GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 834
TO BE ANSWERED ON 27.07.2023
Generation of E-waste
834. SHRI G.C. CHANDRASHEKHAR:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state?

(a) the amount of e-waste generated by India annually in the last five years, State-wise;

(b) whether India imports e-waste from developed countries;

(c) if so, the details of the quantum of e-waste imported thereof along with the names of the exporter countries annually for the last five years; and

(d) the steps Government is taking to prevent e-waste?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a)The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) estimates the e-waste generation at national level based on the countrywide sales data provided by producers and average life of notified electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), as mandated under the E-waste Management Rules, 2016. As per the information available with CPCB, e-waste generated in the country from twenty-one (21) types of EEE notified under the E-Waste (Management) 

 (b) to (d) The import and export of hazardous and other wastes is regulated under the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 notified by the Ministry. E-waste has been listed under Basel No. A1180 in the schedule VI of the said rules and prohibited for import.

 Ministry has comprehensively revised the previous set of Rules and notified the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 in November, 2022 and the same is enforce since 1st April, 2023. These new rules intend to manage e-waste in an environmentally sound manner and put in place an improved Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regime for e-waste recycling where in all the manufacturer, producer, refurbishes and recycler are required to register on portal developed by CPCB. The new provisions would facilitate and channelize the informal sector to formal sector for doing business and ensure recycling of E-waste in environmentally sound manner. Provisions for environmental compensation and verification & audit have also been introduced. These rules also promote Circular Economy through EPR regime and scientific recycling/disposal of the e-waste.