All stakeholders should share e-waste responsibility: Report

As growing usage of electronic equipment has made e-waste management a major challenge in the country, all stakeholders should be held equally responsible for it, a report published Tuesday said.

The report, 'E-waster management in India -- The Corporate Imperative', brought out by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), Business Council for Sustainable Development and Yes Bank, also recommends mass public awareness campaigns.

In India, approximately 2.7 million tonnes of e-waste is generated annually, according to the report.

The report said that lack of awareness figures among stakeholders on the mandatory compliance requirement of the rules and the negative effects of improper handling and disposal of e-waste are alarming.

It also suggests introducing new business models to treat e-waste recycling as a profitable business opportunity, rather than a single stakeholders' obligation.

"The report explores a shared responsibility model in which all three primary stakeholders - the producer, the generator (households and bulk consumers), and the local regulatory body (municipality) - share the e-waste management costs," a statement said.

The proposed institutional framework, the report said, will be centred on the concept of a PRO (Producer Responsibility Organization) - an entity which is intended to have the physical responsibility for the e-waste recycling mechanism by providing forward and backward linkages with all other stakeholders involved in the process.

"In order to finance the operation of the collection and recycling system by the PROs, it is suggested that the producers (manufacturers and importers) bear the part of the financial responsibility by contributing to a Producer Responsibility Fund that would finance the costs of the establishing," the report said.

The e-waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011 in India are based on EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) concept.

Since the Rules came into force from May 2012, e-waste management infrastructure has slowly been on the rise in India.