Lok Sabha Question No. 3395 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-07-12
Subject: e-Waste
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Dibyendu Adhikari, Kapil Moreshwar Patil

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND  CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3395.

TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.07.2019

## e-Waste

## 3395.   SHRI DIBYENDU ADHIKARI:

## SHRI KAPIL MORESHWAR PATIL:

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

- (a) whether the Government is aware that the electronic waste (e- Waste) is emerging as a serious public health hazard and environmental issue in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether more than 2 million tonnes e-Waste is generated annually in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government  proposes  to recycle e-Waste under the  e-Waste Management Rules and provide support to set up industries for the purpose and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the  present  status  of  recycling  industries  in  the  country  along  with  number  of authorized recyclers, State-wise; and
- (e) the  funds  spent  by  the  Government  for  setting  up  of  e-Waste  recycling/sorting plants during the last three years, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

(a) The country's economic growth, rise in per capita income, and technological innovations coupled with high obsolescence  rate  of  electronic  and  electrical  equipmentshas  resulted  in increase in the rate of generation of e-waste. The toxic constituents such as Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Hexavalent Chromium, Polybrominated biphenyls and Polybrominated diphenyl ethers  are  used  in  the  manufacturing  of  electronic  devices.  Disposal  of  e-waste  from  such electronic devices, without processing it in an environmentally sound manner, may affect the human health and environment including soil and ground water.

(b)The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in 2005 estimated 1.47 lakh ton of e-waste in the  country.  As  per  the  United  Nations  University  report,  'The  Global  E-Waste  Monitor 2017',  20  lakh  ton  of  e-waste  generation  was  reported  in  the  country  in  2016.  Recently

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has developed a guideline on uniform inventorization of e-waste in the Country.

(c) to (e) As per the information available with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), 312 dismantlers  and  recyclers  have  been  granted  authorization  by  18  State  Pollution  Control Boards  (SPCBs)/Pollution  Control  Committees  (PCCs).  These  authorized  dismantlers  and recyclers have the cumulative annual processing capacity of 7,82,080MT. State-wise detail of installed recycling/dismantling facilities operating in the country is as given below:

| Sl. No.   | State            |   Number of Authorized Dismantler/Recycler | State Wise Capacity (MTPA)   |
|-----------|------------------|--------------------------------------------|------------------------------|
| 1.        | Andhra Pradesh   |                                         01 | 480                          |
| 2.        | Chhattisgarh     |                                         01 | 600                          |
| 3.        | Gujarat          |                                         16 | 49053                        |
| 4.        | Goa              |                                         01 | 103                          |
| 5.        | Haryana          |                                         28 | 82738                        |
| 6.        | Himachal Pradesh |                                         01 | 1000                         |
| 7.        | Jammu &Kashmir   |                                         01 | 165                          |
| 8.        | Karnataka        |                                         71 | 52722                        |
| 9.        | Maharashtra      |                                         75 | 78179                        |
| 10.       | Madhya Pradesh   |                                         02 | 9600                         |
| 11.       | Orissa           |                                         03 | 3680                         |
| 12.       | Punjab           |                                         03 | 4850                         |
| 13.       | Rajasthan        |                                         26 | 90769                        |
| 14.       | Tamil Nadu       |                                         24 | 97271                        |
| 15.       | Telangana        |                                         11 | 41493                        |
| 16.       | Uttar Pradesh    |                                         41 | 243627                       |
| 17.       | Uttarakhand      |                                         04 | 19250                        |
| 18.       | West Bengal      |                                         03 | 1860                         |
|           |                  |                                        312 | 7,82,080                     |

In order to ensure safe disposal of e-waste the Government  has  notified  E-Waste (Management)  Rules  in  March,  2016.  The  provisions  of  these  Rules  include  extended producers  responsibility,  setting  up  of  producer  responsibility  organizations  and  e-waste exchange  to  facilitate  collection  and  recycling,  assigning  specific  responsibility  to  bulk consumers  of  electronic  products  for  safe  disposal,  providing  for  economic  incentives  for collection of electronic waste, and other measures which include responsibility of producers of electronic and electrical products for collection and channelizing of electronic waste. The Rules provide for simplified permission process for setting up of dismantling and recycling facilities  through  single  authorization.  State  Governments  have  been  entrusted  with  the responsibility for earmarking industrial space for e-waste dismantling and recycling facilities, and to undertake industrial skill development and establish measures for safety and health of workers engaged in dismantling and recycling facilities of e-waste.The MeitY is involved in developing technology to recycle e-waste in an environmentally sound manner. MeitY has set up  a  demonstration  plant  at  Bangalore  through  a  project  titled  'Environmentally  Sound Methods for Recovery of Metals from Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) - Phase II', which is being  implemented  by  the  Centre  for  Materials  for  Electronics  Technology  (C-MET), Hyderabad and E-Parisara, Bengaluru at a total budget outlay of Rs. 1126.80 lakhs, over a period of five years since August 2014.  A processing technology through physical separation and  chemical  leaching  methods  has  been  developed  for  recycling  and  reuse  of  electronic waste at National Metallurgical Laboratory (NML), Jamshedpur. MeitY has also established demonstration  process  at  the  Central  Institute  of  Plastics  Engineering  &  Technology (CIPET), Bhubaneswar- Autonomous academic institute under Department of Chemical  & Petrochemicals,  Government  of  India  on  converting  plastics  of  e-waste  to  virgin  master batch, which can be used for value added products.

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