A Gap Analysis in Selected Asian Countries, 3R Knowledge Hub ...

The mandate of the National Task Force is to
identify, plan and implement all issues related
to e-waste in India. The National WEEE Task
force has five thrust areas: Policy and
Legislation, Baseline Study, Restructuring and
Recycling, Extended Producer Responsibility
and Awareness Building.
The first comprehensive study to estimate the
annual generation of e-waste in India is being
undertaken by the National WEEE Taskforce. So
far, the preliminary estimates suggest that total
WEEE generation in India is approximately
146,000 tons per year. The top states in order of
highest contribution to WEEE include
Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu,
Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi, Karnataka,
Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. The city
wide ranking of largest WEEE generators is
Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkatta,
Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Surat and
Nagpur.
Approximately 30,000 computers become
obsolete every year from the IT industry in
Bangalore alone. The reason is an extremely
high obsolescence rate of 30% per year.
Almost 50% of the personal computers sold in
India are products from secondary markets and
are re-assembled on old components. The
remaining market share is covered by
multinational manufacturers (30%) and Indian
brands (22%).
Three categories of WEEE account for almost
90% of the generation, large household
appliances (42.1%), information and
communications technology equipment (33.9%)
and consumer electronics (13.7%).
The Government of India has reiterated its
commitment to waste minimization and control
of hazardous wastes, both nationally and
internationally.
The Basel Convention on the control of
Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes
and Disposal was signed by India on 15 th March
1990, ratified and acceded in 1992. A ratification
of this convention obliges India to address the
problem of transboundary movement and
disposal of dangerous hazardous wastes
through international cooperation. As per the
Basel Convention, India cannot export
hazardous wastes listed in Annex VIII of the
Convention. However, the convention agreement
does not restrict the import of such wastes from
countries that have not ratified the Basel
Convention. It is through the orders of the
Honorable Supreme Court that the import of
such wastes is now banned in the country.
The legal basis therefore is regulated in the
Hazardous Waste Management and Handling
Rules (1989/2000 amended and subsequently in
2003). This document also controls the import of
hazardous waste from any part of the world into
India. However, import of such waste may be
allowed for processing or reuse as raw materials.
There is no specific legislation pertaining to the
management of e-waste so far.
Findings
Formal e-waste recyclers are in a nascent stage,
with the first ones being established in Bangalore.
Currently, the collection, dismantling and
recovery are done entirely by a well-established
network in the informal sector. Even though the
sector creates substantial value addition,
especially by collecting and repairing unused
equipment, some recovery processes employed
are extremely dangerous.
Trade in e-waste, like that in other scrap, is
dominated by the informal sector. The waste
trade sector in India, known as a part of the
informal sector, has a system that is highly
organized with extensive coordination in an
established network. However, e-waste recycling
is undertaken in a very unscientific manner,
impacting both health and environment.
GAPS FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF 3R
Worldwide experiences indicate that applying 3R
is a lucrative way of tackling waste management
issues. The first step in this exercise is an
assessment of the technology options available
for implementing 3R-based solutions. Proactive
policies and relevant legislations emphasizing
3R-based solutions are vital to achieve a higher
success rate form the next step. While recycling is
considered as a technological ability, reduce and
reuse is often considered management or policy
oriented. In this context, the following sections
present information on the technology and
management aspects with focus on 3R.
Chapter 3: Country Analysis
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