E-waste Volume To Increase In Coming Years

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: India would be confronted with the threat of accumulation of E-waste in the coming years if necessary policy and regulations are not put in place to check its growth now, says a paper presented at the recently held 'Kerala Environment Congress-2010.'

The total e-waste in different forms in the country would now come to around more than 1.46 lakh tonnes per year and this is expected to exceed eight lakh tonnes by 2012, Kurian Joseph, Assistant Professor, Environmental Engineering, Centre for Environmental Studies, Anna University, Chennai said.

Stating that E-waste has given rise to new environmental challenges,Joseph said Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka, Gujarat, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh generate 70 per cent of the total e-waste in the country.

Quoting a study by an NGO,he said Bangalore city with 1,322 software companies, 36 hardware units and business process outsourcing units disposes 8000 tonnes of waste per year.

The biggest concern with E-waste was the presence of toxic materials such as lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic, printer cartridge inks and toners that pose significant health risks, he said.

These components can contaminate soil, groundwater and air as well as affect the workers of the recycling units and the community living around it, he said.

Iron and steel were the most common materials found and accounted for half of the total E-wastes, followed by plastics and Non-ferrous metals, he said.

'Toxic substances and other harmful substances are usually concentrated in printed circuit boards' he said in the paper titled 'Electronic Waste Management-An Indian Outlook'.

'Though, the share of E-waste may not be alarming at this stage, it is necessary to take preventive steps to contain this, before it reaches unmanageable proportions', he said.

Advocating an E-waste Policy for the country, he said main objectives should be minimising E-waste generation,using the E-waste for beneficial purposes through environment friendly recycling process and ensuring environmentally sound disposal of residual waste.

Source: Economic Times

Managing E-Waste; India poised for EPR?

It’s time we do not bank totally on producers. Rather, the government should help in setting up collection and disposal facilities for e waste. B K Soni, chairman, Eco Recycling Ltd, discusses this and more with ET bureau.

“If e waste were not hazardous, it would still be a nuisance but it would no longer be deadly & destructive to human health & viable ecosystems. If the manufacturing was done cleanly without hazardous inputs & processes, it would be possible to overcome the worst of the high-tech environmental nightmare” — Jim Puckett in Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia, published by the Basel Action Network.

The above words speak volumes on e-waste and how the problem of managing such waste could be detrimental to the global eco system. Like many agencies and countries around the world, there is a growing consciousness on the issue in India.

The government has drafted new rules that make a producer of electrical and electronic equipment responsible for the collection and appropriate disposal of e-waste generated at the end of life of its products. The draft called E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2010 was made public on the website of the Ministry of Environment and Forests in May and was considered necessary for ‘public interest’.

Side by side with these rules, the government has also decided to fund establishment of e-waste treatment facility as part of its waste management programme for 140 highly contaminated sites in the country.

However, the two decisions do not seem to be converging at any point though both revolve round e-waste. While the financial package stands to be a move merely on paper with no amount of commitment attached to it, both the decisions should have been clubbed together and made public for better tackling of the issue.

Also, the fact that the draft rules are aimed at ‘the interest of the public’ only, points to the fact that animals and plants, which stand to suffer from hazardous materials in e wastes, have not been included. Such a rule seems to have neglected the environmental problems at a larger scale.

On whether the Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) concept (stated in Chapter II, responsibilities of producers, point number 3), will be an effective tool to meet the objectives remains to be ascertained. In reality, this seems to be a move in keeping with the EPR rules in the EU or the US.

In India, EPR could stand for ‘Environment Protection Ruled out’ as the larger cause of environment is missing. This seems an impractical move on behalf of the government. If e wastes are known to have several recoverable material then why is it termed as ‘waste’?

Waste in context to electronic devices have seen the process of change in the form of commodity to product and product to commodity. If this be the case, then there seems to be no ‘waste’.

It seems to be a move with vested interests whereby what can be reused is also termed as waste.

The draft rules suggest registration of refurbishers, dealers and other intermediaries. Is it in reality for the Pollution Control Board or other nodal agencies to ‘regulate’ so many entities?

In drafting this rule, the main point of logistics has been ruled out. If the chain begins at the manufacturer’s level and moves on to the dealer and then to the consumer, one main aspect of ‘intermediaries’ such as the transporter who works for the dealer or the repairing company that the dealer has access to, are also part of the process before recycling happens.

These ‘support services’ have no direct link to the producer while the rules say that all such support services also need to be registered. The intention of the government seems defocused here.

