Lok Sabha Question No. 1951 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-30
Subject: Management of e-waste
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Sumedhanand Saraswati, N.K. Premachandran, Balak Nath

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1951

TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2021

## Management of e-waste

1951.  SHRI SUMEDHANAND SARASWATI: SHRI N.K. PREMACHANDRAN: SHRI BALAK NATH:

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

- (a) whether  under  E-waste  Management  Rules,  2016,  it  is  the  responsibility  of  the manufacturing companies to scientifically dispose off the electronic items along with the other electronic materials used in manufacturing;
- (b) the number of plants installed by the local as well as multinational companies so far for  the  disposal  of  e-waste  along  with  the  quantum  of  e-waste  disposed  off scientifically during the last three years, company-wise including that in Rajasthan;
- (c) whether the Government has fixed responsibility on electronic/manufacturing companies for the disposal and management of e-waste and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Government has prepared a master plan for disposal and management of e-waste  with  the  active  participation  and  co-operation  of  electronic/manufacturing industry and if so, the details and the action taken thereon; and
- (e) whether the  Government has conducted any study  and evaluated the environmental health hazards caused by e-waste, if so, the details thereof along with the action taken on the said report?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a)  &  (c)  Ministry  of  Environment,  Forest  and  Climate  Change  has  notified  the  E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, for disposal of e-waste in an environmentally sound manner. The said rules inter-alia have the provisions of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). As per the said rules, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) is issuing EPR authorization (EPRA) to the producers of EEE along with e-waste collection targets on annual basis.

In  the  EPRA,  the  producers  have  been  assigned  annual  collection  target  based  on either generation or sale of EEE during earlier years. All the EPR Authorised Producers have EPR Plans where they have detailed their system of collection including details of collection points/centres, storage, transportation and environmentally sound dismantling and recycling of  E-Waste  either  through  authorised  dismantlers/recyclers  and  their  associates  or  through registered Producer Responsible Organisations (PROs) and their associates.

As  per  the  Rules,  the  collection  targets  of  Producer  based  on  sales  data  has  to  be revised once Producer's period of operation in the market reaches the average life of EEE. The target will be revised based on the prevalent collection target based on generation in that financial year after accounting for collections made in earlier years based on sales figure.As per the information provided by CPCB, a total no of 1766 Producers have been registered for EPR  Authorization  and  also  57  Producers  Responsibility  Organizations  (PROs)  have obtained registration.

- (b) There are 400 authorised dismantling/ recycling facilities/plants across the country for environmentally  sound  dismantling  and  recycling  of  E-Waste.  Their  cumulative  annual processing capacity is 10,68,542.72 tonnes. In the state of Rajasthan there are 26 authorized dismantlers/recyclers  having  annual  processing  capacity  of  90,769.00  tonnes.  As  per  the annual reports received from the Rajasthan Pollution Control Board during Financial Year (FY) 2018-19 and FY 2019-20 the quantum of e-waste collected and processed in the state of Rajasthan is 4001.898 tonnes and 17028.188 tonnes respectively. For FY 2017-18 data from Rajasthan Board is not available. Recycling unit wise data is not availablewith CPCB. The quantum  of  E-Waste  collected,  dismantled,  and  recycled  during  last  three  years  in  the country including that of in Rajasthan is as follows:
- (d) Government master plan for management of e-waste is manifested through E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 and amendments there off. The said rules wasnotified in March 2016 and made effecting from 01.10.2016 and have the following specific objectives:
-  Extended  Responsibility  to  producers  to  manage  a  system  of  E-waste  collection, storage, transportation and environmentally sound dismantling and recycling through EPR Authorization (EPRA).
-  To promote and encourage establishment of an efficient e-waste collection mechanism
-  To promote Environmentally Safe & Sound Recycling through authorized dismantlers and recyclers of e-waste
-  To minimize illegal recycling / recovery operations
-  Reduce Hazardous substances in Electrical and Electronic components

| Year    | Quantity of E-Waste Recycled through authorized dismantlers /recyclers in tonnes   |
|---------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2017-18 | 69,413.619                                                                         |
| 2018-19 | 1,64,663.000                                                                       |
| 2019-20 | 2,24,041.000                                                                       |

Under the EPR, the producers of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) listed in the Schedule-I of rules have been given responsibility of management of their products once they have attained end of life. After collection of targeted quantity of E-Waste Producers, have to get the e-waste dismantled and recycled in an environmentally sound manner.For implementation of E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 following specific efforts have been made:

- i. Implementation Guidelines for E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 comprising of nine  (9)  specific  guidelines  have  been  prepared  and  uploaded  on  the  web  site  of CPCB.
- ii. Guidelines  for  Producer  Responsibility  Organizations  (PRO)  have  been  prepared and uploaded on the web site of CPCB.
- iii. The guidelines for environmental compensation charges (ECC) under e-waste rules have been prepared in December 2020 and submitted before Hon'ble NGT (PB).
- iv. An Action Plan is in place  for  enforcement  of the  E-Waste  (Management)  Rules, 2016 in the country,  and is being implemented  through SPCBs/PCCs. The Action

Plan  has  11  action  points  for  implementation  of  the  said  Rules.  SPCBs/PCCs  are regularly carrying out activities as per the action plan and upload their verification reports on the web portal developed for the purpose quarterly basis.

- v. CPCB has issued show cause notices to 1001 Producers during FY 2020-21 for noncompliance (186 for not meeting collection target, 292 for non-functional collection centre and 523 for non-submission of annual report) under the e-waste rules. Also in the past EPRA of 10 EPRA producers was suspended due to non-functioning of its collection  mechanism.  The  suspension  was  however  revoked  later  based  on corrective measures taken by the producers
- vi. CPCB has issued direction under section 18(1)(b) of the Water Act 1974 and under the  Air  Act  1982  to  UPPCB  on  05-05-2020  for  taking  action  against  three dismantlers  and  recyclers  for  violation  of  e-waste  rules  and  guidelines  of  CPCB. Accordingly,  UPPCB  ordered  for  closure  of  these  units.  As  per  the  report  of UPPCB, the three units are now complying.
3. (e) No  study  has  been  carried  out  to  assess  the  health  hazards  caused  by  e-waste. However, the EEE after their useful life does not cause any harm to health and environment if it is stored safely in households/stores. If the E-waste is opened-up and unscientific methods are used for extraction of precious and semi-precious material from it, then it causes health risks and damage to environment.

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