E-waste re-cycling: How the new rules can solve India’s large e-waste issue
E-waste re-cycling: How the new rules can solve India’s large e-waste issue
The new e-waste recycling rules could solve India’s burgeoning e-waste problem
As India’s e-waste problem grows, with 1.1 million tonnes of e-waste generated in 2019-20—just after China and the US, the government has taken specific measures towards formalising the e-waste recycling space in the country. Replacing the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016—that made it compulsory for dismantling and recycling units to get authorisation from the concerned departments—are the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, that kicked in from April 1, 2023.
The latest rules introduce the new Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regime that will apply to every manufacturer, producer, refurbisher, dismantler and recycler of electronic products, with the scope of products also being expanded. “The coverage has increased from 30 to more than 100 products and virtually everything that runs on electricity has now been covered,” says Nitin Gupta, Co-founder & CEO of Attero Recycling.
Now, along with getting registered, producers would be assigned annual recycling targets in the range of 60-80 per cent of the goods produced or sold by them. Not only that, they would also be required to raise awareness about e-waste through various channels.
