The Central Government considers it necessary in the public interest and to enable the recovery and/or reuse of useful material from Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), thereby reducing the hazardous wastes destined for disposal and to ensure the environmentally sound management of all types of waste electrical and electronic equipment. These rules may be called the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2010. They shall come into force on the date of their publication in the Official Gazette.
Source: Ministry of Environment and Forest
Government to bear 50% Capex for e-waste recycling facilities on PPP mode
Mr Rajiv Gauba, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests proposed that “both Central and State Government to share 25% capital expenditure each for creating recycling facilities in the Public-Private-Partnership mode“ at the CII organized “National Forum on eWaste” on 26th May 2010 in New Delhi. He said “Government with support from Industry has to take a practical and pragmatic approach for effective implementation of the upcoming e-waste policy” and invited suggestions from all stakeholders. He added that the draft policy is based on concept of extended producers’ responsibility and focuses on the infrastructure creation for e-waste refurbishing, recycling and awareness creation at all levels.
Mr Gauba said that e-waste generation is expected to touch 8 lacs tonne by 2012, which is 5 times growth in less than 5 years, even when the per capita generation of ewaste in India is very low in global comparisons. He complimented Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for creating a an interactive platform for multi-stakeholders at the opportune time to discuss the challenges, issues and bring ideas and suggestions for draft National Policy on e-Waste.
Dr Saroj, Director, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt of India, while discussing the draft policy on e-waste, said “As per India’s culture and heritage, the concept of positive reuse will be promoted through refurbishing and only something which cannot be reused must be recycled in a scientific manner.” She emphasized that the main focus should be on efficient collection centres that can be made through industry consortiums, state agencies etc. She also requested for comprehensive proposals for financial support systems in this regard.
Dr Saroj informed that the draft policy puts more responsibility on Producers and Dealers and it is suggested that Dealers for electronic products would need to be registered with State Pollution Control Boards and have efficient buy-back policies and mechanisms in place. She also said “MoEF does not want India to become a dumping ground on plea of charity”.
Mr. Kensaku Konishi, President & CEO, Canon India Pvt Ltd said “The electronics manufacturers’ and large users of IT & electronics products need to effectively participate in e-waste management programmes and cultivate an eco-friendly culture.” He added that “the need of the hour is to take a business approach which is socially responsible and economically logical – as we do at Canon and believe that we are building a better world for future generations.” He further said “Unique challenges of Indian unorganized sectors, skilling, training and awareness creation along with thoughtful refurbishing and dismantling – to extract precious metals in safest manner are some other areas to be worked upon.”
Ms Ritu Kappal, COO, Greenscape Eco Management Pvt Ltd applauded the fact that the Policy encourages producers to strengthen their reverse logistical processes and collaborate with authorized recyclers’ so that a framework develops for appropriate implementation of the policy”.
Some other key speakers and participants represented companies like HP, Nokia, Wipro, HCL, Ramky, MAIT, CEAMA, ELCINA, Toxic Links, Greenscape, E-Parisaraa, Greenpeace.
Mr Gauba said that e-waste generation is expected to touch 8 lacs tonne by 2012, which is 5 times growth in less than 5 years, even when the per capita generation of ewaste in India is very low in global comparisons. He complimented Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for creating a an interactive platform for multi-stakeholders at the opportune time to discuss the challenges, issues and bring ideas and suggestions for draft National Policy on e-Waste.
Dr Saroj, Director, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt of India, while discussing the draft policy on e-waste, said “As per India’s culture and heritage, the concept of positive reuse will be promoted through refurbishing and only something which cannot be reused must be recycled in a scientific manner.” She emphasized that the main focus should be on efficient collection centres that can be made through industry consortiums, state agencies etc. She also requested for comprehensive proposals for financial support systems in this regard.
Dr Saroj informed that the draft policy puts more responsibility on Producers and Dealers and it is suggested that Dealers for electronic products would need to be registered with State Pollution Control Boards and have efficient buy-back policies and mechanisms in place. She also said “MoEF does not want India to become a dumping ground on plea of charity”.
Mr. Kensaku Konishi, President & CEO, Canon India Pvt Ltd said “The electronics manufacturers’ and large users of IT & electronics products need to effectively participate in e-waste management programmes and cultivate an eco-friendly culture.” He added that “the need of the hour is to take a business approach which is socially responsible and economically logical – as we do at Canon and believe that we are building a better world for future generations.” He further said “Unique challenges of Indian unorganized sectors, skilling, training and awareness creation along with thoughtful refurbishing and dismantling – to extract precious metals in safest manner are some other areas to be worked upon.”
Ms Ritu Kappal, COO, Greenscape Eco Management Pvt Ltd applauded the fact that the Policy encourages producers to strengthen their reverse logistical processes and collaborate with authorized recyclers’ so that a framework develops for appropriate implementation of the policy”.
Some other key speakers and participants represented companies like HP, Nokia, Wipro, HCL, Ramky, MAIT, CEAMA, ELCINA, Toxic Links, Greenscape, E-Parisaraa, Greenpeace.
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Tamil Nadu Frames Separate E-Waste Policy
Tamil Nadu has become the first State in the country to come up with a separate e-waste policy in the country. While welcoming the move, and the policy on collection by community-based organisations (CBO), activists and organisations are awaiting specific details.
“We have taken the utmost efforts even while drafting to be as close to the national e-waste policy as possible,” Santhosh Babu, managing director, Electronics Corporation of Tamil Nadu Limited (ELCOT), says. The ELCOT was one of the key organisations that worked on preparing the policy for the State. The 11-12 members who were on the Board were drawn from several allied sectors were given the mandate to keep in tune with the national guidelines.
While at this point of time, the e-waste policy remains a mere document, it will be followed in the next six months with a series of government orders and a set of rules that will ensure the implementation of all the features mentioned in the policy.
Ram Ramachandran, president, All India e-waste Recyclers Association, said it was a “great start.” But he pointed out that it would be necessary to take up collection and segregation in a careful manner. “Sometimes the value of the recovered after recycling may not be able to cover even the transportation costs,” he said. He called for a partnership among all stakeholders to make the process successful.
Abhishek Pratap, Greenpeace Toxics campaigner, said, bringing local bodies and community organisations into the collection of e-waste was welcome. He said it was important to incorporate very specific targets and for co-ordination between various bodies.
“Building an end-to-end recycling facility is a very costly proposition. So it will be better to have a few central facilities and to have different States co-operate in the process,” he said. Dr. Santhosh Babu said that once the rules were in place, key stakeholders, who have been identified already, including manufacturers, pollution control boards, local bodies, and ELCOT, would be apprised of their roles. Specific questions as to how extended producer responsibility would be answered and the structure of the collection and disposal chain would be ensured.
The government would also take up a massive awareness programme to tell consumers of the huge quantities of e-waste they are accumulating, and suggesting responsible means of getting rid of them. “It is the next biggest threat, the way we see it. We are slowly, subtly, sometimes unknowingly polluting our environment with electronic goods. Citizen awareness is the first step in trying to address this problem,” Dr. Santhosh Babu added.
Source: The Hindu
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