,waste pickers, waste dealers, small stores and thehouseholds, play a vital role in recovering consumerwaste, have to be educated and safe conditions ofinformal recycling to be ensured, consumerawareness is being increased by aggressiveawareness generated by government programmeson basic cleanliness. Though e - waste is still farmore efficiently recovered in India as there's a hugemarket for second hand products which helps inreducing e waste in the environment .

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• Proper implementation of regulations andsupporting infrastructure could, help in resolvingconcerns regarding e- waste management, with theadvancement of technology, increasing buyingcapacity of citizens, lifespan of products wouldbecome shorter, resulting in more frequentreplacement of existing products with the new ones,which would further increase E-Waste generation .

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• Since, in India, majority of the E-Waste is processedby the unorganized sector manually by untrained,uneducated, informal labour, introduction ofstricter regulations and proper monitoring by theagencies In each stage of E-waste collection,transportation, segregation, dismantling, recyclingand disposal will go a long way. Old and hazardoustechnologies and equipments are being used by therecyclers, to recycle and treat the e-waste are to betaken care of. Hopefully the new rules andregulations and fixing responsibility with themanufactures and those involved in supply chainfor improper handling of E - waste will go a longway in resolving E - waste management issues.

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• Draft National Telecom Policy 2018 strives for anational policy on digital communications and toprepare the country and its citizens for the future.Achieving these goals would require that the keystakeholders ,namely the Centre government, theState governments, local governments and agencies,Telecom Service Providers, Internet ServiceProviders, handset and equipment manufacturers,the academic community, the innovators and start-ups to work together towards common goals bycollectively to deliver and implement national policyand its missions.

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• Draft NTP 2018, strives to provide Incentives forthe use of renewable energy technologies in thecommunications sector, by encouraging theutilisation of small cell fuel batteries, lithium-ionbatteries and or other green technologies to improveenergy consumption efficiencies. Draft NTPPromotes research and development of greentelecom through active and constant participationof stakeholders across government, industry andacademia and by rationalising of taxes and levies onthe manufacture, production and import of suchequipment for digital communication technologies ,thus giving a big push towards sustainabledevelopment .

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THANK YOU.

Aprajita Sharrma ,JOINT CONTROLLER GENERAL OF COMMUNICATION

ACCOUNTS (REVENUE)DEPARTMENT OF TELECOM,

MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATION,GOVERNMENT OF INDIA .

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RESOURCES:

• National Telecom Policy 2012• Draft National Teecom Policy 2018

• The times of India june 4th 2018 • The Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF)

http://envfor.nic.in/content/gsr-261e22032018e-waste-managment-amendment-rules-2018

• Sonia Henam’s article in Down to Earth , published on 23 March 2018

• Recovery of consumer waste in India – A mass flow analysis for paper, plastic and glass and the contribution of households and the informal sector. AuthorBiplobNandyGauravSharmaSaryuGargShwetaKumariTessGeorgeYengkhomSunandaBärbelSinh August 2015

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