The e-waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011 will come into effect from Tuesday. The rules were notified in May 2011 and aim at reduction in the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment by specifying threshold for use of hazardous material including lead, mercury and cadmium.
These rules were notified in advance to give the various stakeholders adequate time to prepare themselves and also to put in place the required infrastructure.
They will apply to every producer, consumer or bulk consumer, collection centre, dismantler and recycler of e-waste involved in the manufacture, sale, purchase and processing of electrical and electronic equipment or components.
The rules place the main responsibility of e-waste management on the producers of the electrical and electronic equipment by introducing the concept of “extended producer responsibility” (EPR).
However, they will not apply to lead acid batteries as covered under the batteries (Management and Handling) Rules, 2001, micro and small enterprises as defined in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 (27 of 2006) and radio-active wastes as covered under the provisions of the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 (33 of 1962).
Sectors like information and telecommunications equipment and consumer electrical and electronics falling within the specified categories will have to ensure that the products do not contain lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, poly-brominated biphenyls or poly-brominated di-phenyl ethers above a specified threshold.
EPR is the main feature of the rules, wherein the producer of electrical and electronic equipment is given the responsibility of managing such equipment after its end of life; thus the producer is responsible for their products once the consumer discards them. Under EPR, the producer is also entrusted with the responsibility to finance and organise a system to meet the costs involved in complying with EPR.
Critical issue
Disposal of e-waste is a critical issue the country is facing today, with rapid technological advancement and growing obsolescence rate of electronics and electrical goods. The country is saddled with huge toxic waste, estimated to be more than 8 million tonnes.
Experts sceptical
“The big question is how effective are these rules going to be and is the industry ready to roll out an effective e-waste management plan. Experts feel that in the absence of any target or accountability check, the rules may not be able to change much on the ground,'' Satish Sinha, (Associate Director, Toxics Link) said in a statement here.
