A proposed framework by the Centre for regulating e-waste in India has upset a key link of India’s electronic waste collection system and threatens the livelihood of thousands of people.

Menace of E-Waste in India

• Electronic waste, or electronic goods that are past their productive life and old parts, is largely handled by India’s vast informal sector.
• Spent goods are dismantled and viable working parts refurbished, with the rest making their way into chemical dismantling units.
• Many of these units are run out of unregulated sweatshops that employ child labour and hazardous extraction techniques.

Remedy against this: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)

• To address all of this, the Environment Ministry brought the E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016.
• This introduced a system of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) compelling makers of electronic goods to ensure a proportion of the goods they sold every year was recycled.
• They are expected to maintain records annually demonstrating this.
• Most companies however did not maintain an in-house unit in charge of recycling and this gave rise to a network of government-registered companies, called Producer Responsibility Organisations (PRO).

How PROs work?

• PROs act as an intermediary between manufacturers and formal recycling
• They are (expected to be) technologically equipped to recycle end-of-life electronic goods safely and efficiently.
• The PROs typically bid for contracts from companies and arrange for specified quantities of goods to be recycled.
• They provide companies certified proof of recycling that they then maintain as part of their records. Several PROs work on consumer awareness and enable a supply chain for recycled goods.

Functional PROs in India

• As of March 2022, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has registered 74 PROs and 468 authorised dismantlers.
• They have a collective recycling capacity of about 1.3 million tonnes.

What is the extent of E-Waste production in India?

• The Ministry estimated 7.7 lakh tonnes of e-waste to have been generated in 2018-19.
• Around one million tonnes in 2019-20 of which only a fifth (about 22% in both years) has been confirmed to be “dismantled and recycled”.

What is the controversy now?

• This May, the Ministry issued a draft notification that does away with the PROs and dismantlers and vests all responsibility of recycling with authorised recyclers.
• Only a handful of authorised recyclers exist in India.
• Recyclers will source a quantity of waste, recycle them and generate electronic certificates.
• Companies can buy these certificates equivalent to their annual committed target and thus do not have to be involved with engaging the PROs and dismantlers.
• Dismantling a fledgling system was detrimental to the future of e-waste management in India.

What is the rationale behind?

• The Centre has not explained its rationale for dismantling the existing system in its draft notification.
• However, a final policy is yet to emerge.
• The new rules would track the material that went in for recycling with the output claimed by a recycler when they claimed GST (Goods and Services Tax) input credit.

Also read this comprehensive article:

[Yojana Archive] E-waste Management

Try this PYQ:

Q.In India, ‘extended producer responsibility’ was introduced as an important feature in which of the following?

(a) The Bio-medical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 1998

(b) The Recycled Plastic (Manufacturing and Usage) Rules, 1999

(c) The e-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011

(d) The Food Safety and Standard Regulations, 2011

 

Post your answers here.

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