Rules on e-waste management by March next year

The government today said draft rules on managing e-waste will be ready by March next year.

"The government is currently in the process of developing a dedicated set of rules, which would govern the management and handling of electronic waste," Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) Director Saroj said at the MAIT-GTZ 'International Roundtable on Environmentally Sound Management of Electronics' here.

These will be put in the public domain for comments by March 2010, she added. The draft rules were jointly proposed and submitted to the government by the MAIT, GTZ, Greenpeace and Toxics Link in September 2009.

"An expert committee constituted by the MoEF is currently reviewing the draft," Saroj said. E-waste or electronic waste describes loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, broken, electrical or electronic devices.

The proposed rules lay emphasis on responsibility of the manufacturers and vendors, including financial responsibility, extending beyond the sales of equipment and setting up of take-back systems for effective management and handling of e-waste.

"It is essential to encourage the nascent formal e-waste recycling industry in India with access to capital and better technologies, through suitable incentives and hand-holding measures by the centre and the states," MAIT Executive Director Vinnie Mehta said.

MAIT estimates that about 3.3 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of e-waste is generated each year in the country, while another 50,000 MT of e-scrap finds its way into India through unauthorised means.