GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED: QUESTION NO: 691
ANSWERED ON: 07.02.2022
Processing of E-Waste
Hibi Eden
Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:-

(a) whether there exists dismantlers and recyclers having equipment and facilities for environmentally sound processing of e-waste, if so, the details thereof including the total number of registered waste processing and recycling units for the disposal of electronic waste in the country, State/UT-wise and year-wise (since the year of inception);

(b) the percentage of electronic waste that is disposed of through these regulated waste processing units and the total quantity of e-waste generated;

(c) whether there are any safe and secure provisions created for disposal of electronic gadgets that contain highly personal information; and

(d) whether the producers of listed electronic and electrical equipment are responsible for collection and channelization for recycling of their products after end of life of their products and if so, the details thereof including the type/genre of the product?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) Under the E-Waste(Management) Rules, 2016, the authorization to e-waste dismantlers and recyclers is granted by the concerned State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) /Pollution Control Committees (PCCs) after ensuring that the applicant is utilising environmentally sound technologies and possess adequate technical capabilities, requisite facilities and equipment to dismantle or recycle and process e-waste in compliance to the guidelines specified by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). SPCBs/PCCs are also carrying out regular inspections of e-waste dismantling/recycling facilities for ensuring compliance. 

As per the information available with CPCB, there are 468 authorised Dismantlers/Recyclers in 22 States having processing capacity of 13, 85,932.22Metric Tonne per annum (based on information received from SPCBs/PCCs and available on website of SPCBs/PCCs). The States/ UTs wise list of authorised dismantlers/recyclers is at Annexure – I. 

(b) The percentage of e-waste collected, dismantled & recycled/ disposed out of the total e-waste generated in the country from twenty-one (21) types of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) notified Under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 during the last three years is given below: 

Financial Year Generation

Quantity of e-waste collected, dismantled & recycled / disposed

(Tonnes) (Tonnes) (%)

2017-18 7,08,445.00 69,414.0 9.79 

2018-19 7,71,215.00 1,64,663.0 21.35 

2019-20 10,14,961.21 2,24,041.0 22.07 

(c) The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, has provisions for dismantling and recycling of e-waste by authorised dismantler and recycler. The authorised dismantlers and recyclers do have facility for erasing and removal of data. In the guidelines for implementation of the said rules, e-waste dismantler and recycler have to have facilities for destroying or permanently deleting data stored in the memory of end of life products (Hard Disk, Telephones, Mobile phones etc) either through hammering or through data eraser. 

(d) Under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, the responsibility of collection, channelization, environmentally sound dismantling and recycling of e-waste from end of life notified electrical andelectronic equipment (EEE) are with the producers of notified EEE through the instrument of EPR Authorization (EPRA). Two categories of end of the life EEE namely (i) IT and Telecommunication Equipment (EEE item codes ITEW1 to ITEW16) and (ii.) Consumer Electricals and Electronics (EEE item codes CEEW1 to CEEW5) are covered under the said rules. Under EPR regime, producers of EEE have been given annual e-waste collection and recycling targets based on the generation from the previously sold EEE or based on sales of EEE as the case may be. As on 01-02-2022, 1926 (one thousand nine hundred and twenty-six) numbers of producers have been granted EPR Authorisation.