Environmental Waste

E-waste Management

FAQs on environment laws and e- waste management in India

List of FAQs on environment laws and e- waste management in India

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Important Definitions of E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016

Find below certain important definitions mentioned under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016:

  • ‘Bulk Consumer’ means bulk users of electrical and electronic equipment such as Central Government or State Government Departments, public sector undertakings, banks, educational institutions, multinational organisations, international agencies, partnership and public or private companies that are registered under the Factories Act, 1948 (63 of 1948) and the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) and health care facilities which have turnover of more than one crore or have more than twenty employees.
  • ‘Collection Centre’ means a centre or a collection point or both established by producer individually or as association jointly to collect e-waste for channelising the e-waste to recycler and play such role as indicated in the authorisation for Extended Producer Responsibility granted to the producer and having facilities as per the guidelines of Central Pollution Control Board, including the collection centre established by the dismantler or refurbisher or recycler which should be a part of their authorisation issued by the State Pollution Control Board where the facility exists.
  • ‘Consumer’ means any person using electrical and electronic equipment excluding the bulk consumers.
  • ‘Dismantler’ means any person or organisation engaged in dismantling of used electrical and electronic equipment into their components and having facilities 3 as per the guidelines of Central Pollution Control Board and having authorisation from concerned State Pollution Control Board.
  • ‘Dealer’ means any individual or firm that buys or receives electrical and electronic equipment as listed in Schedule I of these rules and their components or consumables or parts or spares from producers for sale.
  • Deposit Refund Scheme’ means a scheme whereby 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.
  • ‘Environmentally Sound Management Of E-Waste’ means taking all steps required to ensure that e-waste is managed in a manner which shall protect health and environment against any adverse effects, which may result from such e-waste.
  • ‘E-Waste’ means electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part discarded as waste by the consumer or bulk consumer as well as rejects from manufacturing, refurbishment and repair processes.
  • ‘Extended Producer Responsibility’ means responsibility of any producer of electrical or electronic equipment, for channelisation of e-waste to ensure environmentally sound management of such waste. Extended Producer Responsibility may comprise of implementing take back system or setting up of collection centres or both and having agreed arrangements with authorised dismantler or recycler either individually or collectively through a Producer Responsibility Organisation recognised by producer or producers in their Extended Producer Responsibility – Authorisation.
  • ‘Producer’ means any person who, irrespective of the selling technique used such as dealer, retailer, e-retailer, etc.; (i) manufactures and offers to sell electrical and electronic equipment and their components or consumables or parts or spares under its own brand; or (ii) offers to sell under its own brand, assembled electrical and electronic equipment and their components or consumables or parts or spares produced by other manufacturers or suppliers; or (iii) offers to sell imported electrical and electronic equipment and their components or consumables or parts or spares.
  • ‘Recycler’ – means any person who is engaged in recycling and reprocessing of waste electrical and electronic equipment or assemblies or their components and having facilities as elaborated in the guidelines of Central Pollution Control Board;
  • ‘Refurbisher’ for the purpose of these rules, means any company or undertaking registered under the Factories Act, 1948 or the Companies Act, 1956 or both or district industries centre engaged in refurbishment of used electrical and electronic equipment.
  • ‘Proposed General Awareness Plan’ – The applicants for Extended Producer Responsibility Authorization are required to propose a general awareness plan through which they intend to create awareness about the hazardous constituents present in the electrical/ electronic products they are dealing with. In addition, the said plan should also indicate about the measures the applicant undertakes to ensure proper disposal of the e-wastes generated.

