GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 1340
TO BE ANSWERED ON 09.12.2021
Use of technology in waste recycling
1340. DR. VIKAS MAHATME:
Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state: 

(a) Whether Government has developed adequate technology, such as blockchain, use of

robotics hydraulics and state-of-art technology etc. in collaboration with startups,

international institutes or Government institutes for easy and timely recycling of waste materials; and

(b) if so, the details thereof?

ANSWER

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

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

(a) to (b): The Ministry has notified Rules for Hazardous and Other Wastes, Biomedical

Waste, E-Waste, Plastic Waste, Solid Waste, Construction & Demolition Waste Management

under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 inter alia for environmentally sound

management of wastes in the country.

Guidelines have been published for environmentally sound recycling of the recyclable

hazardous wastes (such as used/waste oil, zinc dross, used lead acid battery, etc.listed in

Schedule IV of Hazardous and Other Wastes Rules, 2016. Further, various guidelines for

effective management and utilization of waste by preparing Standard Operating Procedures

(SoPs) have also been published.

The recycling and processing technologies for solid waste, plastic waste, construction and

demolition waste, E-waste, bio-medical waste are in operation in the country and further

research and development is carried out as per requirement. The Ministry of Environment,

Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has awarded a project to track and utilize the

hazardous waste in environmentally sound manner. Block-chain technology platform is

proposed to be used in the project.

The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, has an ongoing

programme on Waste Management Technology which inter alia includes recycling of wastes.

Under the National Mission on Inter –disciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) of

Department of Science and Technology, 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIH) have been

established across reputed academic institutes in the country. These hubs nurture startups,

collaborate with international institutes to develop India specific technologies. Recycling of

waste materials is also pursued as one of the application domains.

Further, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITY) through Centre for

Materials for Electronic Technology (C-MET), Hyderabad, has developed technology for

recycling of printed circuit board (PCB) for recovery of four elements namely copper, silver,

gold and palladium. MEITY also funds R&D projects to develop technological solutions for

management of e-wastes in environmentally sound manner.