E-waste:

• E-waste refers to all items of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and its parts that have been discarded by its owner as waste without the intent of re-use.
• According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2020 Report, in 2019, the world generated 53.6 Mt of e-waste, an average of 7.3 kg per capita, with a 21% increase in just 5 years. It will increase by 38% between 2020 and 2030.
• Asia generated the highest quantity followed by the Americas and Europe. Europe ranked first worldwide in terms of e-waste generation per capita with 16.2 kg per capita.
• According to Global E-waste Monitor 2020, India is the third-largest electronic waste generator in the world after China and the USA.
• A report on e-waste presented by the United Nations (UN) in World Economic Forum on January 24, 2019, points out that the waste stream reached 48.5 MT in 2018 and the figure is expected to double if nothing changes.
• Only 20 per cent of global e-waste is recycled. The UN report indicates that due to poor extraction techniques, the total recovery rate of cobalt (the metal which is in great demand for laptop, smartphone and electric car batteries) from e-waste is only 30 per cent.  .
• In 2016-17, India treated only 0.036 MT of its e-waste. About 95 per cent of India’s e-waste is recycled in the informal sector and in a crude manner. The report cites that one recycler in China already produces more cobalt (by recycling) than what the country mines in one year. Recycled metals are also 2 to 10 times more energy-efficient than metals smelted from virgin ore.

 

E-Waste Management in India:

Law on e-waste management in 2011:

• The government passed the first law on e-waste management in 2011, based on Extended Producer Responsibility.
• It put the onus on the producer for the management of the final stages of the life of its product, in an eco-friendly way, by creating certain norms in tandem with state pollution control boards.

 

E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016

• Thereafter, the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 were enacted in supersession of the 2011 Rules.
• A manufacturer, dealer, refurbisher and Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) were also brought under the ambit of these Rules.
• Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) is a professional organization authorized or financed collectively or individually by producers, which can take the responsibility for collection and channelization of e-waste generated from their products to ensure environmentally sound management.

 

E-Waste (Management) Amendment Rules, 2018

• E-Waste (Management) Amendment Rules, 2018 objective is to channelize the e-waste generated in the country towards authorized dismantlers and recyclers in order to further formalize the e-waste recycling sector.

 

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, as a part of the Digital India campaign, has launched the GREENE initiative.

GREENE initiative:

The programme aims to create effective awareness in various levels (of society) to reduce the adverse impact on the environment and health arising out of the polluting technologies used in recycling e-waste in the unorganized sector.