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Important Provisions of E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016

  • Micro enterprises as defined in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006 i.e. enterprises engaged in manufacture or production goods specified where the investment in plant and machinery does not exceed INR 25,00,000/- or enterprises engaged in providing or rendering services where the investment in equipment does not exceed INR 10,00,000/- are exempted from the provisions of these Rules.
  • Collection of e-waste is exclusively the Producer’s responsibility. The Producer can set up collection centre or point or even can arrange buy back mechanism for such collection. No separate authorization for such collection will be required, which will be indicated in the EPR Plan of Producers.
  • Extended Producer Responsibility Authorization for Producers is the Central Pollution Control Board’s responsibility. Every producer of electrical and electronic equipment listed in Schedule I, is obliged to make an application for Extended Producer Responsibility – Authorisation within 90 days from October 1, 2016 in Form-1 to the Central Pollution Control Board. Form-1 includes the implementation plan of the producer where the producer will give its overall scheme to fulfil its Extended Producer Responsibility for achieving targets and details out the mechanism for collection and channelization of e-waste generated by the producer.
  • The import of electrical and electronic equipment shall be allowed only to producers having Extended Producer Responsibility authorisation.
  • To ensure effective channelization of e-waste, a producer can implement its EPR either through take-back system or by setting up collection centres or both for channelization of e-waste/end of life products to authorised dismantlers/recyclers. The producers are required to have arrangements with authorised dismantlers/recyclers either individually or collectively or through a Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) or E-Waste Exchange system as spelt in their EPR Plan which is approved/ authorised by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
  • Responsibilities of the Manufacturer- To collect e-waste generated during the manufacture of any electrical and electronic equipment and channelise it for recycling or disposal; seek authorization from State Pollution Control Board in Form 1(a) through the prescribed process, maintain records of the e-waste generated, handled and disposed in Form-2 and make such records available for scrutiny by the concerned State Pollution Control Board; and file annual returns in Form-3, to the concerned State Pollution Control Board on or before the 30th day of June following the financial year to which that return relates.
  • Responsibilities of the producer- Implementing the Extended Producers Responsibility as prescribed in Rule 5; make an application for Extended Producer Responsibility – Authorisation within 90 days from October 1, 2016 in Form-1 to the Central Pollution Control Board; maintain records of the e-waste generated, handled and disposed in Form-2 and make such records available for scrutiny by the concerned State Pollution Control Board; and file annual returns in Form-3, to the concerned State Pollution Control Board on or before the 30th day of June following the financial year to which that return relates.
  • Responsibilities of the dealers- in case a dealer has been given the responsibility of collection on behalf of the producer, the dealer shall collect the e-waste by providing the consumer a box, bin or a demarcated area to deposit e-waste, or through take back system and send the e-waste so collected to collection centre or dismantler or recycler as designated by producer; refund the amount as per take back system or Deposit Refund Scheme of the producer to the depositor of e-waste; e-waste thus generated is safely transported to authorised dismantlers or recyclers; and no damage is caused to the environment during storage and transportation of e-waste.
  • Responsibilities of the refurbisher- collect e-waste generated during the process of refurbishing and channelize the waste to authorised dismantler or recycler through its collection centre; seek one time authorization from SPCB and submit details of e-waste generated to the concerned State Pollution Control Board on a yearly basis; maintain records of the e-waste generated, handled and disposed in Form-2 and make such records available for scrutiny by the concerned State Pollution Control Board; and file annual returns in Form-3, to the concerned State Pollution Control Board on or before the 30th day of June following the financial year to which that return relates.
  • Responsibility of consumers or bulk consumers- consumers or bulk consumers of electrical and electronic equipment listed in Schedule I shall ensure that e-waste generated by them is channelized through collection centre or dealer of authorised producer or dismantler or recycler or through the designated take back service provider of the producer to authorised dismantler or recycler; end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment are not admixed with e-waste containing radioactive material; maintain records of the e-waste generated, handled and disposed in Form-2 and make such records available for scrutiny by the concerned State Pollution Control Board; and file annual returns in Form-3, to the concerned State Pollution Control Board on or before the 30th day of June following the financial year to which that return relates.
  • Responsibilities of the dismantler– the facility and dismantling processes are in accordance with the standards or guidelines prescribed by Central Pollution Control Board from time to time; obtain authorisation from the concerned State Pollution Control Board; ensure that no damage is caused to the environment during storage and transportation of e-waste; ensure that the dismantling processes do not have any adverse effect on the health and the environment; ensure that dismantled e-waste are segregated and sent to the authorised recycling facilities for recovery of materials; ensure that non-recyclable or non-recoverable components are sent to authorised treatment storage and disposal facilities; maintain record of e-waste collected, dismantled and sent to authorised recycler in Form-2 and make such record available for scrutiny by the Central Pollution Control Board or the concerned State Pollution Control Board; file a return in Form-3, to the concerned State Pollution Control Board as the case may be, on or before 30th day of June following the financial year to which that return relates; not process any e-waste for recovery or refining of materials, unless he is authorised with concerned State Pollution Control Board as a recycler for refining and recovery of materials.
  • Responsibilities of the recycler– the facility and recycling processes are in accordance with the standards or guidelines prescribed by the Central Pollution Control Board from time to time; obtain authorisation from concerned State Pollution Control Board; no damage is caused to the environment during storage and transportation of e-waste; ensure that the recycling processes do not have any adverse effect on the health and the environment; make available all records to the Central Pollution Control Board or the concerned State Pollution Control Board for inspection; ensure that the fractions or material not recycled in its facility is sent to the respective authorised recyclers; ensure that residue generated during recycling process is disposed of in an authorised treatment storage disposal facility; maintain record of e-waste collected, dismantled, recycled and sent to authorised recycler in Form-2 and make such record available for scrutiny by the Central Pollution Control Board or the concerned State Pollution Control Board; file annual returns in Form-3, to the concerned State Pollution Control Board as the case may be, on or before 30th day of June following the financial year to which that return relates.
  • Operation without Authorisation by any producer, dismantler or recycler, as defined in these Rules, shall be considered as causing damage to the environment and in punishable under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act, 1986.
  • Storage of E-Waste- Every manufacturer, producer, bulk consumer, collection centre, dealer, refurbisher, dismantler and recycler can store e-waste for not more than 180 days and shall maintain a record of collection, sale, transfer and storage of wastes and make these records available for inspection.
  • Transportation of e-waste– 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 as per Form-6.
  • The manufacturer, producer, importer, transporter, refurbisher, dismantler and recycler will be liable for all damages caused to the environment or third party due to improper handling and management of the e-waste. They are liable to pay financial penalties as levied for any violation of the provisions under these rules by the State Pollution Control Board with the prior approval of the Central Pollution Control Board.

