The E-Waste (Management And Handling) Rule Of 2011 Of India

We have no e-waste laws and regulations in India. In fact, for long e-waste laws and regulations have been ignored in India. Tons of e-waste has been imported and dumped into India for the past decade. This has made India, especially, New Delhi, a dumping ground for e-waste disposal.

Finally, Indian government has woken up to the nuisance of e-waste in India. It has been reported that the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rule of 2011 has been enacted by the Ministry of Environment and Forest as part of the Environment Protection Act of India.

However, the e-waste rules are not applicable with immediate force. The rules would take effect with effect from 1st May, 2012. The rules will apply to every producer, consumer and bulk consumer involved in manufacture, sale, purchase and processing of electronic equipment or components.

The rule defines “environmentally sound management of e-waste” as “taking all steps required to ensure that e-waste are managed in a manner which shall protect health and environment against any adverse effects, which may result from hazardous substance contained in such wastes.”

The rule mandates government departments and producers of electrical and electronic equipment to take responsibility for the collection of e-waste produced while manufacturing or after use in the end-of-life. He rules also require concerned organisations to set up collection centres or take back systems through which consumers can return their products.

Since the required infrastructure cannot be established immediately, a grace period of one year has been given by the Ministry for collection centres to be to set up. Information dissemination on e-waste and the environmentally sound management of e-waste is also mandated from producers.

According to the Indo European E-Waste Initiative for Improved Technology and Skills for Indian E-Waste Management Group (IEeWASTE), about 330,000 metric tonnes of e-waste is produced in India annually.

This is a good step in the right direction and Perry4Law and Perry4Law Techno Legal Base (PTLB) welcome this effort of the Ministry. We would come up with a more detailed discussion on these rules very soon.