India: Big time e-waste producer

In just one year, India's e-waste generation jumped 27 percent, says a recent report by the Central Pollution Control Board (cpcb). In 2019-20, the country generated
1,014,961 tonnes of e-waste, as against the 771,215 tonnes generated in 2018-19. In addition, cpcb notes that collection of e-waste has been abysmal in recent years. For
instance, in 2018-19, just 10 percent of e-waste (78,281 tonnes) was collected.

 

This was still an improvement over 2017-18, when 3.5 per cent of 708,445 tonnes of e-waste was collected. The cpcb report was released in connection with a case regarding e-waste disposal in the National Green Tribunal. According to the E-Waste Management Rules, 2016, manufacturers are responsible for e-waste collection under the Extended Producer Responsibility (epr).

 

As on November 26, 2020, 1,630 manufacturers have epr authorization. cpcb in its report says it has issued show-cause notices to 292 manufacturers whose collection centres did not comply with the rules.