Lok Sabha Question No. 423 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-01
Subject: e-Waste
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: KIRTI (JHA) AZAD

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 423

TO BE ANSWERED ON 01.12.2015

## e-Waste

## 423. SHRI KIRTI AZAD:

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

- (a) whether e-waste is in the list of hazardous items and there is a ban on toxic waste by the order of Apex Court in 1999;
- (b) whether the quantity of e-waste generated in the country was 1.5 lakh tonne in the year 2006 and as per the report of the United Nations, 17 lakh tonne e-waste was produced by India last year;
- (c) whether  more  than  50,000  tonne  e-waste  is  being  imported  from  America  and other countries;
- (d) if so, the steps taken by the Government to check this; and
- (e) the  system  of  disposal  of  e-waste  and  the  number  of  centres  functioning  at present?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a) e-waste,  if  not  handled  or  disposed  of  in  an  environmentally  sound  manner    may  be harmful.    Business  in  hazardous  waste  is  also  regulated  under  Hazardous  Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008. Hon'ble Supreme Court in WP No.657/95 in December, 1999 inter alia ordered ''if there is any importer who had imported  hazardous  waste  against  the  order  of  this  Court,  then  the  Union  of India should ensure that such an exporter does not benefit from such import''.
- (b) Based  on  a  survey  carried  out  by  the  Central  Pollution  Control  Board  in  2005,  the generation of e-waste in the country was assessed as 1. 46 lakh ton. As per the United Nations University report, 'The Global E-Waste Monitor 2014', 17 lakh ton of e-waste was generated in the country in 2014.
- (c )& (d) No permission for import of e-waste for disposal purposes has been granted by this  Ministry  under  the  provision  of  Hazardous  Waste  (Management,  Handling  and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008 in the last four years (to be amended).
- (e) As per the provisions  of  e-Waste  (Management  and  Handling)  Rules,  2011,  Producers under the Extended Producers' Responsibility are responsible for channelizing e-waste to registered dismantlers/recyclers having environmentally sound dismantling and recycling facilities. Presently there are 148 registered dismantler/recyclers in the country.

To  ensure  better  implementation  of  management  of  electronic  waste,  Ministry  has published  draft  e-Waste  Management  Rules,  2015.  The  provisions  of  this  Draft  Rule include  expanding  producers'  responsibility,  setting  up  of  Producers'  Responsibility Organizations, and e-waste Exchange, assigning specific responsibility to bulk consumers of electronic products for safe disposal, providing for economic incentives for collection of electronic waste, and other measures to include dedicated responsibility of electronic and electrical product manufacturers for collection and channelizing of electronic waste. Simultaneously,  the  Ministry  has  also  published  draft  Hazardous  and  Other  Waste (Management and Transboudary Movement) Rules, 2015 with  an  aim  to  simplify  and decentralize the import procedures of the specified wastes. Under the proposed Rules the user industries intending to import the specified industrial inputs will not be required to take  separate  authorization  rather  the  Consents  to  Operate  granted  by  State  Pollution Control  Boards  will  be  sufficient  authority.  The  proposal  is  to  decentralize  the  import approval  at  SPCB  level  on  the  basis  of  approved  standard  operating  procedure  by  the Ministry.  The  proposed  amendment  prohibits  the  import  of  household  wastes,  solid plastic waste, waste electronic assembly scraps and tyres and direct reuse.

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