E-Waste

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E-Waste Management

What is E- Waste?

'e-waste' means electrical and electronic equipment, including solar photo-voltaic modules or panels or cells, whole or in part discarded as waste, as well as rejects from manufacturing, refurbishment and repair processes.

'Electrical and electronic equipment' means equipment which are dependent on electric current or electro-magnetic field in order to become functional and also the equipment for the generation, transfer and measurements of the electricity.

'End-of-life' of the product means the time when the product is intended to be discarded by the user.

Types of E- waste:

There are 106 No. of waste electrical & electronic equipments covered under E- waste as per Schedule-I of E- waste Management Rules, 2022 broadly classified under seven categories as below:

Categories of Electrical and Electronic equipment Electrical and Electronic equipment codes No. of items
Information technology and telecommunication equipment ITEW 1- ITEW 27   27
Consumer Electrical and Electronics and Photovoltaic Panels CEEW1- CEEW19   19
Large and Small  Electrical and Electronic Equipment LSEEW1-LSEEW34   34
Electrical and Electronic Tools ( With the exception of  large scale Stationary Industrial Tools) EETW1-EETW8     8
Toys, Leisure and Sports Equipment TLSEW1 -TLSEW6   6
Medical Devices ( With the exception  of all implanted and infected products) MDW1-MDW10     10
Laboratory Instruments LSEEW1-LSEEW34   34
Total 106

Click at the link given below for further details:-

E-Waste Managment System

Management options for  E- Waste

'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;

Consumers / Bulk Consumers should ensure channelization of E- waste only to registered Producers / Refurbishes / Recyclers for further recycling in scientific manner.

Link for registered Recyclers is as below:

Link

In case of non- availability of registered recyclers in a State / UT, E- waste can be handed over via Take Back system provided by producers or collection system provided by registered Producers / Recyclers, viz., Producers / Responsibility Organization/ Collection Centers / Dealers etc.

Regulatory Framework.

E-waste Management Rules, 2022 were notified by MoEFCC on 2ndNovember, 2022 in supersession of the E- waste Management Rules, 2016. These rules have been further amended in July 2023.

Link

A) EPR Responsibility Framework

EPR:-'Extended Producer Responsibility' means responsibility of any producer of electrical or electronic equipment as given in Schedule-I for meeting recycling targets as per Schedule-III and Schedule-IV, only through registered recyclers of e-waste to ensure environmentally sound management of such waste.

Concerned entities are

  1. Manufacturer– means a person/entity/company having facilities for manufacture of EEE.
  2. Producer-  means any person/entity who manufactures / assembles/ imports and sells EEE and their components or consumables or parts or spares or imports used EEE.
  3. Refurbisher– means any person/entity repairing or assembling used EEE.
  4. Recycler -means any person/entity engaged in recycling and reprocessing of waste EEE.

Responsibilities of Concerned Entities under E waste Management Rules are:

  1. To get Registered on the CPCB Portal;
  2. Collect e- waste generated during the Manufacturing / Refurbishment / Recycling process.
  3. File annual and quarterly returns in the laid down form on the portal.
  4. Ensure secure, accountable and sustainable management of refrigerant generated during the manufacture of refrigeration and air-conditioning equipments and refurbishing / recycling of end of liferefrigeration and air-conditioning equipments by adopting approved destruction technologies as per the guidelines issued by the Central Pollution Control Board.
  5. Producer & Recycler to create awareness through media, publications, advertisements etc.
  6. Producers to obtain & implement EPR targets as per Schedule-III & Schedule-IV through the Portal.
  7. Recyclers to ensure compliance of standards or guidelines laid down by CPCB.
  8. Recyclers can take help of dismantlers in E- waste collection.

Responsibilities of Bulk Consumer. - Bulk consumers of electrical and electronic equipment listed in Schedule I must ensure that e-waste generated by them shall be handed over only to the registered producer, refurbisher or recycler.

B) Procedure for storage of e-waste.

Every manufacturer, producer, refurbisher and recycler may store the e-waste for a period not exceeding one hundred and eighty days and shall maintain a record of sale, transfer and storage of e-wastes and make these records available for inspection and the storage of the e-waste shall be done as per the applicable rules or guidelines for the time being in force:

Provided that the Central Pollution Control Board may extend the said period up to threehundred and sixty-five days in case the e-waste needs to be specifically stored for development of a process for its recycling or reuse.

C) Modalities of EPR Regime

  1. Producers shall fulfill their EPR obligation as per Schedule-III & Schedule – IV and may take help ofthird party organizations such as Producers Responsibility Organization,Collection Centers, Dealers
  2. EPR for each product shall be decided by CPCB.
  3. Producer shall fulfill their EPR through online purchase of EPR Certificate from registered recycler only.

D)  EPR Certificate Generation

  • EPR Certificate for Recycling and Refurbishing shall be generated in the form laid down by CPCB in this regard.
  • To incentivizerefurbishing, only 75 percent of the deferred quality shall be added to the EPR of the Producers for recycling upon expiry of the extended life of the refurbished product.

E) Management of solar photo-voltaic modules or panels or cells. –

Every manufacturer and producer of solar photo-voltaic modules or panels or cells shall, -

  1. ensure registration on the portal;
  2. store solar photo-voltaic modules or panels or cells waste generated up to the year 2034- 2035 as per the guidelines laid down by the Central Pollution Control Board in this regard;
  3. file annual returns in the laid down form on the portal on or before the end of the year to whichthe return relates up to year 2034-2035;
  4. ensure that the processing of the waste other than solar photo-voltaic modules or panels orcells shall be done as per the applicable rules or guidelines for the time being in force;  
  5. ensure that the inventory of solar photo-voltaic modules or panels or cells shall be put inplace distinctly on portal;
  6. comply with standard operating procedure and guidelines laid down by the Central Pollution Control Board in this regard;
  7. Recyclers of solar photo-voltaic modules or panels or cells shall be mandated for recovery of material as laid down by the Central Pollution Control Board in this regard.

Note: Manufacturer, Refurbishers& Recyclers shall have to seek Consent to Establish &Consent to Operate from concerned SPCB/PCC.

Responsibilities have also been laid for Local bodies / Village Panchayats to ensure separate collection of orphan e- waste items &their channelization to registered Recyclers / Refurbishers.