E-waste conundrum: Draft guidelines point to impractical over-regulation

India is one of the world's largest producers of e-waste in South Asia, generating 1.6 million tonnes of discarded material, almost 67 per cent of this is unprocessed

Complaints by manufacturers of consumer electronic goods against the Centre’s latest draft guidelines setting minimum prices for recycling and processing electrical and electronic waste point to impractical over-regulation in an industry that urgently needs to transition from the informal to the organised sector. Manufacturers of consumer electronics have alleged that the draft guidelines have ignored their representations to the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change. The rules have sharply raised the cost producers pay recyclers to recycle e-waste products. For instance, the price of recycling metals has been raised to Rs 80 a kg against Rs 6-25, which producers pay recyclers as part of term contracts. The producers have the backing of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, which conveyed its views in an all-stakeholder meeting recently. These draft rules exemplify the government’s inability to address the key problem associated with e-waste since 2011, when e-waste management rules were put in place.

India is one of the world’s largest producers of e-waste in South Asia, generating 1.6 million tonnes of discarded material from mobile phones, laptops, desktops, and related consumer electronics. Almost 67 per cent of this is unprocessed, implying that toxic substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, asbestos, and other hazardous substances leach into the soil from solid-waste landfills, posing serious long-term health and environment risks to people, flora, and fauna. The other aspect of this issue is that 90 per cent of the e-waste recycling is handled by the informal sector, operating in unsafe conditions and often employing children. In 2016, the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change attempted to address the problem by introducing more structured E-Waste Management Rules, which both extended the range of products that would come under the rules, set out the roles and duties of dismantlers, manufacturers and recyclers, and introduced the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), mandating producers to take back end-of life products in return for EPRs.

Although these rules saw the amount of e-waste collected and processed rise steadily, the proportion remained minuscule in the absence of any penal provisions for violation. In an attempt to address these weaknesses, the E-Waste Management Rules of 2022 widened the ambit of products under the law and made it mandatory for every manufacturer, refurbisher, and recycler to register on an online portal developed by the Central Pollution Control Board. The rules also restricted the manufacturing of electronic components that contain hazardous substances such as lead and mercury beyond the maximum prescribed concentration. As with many laws aimed at environmental protection, enforcement has been patchy and the competitive cost at which the informal sector operates acts as a disincentive for organised players to enter the market in larger numbers. The upshot is that e-waste output in India is growing at a brisk pace of 30 per cent a year but, according to some estimates, less than 20 per cent of the required funds are being allocated for developing proper recycling facilities. Well-meaning attempts to make e-waste recycling more viable for recyclers are unlikely to change the dynamics of the business. Given that the sector employs over a million people, the government may also need to address the issue of livelihoods rather than just corporate profits.