Press Release
MoEF to announce Rules for e-waste by March 2010
· Calls on IT industry for take-back policy and setting up collection centres
· Stresses on integrating informal sector into formal streams of e-waste management
New Delhi, December 15, 2009: Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT) and GTZ, the German Technical Cooperation Agency jointly organized a two-days International Roundtable on Environmentally Sound Management of Electronic Management’ in New Delhi today.
Dr. Saroj, Director, Ministry of Environment & Forest, delineating the Government’s concern towards environmentally sound management of e-waste value chain at the two-days event mentioned, “The Government is currently in the process of developing a dedicated set of Rules which would govern the management and handling of electronic waste.
These will be put in the public domain for comments by March 2010. The said draft rules were jointly proposed and submitted to the Government by the MAIT, GTZ, Greenpeace and Toxics Link in September 2009. An expert committee constituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests is currently reviewing the draft.”
E-waste, the end-of-life electrical and electronics equipments, is characterized by two main attributes: it is hazardous while processing, due to its content of toxic substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) etc., but it is valuable, due to the content of precious metals such as gold, silver, palladium, copper etc. E-waste recycling by the informal sector with little or no access to capital and technology, using highly hazardous and polluting techniques is a reality in some of the densely populated regions of India. India today does not have a dedicated legislation for environmentally sound management of e-waste.
“A new set of rules for environmentally sound management of e-waste is the need of the hour. E-waste is one of the world’s fastest growing waste streams and with increased consumption of IT and electronics products, India will soon be faced with the challenges of managing the same.” was the message of A Raja, Union Minister for Communications & IT for the stakeholders of e waste.
The proposed rules lay emphasis on responsibility of the producers – manufacturers and vendors, including financial responsibility, extending beyond the sales of equipment and setting up of take-back systems for effective management and handling of e-waste. Further, all stakeholders including the dealers, dismantlers, collectors, recyclers and the government agencies for implementation and monitoring have to executive their responsibilities in tandem. Detailed liabilities and obligations of all stakeholders have been clearly spelt out in the proposed legislations. The draft rules advocate RoHS – the need to Restrict Hazardous Substances in the electronics equipment. An attempt has also been made to simplify the various procedures for better compliance.
Reassuring the IT Hardware Industry’s commitment towards managing and minimising e-waste, Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, MAIT said, “Most IT brands have taken pro-active measures for controlling and managing e-waste resulting from their products. All IT products being offered in the market today are RoHS (Restrictions on Hazardous Substances) compliant. Further, leading brands today have set up their own take-back and collections systems.”
“The landscape of e-waste management has undergone interesting development in the last couple of years. Today we have significant number of players in the formal sector managing e-waste. It is essential to encourage the nascent formal e-waste recycling industry in India with access to capital and better technologies, through suitable incentives and hand-holding measures by the centre and the states”, added Mehta.
Juergen Bischoff, Director, GTZ-ASEM, stressing the need to dove-tail the informal sector with the formal e-waste value-chain mentioned, “The informal sector has now started taking its first steps to integrate with the formal e-waste economy and is receiving support from the government as well as NGOs. The next steps would be to ensure that the informal sector receives the support from the large brands as they work towards achieving their Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goals. For a successful e-waste management system, it is essential to strengthen the informal sector’s system of collection, in particular, enhance their access to institutional finance and relevant technologies”.
As part of their drive to create awareness on e-waste management amongst the school children, MAIT and GTZ organised a poster competition in the various schools in New Delhi, the awards for which were given away at the event.
About GTZ:
GTZ has been active in India on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). GTZ's priority areas for cooperation with India are sustainable economic development, energy, environmental policy and conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. GTZ cooperates with the Central Government and various state agencies. The German side additionally supports bilateral development cooperation through initiatives for reform of the health sector and those aimed at fighting HIV/AIDS and polio. GTZ operates an office in New Delhi.
About MAIT:
Set up in 1982 for purposes of scientific, educational and IT industry promotion, MAIT has emerged as an effective, influential and dynamic organisation. Representing IT hardware, training, R&D, and associated services in India, MAIT’s charter is to develop a globally competitive Indian IT Industry, promote the usage of IT in India, strengthen the role of IT in national economic development and promote business through international alliances.