Responsible Recycling needs Contribution from every Strata of Society

According to a national survey conducted by an international NGO, India
generates a whopping 4 lakh tonnes of hazardous e-waste every year and the count
is still increasing. With the view to take remedial action before it is too
late, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) recently put the draft
e-waste (management and handling) rules, 2010 in the public domain as a part of
the government process of rule making. Even if the MoEFs proposals come into
effect as a law, environmentalists are of the opinion that the road ahead for
the government would not be easy owing to the resistance faced from the
industry. Officials admit that the efficacy of the proposals will depend on a
proactive approach from the industry.

Welcoming the move, Vinnie Mehta, executive director, MAIT says, The
recently announced new set of rules for the environmentally sound management of
e-waste is the need of the hour. E-waste is one of the worlds fastest growing
waste streams and with increased consumption of IT and electronic products,
India will soon be faced with the challenges of managing the same. Currently, an
estimated 3,80,000 metric tonnes of e-waste is generated annually in India.

Mehta further adds, Earlier there were no mandates. But, now with a mandate
in place, it will help us keep the country clean and green. Even other
developing countries like China, Thailand, etc, have formulated such policies.
It has been a great move to get the unauthorized sector into the formal sector.

Abhishek Pratap, toxics campaigner, Greenpeace India says, Producers
financial responsibility in the rules is being diluted by combining their
individual responsibility with shared responsibility for managing the future
e-waste arising from their products. For the benefit of the producers as well as
consumers, the financial liability of each producer should be explicit and not
provided as an option.

Dr Lakshmi Raghupathy, advisor, MAIT/GTZ says, The draft that the government
has accepted and put in the public domain is more or less similar to the one
that we had submitted to the government. But, they need to consider some
concerns and take cognizance regarding them.

Provisions

The provisions in the rules place the responsibility for the entire
lifecycle of the product from design to waste on the producer. Apart from the
extended producer responsibility principle, the rules contain provisions for
reduction of certain hazardous substances in the electronic products based on
the standard outline in the rule (schedule III of the rule). If it is observed
closely, one will realize that the extended producer responsibility clause is
yet to become a reality in India.

Currently, approximately twenty companies are active in collecting e-waste
from consumers. To ensure a smooth functioning of the cycle, the best option
would be for the dealers to collect e-waste by providing consumers a bin or a
demarcated area to deposit used goods. The producers responsibility clause has
been recast from what we had submitted. But, basically there is clarity missing
on this topic, informs Dr Raghupathy. If rules are scanned well, it will be
noticed that it has been made compulory for banks, MNCs, and other big companies
to deposit e-waste at authorized collection centers. But, what remains a major
concern is the fact that it will need a proactive approach from the industry to
make the rule a success story.

There is legal ambiguity on financial responsibility of the producers
regarding their historic and future waste. Both collective and individual
financing systems are allowed for producers to manage their historic and future
end of the life products which will not be good for effective e-waste
management in the country and weaken the liability on the producers. This is a
legal loophole which can be exploited by the producers to get away from their
true responsibility.

Another aspect in the rules which is a cause of concern is the standards
adopted for the reduction of hazardous substances (RoHS) in the electronic and
electrical products. Instead of adopting the European Union (EU) standard, which
is considered a global standard, the government has chosen to re-invent the
standard. The EU standard is adopted across the world and non-adoption of the
EU standard in the rule for RoHS could prove detrimental for growth of the
Indian electronics sector at the international level, informs Pratap.

The Environment and Forests Ministry has broadened the definition of e-waste
to include items like remote-controlled toys, gaming consoles, household
appliances and smoke detectors besides computers, television sets, fax machines,
mobile phones and medical equipments. Thus, this brings a lot of waste matter
under the umbrella of the recycling process.

Further, the rule also puts a complete ban on the import of all used
electronic equipments for charity purpose. Elaborating on the flaws in this
clause, Dr Raghupathy explains, The clause on import and export has been
included in the miscellaneous chapter and no separate chapter has been dedicated
to it. There has been only one sentence written about the handling of used
electronics items. But, the ban on getting electronic goods for charity purpose
is totally unclear. Why have they only banned imports for charity purpose, when
e-waste can be easily brought as a gift or for the purpose of dismantling. This
is a loophole which can be misused also. Why have imports been banned only for
one channel and why has there been no plug put for the other channels? There can
be large scale imports for recycling purposes.

The Responsibility

Even the technology used to recycle by recyclers in the informal sector is
not known. The channel of the kabaddiwala is very strong. So, the informal
sector needs to be limited in the sense that its activities need to be curtailed
to collection and dismantling, and passing the lot to the formal sector for
further procedures.

Registrations will become important even for the big recyclers or for people
from the informal sector too. This will bring about an accountability at every
stage in the cycle of recycling of e-waste. Government responsibility will now
increase.

On a final note, it can be concluded that the law itself cannot cover each
and every aspect of the industry and in case changes are necessary, the same
could be included by the way of an amendment. Apart from that, the biggest need
of the hour is for the consumers to get rid of their inborn instincts to earn a
few bucks by selling e-waste.

Shilpa Shanbhag

shilpas@cybermedia.co.in