New Delhi : “Lack of awareness is the major concern for implementation of E -Waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011”, said Mr. Susheel Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests. Speaking during the interactive session on ‘E-waste Rules for Bulk Consumers’ organized by the Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT), alongwith dataserv APAC, one of the leading global organizations for management of redundant electrical and electronic equipment,  Mr. Kumar stressed on setting up a committee along with MAIT and other relevant associations for spreading awareness, highlighting it’s hazards and appropriate ways to handle e- waste for bulk consumers.

The workshop was primarily organised to highlight key features of the E-Waste (Management & Handling) Rules 2011. During the workshop, Mr. Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT said, “We aim to create awareness about the e- waste management rules that came into effect last year and help to connect with the right resources to manage e- waste within organisation. We did a survey, to understand the size of e- waste does India have and at that time the numbers came upto 80,00, 000 metric tonnes. A study by UNEP stated that the e- waste generated in India was 500% year-on-year basis, which is a huge number.”

Speaking on the issue of effective e-waste management, Mr. Amit Sardana, MD, dataserv APAC, spoke about ‘Infrastructural support available from Recyclers for the Bulk Consumers’. He said, “The country is saddled with huge toxic waste, estimated to be more than 8 million tonnes. E-waste is mainly processed by informal units in India in an unethical manner through crude methods which are hazardous for the environment at large. Acting as an impetus for such units is the expectation of a resale value by bulk consumers. It is therefore crucial that manufacturers and bulk consumers realize their responsibility towards careful disposal of e-waste generated.”

Other speakers present at the workshop included Mr. Anand Kumar, Senior Environment Engineer, Central Pollution Control Board; Mr. Sanjiv Kumar, Chairman Delhi pollution control Committee , Dr. Ashish Chaturvedi, Senior Technical Advisor, GIZ and Mr. Bikas Singh, Head Government Affairs, Lenovo.

It can be noted that the E-Waste (Management & Handling) Rules 2011came into effect in 2012 and aims at reduction in the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment by specifying threshold for use of hazardous material including lead, mercury and cadmium. These rules are applicable  to every producer, consumer or bulk consumer, collection centre, dismantler and recycler of e-waste involved in the manufacturing, sales, purchase and processing of electrical and electronic equipment or components.

Source : Sweta Singh