PM IAS JULY 05 EDITORIAL

Right Intent, Confusing Content 
GS Paper 3, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Issues Arising Out of Design & Implementation of Policies.
 

Context:

• Last month marked the decade of India’s E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules. Since then, the Rules have been changed several times. The most recent revision is the Draft E-waste Management Rules, 2022, which the Environment Ministry submitted for public comment in May 2022. Despite the fact that the fundamental extended producer responsibility (EPR) concept is retained, the new draft Rules differ considerably from the prior rules.

E-Waste:

• E-waste is any abandoned electrical or electronic equipment. This covers both functional and damaged things that are discarded or donated.
• It generally refers to obsolete consumer and corporate electronic equipment that contains materials that make it hazardous when disposed of in landfills.
• Toxic compounds naturally leak from the metals within when e-waste is buried, making it especially harmful.

What are the 10 types of electronic waste?
The following are the many categories of e-waste:

• Large Appliances
• Household Appliances
• Computer and telecommunications equipment
• Lighting Equipment
• Electrical and electronic equipment
• Electronic Games
• Medical equipment
• Monitoring Equipment
• Vending Devices

E-waste Generation in India:

• The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reports that India created more than 10 lakh tonnes of e-waste in 2019-20, up from 7 lakh tonnes in 2017-18. In contrast, the capacity for e-waste disposal has not been expanded from 82 lakh tonnes since 2017-18.
• In 2018, the Ministry of Environment told the tribunal that the informal sector recycles 95 percent of e-waste in India, and scrap merchants unscientifically dispose of it by burning or dissolving it in acids.

India’s E-waste Management Regulations:

• The Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has issued the 2016 E-Waste Management Rules. These new guidelines superseded the 2011 E-Waste (Management and Handling) Rules.
• The revised Rules provide tighter standards and reflect the government’s greater commitment to environmental control.
• The following are the highlights of the new E-waste Management Rules for 2016:
• It comprises CFLs, or Compact Fluorescent Bulbs, as well as other mercury-containing lamps and comparable equipment.
• The Rules, for the first time, subject producers to the Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, as well as the goals.
• Producers are now responsible for both e-waste collection and e-waste exchange.
• Additional stakeholders are included:

-Manufacturers.

-Dealers.

-Producer Responsibility Organizations and Refurbishers.

• The Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) and other mercury-containing lamps are now covered by the guidelines.

The Environment Ministry of India has issued regulations aimed at a wide range of groups, including hotels, residential colonies, bulk producers of consumer products, ports, railway stations, airports, and pilgrimage sites. This is done to guarantee that the solid waste generated in their facilities is properly processed and recycled.

E-waste Management Rules 2016 Highlights:

• Within two years, local governments having a population of one lakh or more were obliged to develop solid waste processing facilities.
• Census towns with populations less than a lakh would be granted three years to construct solid waste processing facilities.
• Old and abandoned waste sites would have to be decommissioned or bio-remediated within five years.
• After 16 years, the solid waste management guidelines were to be changed.
• Municipalities to be responsible for garbage management; they would be able to charge user fees and apply spot penalties for littering and non-segregation.
• A two to five-year transition period would be in place, after which fines would be issued, according to the country’s Environment Minister.

Report of the Central Pollution Control Board:

• Until 2013-14, municipal governments had established just 553 compost and vermin-composting facilities, 56 bio-methanation plants, 22 refuse-derived fuel plants, and 12 waste-to-energy plants.
• By 2031, municipal solid trash is expected to reach 165 million tonnes, requiring 1240 hectares of land for disposal if unprocessed.

Market For E-Waste:

• The development of a market for e-waste recycling certificates is a significant move.
• According to the proposed standards, e-goods manufacturers must ensure that at least 60% of their e-waste is recycled by 2023.
• Another significant change is the proposed Rules’ transition from collection rate objectives (which established targets for e-waste collection as a proportion of the number of items sold by weight in the market the previous year) to recycling rate targets.

Steering Committee:

• Significant change here is the creation of a Steering Committee to supervise the regulations’ “overall implementation, monitoring, and oversight.”
• This Committee, for example, has the authority to determine the product-specific “conversion factor” that determines the value of the recycling certificate, to specify how the environmental compensation fund may be used, to resolve disputes, and to “remove any difficulty in the smooth implementation of these regulations.”
• While such an institutional system might give greater confidence in execution, the Committee lacks representation.
   

Sustainable Development Goals Target:

• SDG Target 3.9: By 2030, significantly reduce the number of fatalities and diseases caused by hazardous substances, as well as pollution and contamination of the air, water, and soil.
• SDG Target 8.3: Encourage the formalisation and expansion of micro, small, and medium-sized firms, including access to financial services, via development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation.
• SDG Target 8.8: Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working conditions for all employees, including migrant workers, particularly women migrants and those in precarious employment.
• SDG Target 11.6: By 2030, minimise cities’ negative per capita environmental impact, notably by focusing on air quality and municipal and other waste management.
• SDG Target 12.4: By 2020, achieve environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle in accordance with agreed-upon international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water, and soil to minimise their negative impacts on human health and the environment.
• SDG 12.5: Significantly reduce waste creation by 2030 through prevention, reduction, repair, recycling, and reuse.

