About:

• 17 lakh tones of E-Waste is generated every year, with an annual increase of 5 percent of generation e-waste.
• For the first time, the rules will bring the producers under Extended Producer Responsibility along with targets. The producers have been made responsible for collection of e-waste and for its exchange.

Salient features:

• Manufacturer, dealer, refurbisher and Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) have been introduced as additional stakeholders in the rules.
• The applicability of the rules has been extended to components, consumables, spares and parts of EEE in addition to equipment as listed in Schedule I.
• Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) and other mercury containing lamp brought under the purview of rules.
• Collection mechanism based approach has been adopted to include collection centre, collection point, take back system etc for collection of e – waste by Producers under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
• Option has been given for setting up of PRO , e – waste exchange , e – retailer, Deposit Refund Scheme as additional channel for implementation of EPR by Producers to ensure efficient channelization of e – waste.
• Provision for Pan India EPR Authorization by CPCB has been introduced replacing the state wise EPR authorization.
• Collection and channelisation of e – waste in Extended Producer Responsibility – Authorisation shall be i n line with the targets prescribed in Schedule III of the Rules. The phase wise Collection Target for e – waste, which can be either in number or Weight shall be 30% of the quantity of waste generation as indicated in EPR Plan during first two year of implementation of rules followed by 40% during third and fourth years, 50% during fifth and sixth years and 70% during seventh year onwards.
• Deposit Refund Scheme has been introduced as an additional economic instrument wherein the producer charges an additional amount as a deposit at the time of sale of the electrical and electronic equipment and returns it to the consumer along with interest when the end – of – life electrical and electronic equipment is returned.
• The e – waste exchange as an option has been provided in the rules as an independent market instrument offering assistance or independent electronic systems offering services for sale and purchase of e – waste generated from end – of – life electrical and electronic equipment between agencies or organizations authorised under these rules.
• The manufacturer is also now responsible to collect e – waste generated during the manufacture of any electrical and electronic equipment and channelise it for recycling or disposal and seek authorization from SPCB.
• The dealer, if has been given the responsibility of collection on behalf of the producer, need to collect the e – waste by providing the consumer a box and channelize it to Producer.
• Dealer or retailer or e – retailer shall refund the amount as per take back system or De posit Refund Scheme of the producer to the depositor of e – waste.
• Refurbished need collect e – waste generated during the process of refurbishing and channelises the waste to authorised dismantler or recycler through its collection centre and seeks one time authorization from SPCB.
• The roles of the State Government has been also introduced in the Rules in order to ensure safety, health and skill development of the workers involved in the dismantling and recycling operations.
• Department of Industry in State o r any other government agency authorised in this regard by the State Government is to ensure earmarking or allocation of industrial space or shed for e – waste dismantling and recycling in the existing and upcoming industrial park, estate and industrial clusters.
• Department of Labour in the State or any other government agency authorised in this regard by the State Government need to ensure recognition and registration of workers involved in dismantling and recycling; assist formation of groups of such workers to facilitate setting up dismantling facilities; undertake industrial skill development activities for the workers involved in dismantling and recycling; and undertake annual monitoring and to ensure safety & health of workers involved in dismantling and recycling.
• State Government to prepare integrated plan for effective implementation of these provisions, and to submit annual report to Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
• The transportation of e – waste shall be carried out as per the manifest system whereby the transporter shall be required to carry a document (three copies) prepared by the sender, giving the details.
• Liability for damages caused to the environment or third party due to improper management of e – waste including provision for levying financial penalty for violation of provisions of the Rules has also been introduced.
• Urban Local Bodies (Municipal Committee/Council/Corporation) has been assign the duty to collect and channelized the orphan products to authorized dismantler or recycler.

Some of the salient features of the E-waste (Management) Amendment Rules, 2018 are as follows:

• The e-waste collection targets under EPR have been revised and will be applicable from 1 October 2017. The phase-wise collection targets for e-waste in weight shall be 10% of the quantity of waste generation as indicated in the EPR Plan during 2017-18, with a 10% increase every year until 2023. After 2023 onwards, the target has been made 70% of the quantity of waste generation as indicated in the EPR Plan.
• The quantity of e-waste collected by producers from the 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2017 shall be accounted for in the revised EPR targets until March 2018.
• Separate e-waste collection targets have been drafted for new producers, i.e. those producers whose number of years of sales operation is less than the average lives of their products. The average lives of the products will be as per the guidelines issued by CPCB from time to time.
• Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) shall apply to the Central Pollution Control board (CPCB) for registration to undertake activities prescribed in the Rules.
• Under the Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) provisions, cost for sampling and testing shall be borne by the government for conducting the RoHS test. If the product does not comply with RoHS provisions, then the cost of the test will be borne by the Producers.

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