Rules for e-waste to come by March 2010

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Government of India has announced that it will come up with draft legislation on management and handling of e-waste by March 2010.

“The Government is currently in the process of developing a dedicated set of Rules which would govern the management and handling of electronic waste. There will also be guideline on battery waste management which at present is only on lead acid batteries but we will look for further discussion with industry stakeholders to include other kind of batteries in to guidelines,” said Dr Saroj, director, Ministry of Environment and Forest at International Roundtable on Environmentally Sound Management of Electronic Management here today.

The event was jointly organized by Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT) and GTZ.

The draft legislation had been prepared on recommendation made by MAIT, Toxics Link, Greenpeace, GTZ and other stakeholders of ICT and electronics industry.

“We have been consulting with stakeholders in the industry on various occasion. On April 10, 2008, we had come up with the first draft with approximately 19 leading companies on board,” said Lakshmi Raghupathy, advisor, MAIT.

As of now the Government of India has no legislation on e-waste management and handling. There are only guidelines, which ICT and electronics hardware companies have adapted on voluntarily basis.

The panel, while preparing this draft, has also taken RoHS directive of European Union, extended producers' responsibility and e-waste related regulations adapted in other parts of the world and have further fine tuned it as per Indian regulatory environment.

“EU RoHS directive is one-pager but in our proposed draft we have clearly defined responsibility of each stakeholder. The draft legislation has been tuned as per Indian conditions,” said Vinnie Mehta, executive director, MAIT.

The announcement made by government official today has been welcomed by stakeholders in the industry.

“It was a long-awaited legislation and we are pleased that the government is now considering to bring a legislation on e-waste management and handling. It is a must for the safety of human life,” said Rajoo Goel, secretary general, Electronics Industry Association of India (ELCINA).

Even though the recommendation from the stakeholders have been included in the draft, they have concern regarding the compliance of the legislation by the companies in the country, especially recyclers.

“Though the government has announced to come up with legislation, there are serious concerns about the compliance of this legislation. Compliance level is very low with the existing legislation as well that are in place,” said Satish Sinha, associate director, Toxics Link.

He said there is lack of resources at state pollution control board. “There is need for more stringent regulations than the proposed one. Government can involve third party for monitoring of compliance when there is shortage of resources at state PCB,” added Sinha.

Raghupathy, who had been one of the key people in preparing the proposed draft legislation, mentioned that there is a proposal to have an authority with link between centre and state PCBs to ensure effective compliance of legislation once it is in place.

“There is need for certain lined authority between centre and state. We have identified regional authority to be established for monitoring activities in state falling in their region,” said Raghupathy.