Concerns of E-Waste:

• Health concerns may come from direct contact with harmful compounds that leak from e-waste, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Minerals such as lead, cadmium, chromium, brominated flame retardants, and polychlorinated biphenyls are examples (PCBs). Danger can arise from inhaling hazardous vapours as well as chemical build-up in soil, water, and food.
• This endangers not just people but also land and sea wildlife. The hazards are especially severe in underdeveloped nations since some rich countries transfer their e-waste there.
• According to studies, worldwide e-waste has negative consequences not just on those who deal with it, but also on those who live nearby.

Concerns Regarding E-Waste Rules:

• The anticipated e-waste recycling market looks to be unachievable. Large-scale e-waste recycling in India is still in its infancy.
• The majority of valuable material recycling occurs in the informal sector, employing inefficient and dangerous technology.
• At a time when India is working on the technical feasibility and economic viability of various recycling technologies and methodologies for e-waste components, a target of recycling 60% of e-waste generated in 2022-23 looks overly optimistic.
• If the regulatory goals are to build a robust recycling market, the current official and informal operators must play an important role.
• Given this, the lack of regulation of registered collectors, dismantlers, and producer responsibility organisations is perplexing.
• There is no one to check that these organisations are fulfilling their obligations in an ecologically responsible manner. Whether or not these entities are covered by the EPR framework.
• Furthermore, the informal sector handles the largest bulk of e-waste in India. The majority of e-waste policy arguments have centred on integrating the informal sector into formal processes.

Data Security: Beyond the Environment:

• Aside from saving the environment, companies are becoming more aware of the hazards of discarding devices.
• In an era when phishing schemes are the most dangerous security threat to your company, most people ignore their trash, putting them at risk.

How E-waste Causes Data Theft:

• Throwing away or giving a smartphone or laptop is similar.
• The hard drive within the computer, or the memory stick inside the smartphone, is a big liability for both corporations and individuals.
• There are many of disposal ways, however the majority of them aren’t great. The only definite method to get it done is to physically destroy or dismantle devices.

Pros of the Proposed E-Waste Rules:

• The proposed e-waste Rules offer a few good reforms, such as broadening the definition of e-waste, clarifying penalties for rule violations, establishing an environmental compensation fund based on the ‘polluter pays’ concept, and recognising informal trash workers.
• The draft E-waste Rules emphasise the importance of urban local bodies (ULBs) not only in collection and segregation, but also in facilitating the establishment of waste collection, segregation, and disposal systems, as well as conducting training sessions to develop their capacities as they operate at the local level, whether in urban or rural areas, thus playing a critical role.
• This novel notion, akin to carbon trading, will also serve to reward compliance, penalise noncompliance, and, most crucially, keep track of everything.

Way Forward:

• If the Ministry and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) decide to implement recycling objectives, they should develop standards for how regulated firms must demonstrate compliance.
• To collect, efficiently process, and dispose of e-waste separately, as well as divert it from conventional landfills and open burning, it is critical to combine the informal and formal sectors.
• Competent authorities in underdeveloped countries must implement methods for securely and sustainably processing and treating e-waste.
• Promoting environmentally acceptable e-waste management programmes requires increased information campaigns, capacity building, and awareness.
• In India, the difficulty has always been garbage collection and segregation, and despite a substantial growth in the number of technologically proficient waste management firms, we still rely on the informal sector for waste collection to a large extent.
• We need to figure out how to increase the informal sector’s engagement and integration so that it not only helps improve the health and safety of individuals participating, but also helps generate a skilled workforce that will assist our country reach its circular economy goals.
• More efforts are needed to enhance present methods such as collection schemes and management techniques in order to prevent illicit e-waste trading.

Conclusion:

• The 2017 Union Budget placed a strong emphasis on circular economy, stating that the move to circular economy will boost productivity while also offering numerous prospects for new firms and jobs.
• The Budget also said that all of this will be backed up by active public policies addressing laws, an expanded producer responsibility framework, and innovation facilitation.
• The proposed E-waste Rules appear to be a step toward attaining the Union Budget’s circular economy aims.
• The draft Rules give a complete list of goods that are classified as e-waste and hence fall under the purview of these Rules. These planned reforms present an excellent opportunity for organisations existing in or preparing to enter this area.

• Start-ups in this industry have the potential to introduce the finest foreign waste management methods to India and manage garbage effectively and environmentally friendly by not only meeting but exceeding regulatory requirements.
• The EPR certifications for recycling and refurbishing are the most unique idea provided by the proposed Rules.
• The EPR Certificates will not only assist in certifying that the EPR objectives have been fulfilled by the relevant stakeholder, but they will also assist those who are falling behind in fulfilling their targets in temporarily purchasing EPR certificates from others.
• The government’s emphasis on circular economy gives a fantastic business opportunity that will not only help us manage our garbage but will also help us save resources and safeguard the planet.