The Ministry of Environment & Forests has notified e-waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011 which have become effective from 1st May, 2012.
These Rules provide for mandatory authorization of producer, collection centre, dismantler and recycler of e-waste; registration of dismantler and recycler of e-waste from the State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committee of Union territories.
‘Extended Producer Responsibility’ under which producers will be responsible for collection and channelization of e-waste generated from the ‘end of life’ of their products to registered dismantler or recycler.
This was stated by Dr. M.Veerappa Moily, Union Minister for Environment and Forests, in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha today.
The Minister further stated that as per the information received from CPCB, there are a total of 98 number of registered recyclers and dismantlers having recycling/dismantling capacity of 29,30,57 MTA for environmentally sound management of e-waste under the E-Waste Rules, 2011.
With 39 numbers, Karnataka has maximum number of registered recyclers/ dismantlers followed by Tamilnadu (19), Maharashtra (15) and Uttar Pradesh (11). Others are distributed in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttarakhand.
The Minister further stated that Import and export of e-waste are regulated under Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movements) Rules, 2008. Under the Rules no permission for import of e-waste has been granted during last three years by the Ministry.
However, permission for export of 10,575 MT of e-waste has been granted for export of e-waste to various countries viz. Belgium, Germany, Japan, Singapore Hong Kong, Sweden, UK and Switzerland, the Minister added.