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E-Waste Management in India

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Understanding E- Waste Management in India

E- Waste Management in India

The Central Government in exercise of its powers under the Environmental (Protection) Act, 1986 had enacted the E- Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011 which came into force on May 1, 2012.

However, in order to ensure effective implementation of the Rules and to clearly delineate the role of producers under the Extended Producer Responsibility, and the role of the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, the Indian Government notified the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 vide notification dated March 23, 2016 in suppression of old Rules 2011, which came into effect from October 1, 2016 [1].

These rules are applicable to every manufacturer, producer, consumer or bulk consumer, collection centre, dismantler and recycler of e-waste involved in the manufacture, sale, purchase, collection, storage and processing of electrical and electronic equipment or components specified in schedule – I of these Rules.

Two categories of electrical and electronic equipment namely: (i) IT and Telecommunication Equipment and (ii) Consumer Electricals and Electronics such as TVs, Washing Machines, Refrigerators Air Conditioners including fluorescent and other mercury containing lamps are covered under these Rules.

The main feature of these rules is the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Target based approach for implementation of EPR as specified in Schedule- III of the rules has been adopted in the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, which stipulates phase wise collection target to producers for the collection of e-waste, either in number or weight, which shall be 30% of the estimated quantity of waste generation during first two year of implementation of rules followed by 40% during 3rd and 4th years, 50% during 5th  and 6th years and 70% during seventh year onwards.

The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 have also mandated that the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) must prepare guidelines for the implementation of these Rules, which includes specific guidelines for extended producer responsibility, channelization, collection centres, storage, transportation, environmentally sound dismantling and recycling, refurbishment, and random sampling of EEE for testing of Reduction of Hazardous Substances parameters. These guidelines can be found here.

[1] http://www.moef.gov.in/sites/default/files/EWM%20Rules%202016%20english%2023.03.2016.pdf

For more information on E-Waste management in India please write to us at info@ssrana.com or submit a query.

To know more about Environmental Laws in India, click on the link below:

Environment laws in India

E-Waste Management in India

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