For effective implementation of rules, it is imperative to register only the producers and recyclers. As 90% of the recycling process gets over at the dismantling level, then where is the need of having a separate set of dismantlers and recyclers?

As material flow is not so high, not everybody needs to be involved in 100% recycling. Rather, 10% can be outsourced. Question also arises if e waste is already part of the Hazardous Waste Rules of 2008, then where was the need to draft new set of rules?

While there’s no significant difference in the two, the present set of rules seem much more diluted in nature and is largely aimed at protecting the interests of brand manufacturers.

E waste being hazardous, government should be focusing more on inventory movement rather than focus on commercial transactions.

The government should support the recycler to reach a level of self sustainability. If rules need to be implemented what is needed is creating of awareness and building on the existing facilities. Government role should end at the breakeven point and stretch no further.

It could help management of e waste through other proactive means such as concessional loans, duty free imports of machinery or private-public equity support. One big support that the govt can extend is to give recyclers the inventory of e waste it has rather than auctioning and giving the same to kabadis. One-fourth of the country’s e waste production is in govt departments. This could well be given to recyclers.

An enhanced number of recyclers are sure to tackle better the problem of e waste. Companies such as Eco Recycling Ltd have kept in mind environment issues while calling for an end to greediness and selfish motives.

It is time for a fresh call. One of the major challenges before the recycler needs to be addressed immediately. Selling of e waste to kabadis for highest gains should be stopped.

The right time for EPR has not yet come to India. It’s better not to bank completely on producers. Rather the govt should help in setting up collection and disposal facilities.

What remains to be seen is the intention of the government and the involved parties to aid e waste management in the best possible manner.

Eco Recycling Limited (Ecoreco)

Ecoreco provides full spectrum of activities covered under e waste management — right from collection from the door steps of the manufacturers/customers, segregation of remarketable components/equipment, dismantling of end of life equipment, shredding to reduce sizes and ultimate disposal of hazardous substances with the help of designated facility to avoid any negative impact on the environment and ecology and to meet the requirement prescribed by the MOEF/CPCB for the disposal of Hazardous Waste Management.

The company has developed the first-of-its-kind-in-India “Recycling on Wheels” facility for safe & secured destruction of data devices containing confidential & personal information at the client premises itself.

Ecoreco is now ready to commercialise yet another innovation of extraction of precious metals out of the printed circuit boards & other complicated components.

On implementation of this integrated facility, the printed circuit boards and other components which are being presently exported to Europe, will stay in India. Ecoreco invites one and all to become a member of Green Enterprise. Just log on to www.ecoreco.com and do your bit!

(The auhor B K Soni is chairman of Eco Recycling Ltd)
Source: Economic Times

Indian Government Proposes Ewaste Producer Responsibility

On 28 April 2010 the Government of India Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in New Delhi issued a draft rule on the management and handling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (called WEEE in Europe but e-waste in India) for a 60-day period of public consultation. The draft 'E-waste (Management and Handling) Rule 2010' is based on the Extended Producer Responsibility principle and is the first such legislation to be put forward by a developing country. According to Abhishek Pratap, Toxics Campaigner Greenpeace India, 'it will not only control the generation of waste at the end stage but also leads to green electronic products in the market.'

Under the proposals, producers would for the first time be responsible for the entire life-cycle of the product from design to waste. The draft rule also includes a provision for the reduction of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment to below prescribed limits and imposes a ban on the import of all used electronic equipment for charity purposes. These provisions are all issues on which Greenpeace India has been campaigning for the last four years. The draft rule is based on the recommendations made by Greenpeace together with the Indian Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT), the German sustainable development promoter GTZ and the Indian environmental non-governmental organisation, Toxics Link, and support from all the major electronic companies in India. The Greenpeace campaign has already resulted in the setting up of a wide range of voluntary take-back and recycling programmes by major electronics manufacturers in India. This in turn has led to an increase in the number of green products on the Indian and global market.

However there are two aspects of the draft rule which Greenpeace believes require further refinement and clarity. The first is the legal ambiguity on financial responsibility of the producers for their historic and future waste – a loophole which Greenpeace fears could be exploited by the producers to duck their responsibilities. The second is the limits set for the reduction of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. Instead of adopting the European Union limits which are considered a global standard, the Indian Government has chosen different ones: Greenpeace believes that non-adoption of the EU standard could be detrimental for the growth of the Indian electronics sector at an international level.

Greenpeace is inviting stakeholders to consultation events in different cities around India to provide feedback and suggestions for submission to MoEF.