Lok Sabha Question No. 2806 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-08-03
Subject: E-waste Recyclers
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: HEMANT TUKARAM GODSE

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2806

TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.08.2018

## E-waste Recyclers

## 2806. SHRI GODSE HEMANT TUKARAM:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the number of E-waste recyclers/dismantlers in the country is inadequate and any Committee has also made observations in this regard and if so, the details thereof and action taken thereon;
- (b) whether the Government proposes to increase the number of authorized E-waste recyclers/dismantlers and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether  the  Government  is  taking  steps  to  increase  the  coverage  of  Extended Producer's Responsibility under the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011;
- (d) if  so,  the  details  thereof  including  amendment  to  the  rules  to  incorporate internationally recognized best practices; and
- (e) whether the Government has any plan to extract gold from E-waste and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (DR. MAHESH SHARMA)

(a) & (b) As per the information available with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), 275 dismantlers/recyclers/refurbishes  have  been  granted  authorization  by  16  State  Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/Pollution Control Committees (PCCs). These authorized dismantlers  /recyclers  /refurbishes  are  having  equipment  and  facilities  for  environmentally sound processing of e-waste. The cumulative annual processing capacity of these units are 5,10,950.1 MT. As per estimate by UN University, the annual generation of e-waste in India is approximately 2 million metric tons in 2016.

(c) & (d) The Ministry has notified E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 on 23 rd March 2016 which  supersedes  the  E-waste  (Management  and  Handling)  Rules,  2011.  The  Rules  were further amended  for  its effective  implementation  in  March,  2018. In  the  E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, various provisions have been made for sound management of ewaste  in  the  country  including  the  provision  of  Extended  Producers  Responsibility  (EPR), under  which  producers  of  listed  electronic  and  electrical  equipment  are  responsible  for collection  and  channelization  for  recycling  of  their  end  of  life  products.  A  step-wise procedure for seeking and granting EPR authorization has been clearly elucidated. As per the provisions of EPR authorization every producer of electrical and electronic equipment listed in Schedule - I of the Rules has to make an application for EPR authorization to CPCB by submitting an EPR plan, on the receipt of which CPCB will carry out evaluation of the EPR plan submitted by the producer and on being satisfied that the producer has detailed out an effective plan  for  collection  and  fulfilment of his  responsibility  will  grant  the  EPR authorization. A  target-based approach  has been adopted on the basis of existing international  best  practices  which  indicates  that  a  target-based  mechanism  ensures  better implementation  of  the  e-waste  management  practices.  The  year  wise  collection  targets  are 10% of the quantity of waste generation as indicated in EPR plan for 2017-18 followed by a 10% increase in every following years up to 70%. Further, collection targets have also been introduced for new producers.  The collection target of e-waste for the new producers for the year  2018-19 shall  be 5% of the sales figure of financial  year 2016-17, followed by a 5% increase every two years until 2025. Thereafter, the collection target for the new producers shall be 20% of the sales figure of the year preceding the previous year.  The producers have been given the flexibility to adopt a mechanism for implementation of EPR among various options, such as setting up collection centers or adopting a buy-back mechanism or constitute deposit refund scheme etc. Producers can also set up Producer Responsibility Organizations (PRO) or  e-waste  exchange  as  additional  channel  for  implementation  of  EPR  for  efficient channelization of e-waste.

(e)  The  Ministry  of  Electronics  and  Information  Technology  (MeitY),  being  the  nodal Ministry for Electronics and IT, is involved in developing technology to recycle e-waste in an environment  sound  manner.    MeitY  is  promoting  research  and  development  (R&D)  to develop  technological  solutions  for  e-waste  management  in  environment  friendly  manner. The  processing  technology,  including  recycling  of  e-waste  through  physical  separation, chemical leaching methods as well as recovery of precious metals through pyrolysis process from  PCBs  had  been  developed  under  various  R&D  projects.  Utilizing  this  technology, MeitY  has  set  up  a  demonstration  plant  at  Bengaluru  with  participation  from  State Government of Karnataka, where organized and unorganized sector would utilize the facility to  process  printed  circuit  board  (PCB)  in  safe  environmentally  sound  method.    The demonstration plant has so far processed nearly 50 MT of PCB from 750 MT of e-waste.

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