Electronic Waste - E-waste Management Rules 2016

 What is E-waste in India?
As India is the fifth largest E-waste producing country in the world, aspirants should know that E-waste is a term used for those electronic products which are near to the end of their useful life.

Some examples of E-waste are:

• Computers
• Televisions
• VCRs
• Stereos
• Copiers, and
• Fax machines
  

Electronic scrap materials like CPUs consist of possibly harmful substances like lead, beryllium, cadmium, or brominated flame retardants. The recycling and disposal of such electronic waste involve great risk to the workers and communities in developing nations. A lot of care must be taken to prevent hazardous exposure in recycling operations. Care must also be taken to prevent the leaking of harmful materials such as heavy metals from incinerator ashes and landfills.

E-waste Management Rules in India

 
The Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Ministry (MoEF&CC) have announced the E-Waste Management Rules 2016. These new rules replaced the earlier E-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules of 2011.

The new Rules make for stricter norms and are a part of the government’s increased commitment towards environmental governance.

Highlights of the new E-waste Management Rules 2016:

• It includes CFLs or Compact Fluorescent Lamps as well as other lamps with mercury, and similar equipment.
• The Rules for the first time, bring producers under the ambit of the Extended Producer Responsibility or EPR, together with the targets.
• Producers have been made accountable for e-waste collection and e-waste exchange as well.

Additional stakeholders included are:

• Manufacturers
• Dealers
• Refurbishers and Producer Responsibility Organizations.
• Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) and other mercury-containing lamps have been brought under the purview of the rules.
• India’s Environment Ministry has notified rules targeting the wide range of groups like hotels, residential colonies, bulk producers of consumer goods, ports, railway stations, airports, and pilgrimage spots. This is to ensure that the solid waste generated in their facilities is treated and recycled.

Key Points of E-waste Management Rules 2016:

• Local bodies with a population of one lakh or above were supposed to establish solid waste processing facilities within two years,
• Census towns below a lakh would be given three years to establish solid waste processing facilities
• Old and discarded dump sites would have to be shut-down or bio-remedied within five years.
• The rules on solid waste management have been amended after 16 years.
• Garbage management is the responsibility of municipal bodies, they would have the rights to charge user fees and levy spot fines for littering and non-segregation.
• A transition period of two to five years would be in place beyond which fines would be imposed as per the country’s Environment Minister.

Central Pollution Control Board Report

Municipal authorities until 2013-14, have so far established only 553 compost and vermin-compost plants, 56 bio-methanation plants, 22 refuse-derived fuel plants, and 12 waste-to-energy plants.
By 2031, municipal solid waste is supposed to rise to 165 million tonnes and, if unprocessed, would require 1240 hectares of land for disposal.
Approximately 62 million tonnes of waste are generated annually in India, of which only 11.9 million are treated, and around half i.e., 31 million tonnes are dumped in landfill sites.