India's New E-waste Rules |
| Credit: The New York Times |
INTRODUCTION
• The Environment Ministry published its draft of E-waste Management Rules this week
• This establishes new rules for enterprises to follow when it comes to recycling electronic garbage
• The draught guidelines which have been circulated for public comment and could go into force later this year, also include a tradable certificate system akin to internationally traded carbon credits
• Electronics manufacturers and businesses that generate e-waste will be required to collect and recycle at least 60% of their electronic trash by 2023, by 2024, 70%, and by 2025, 80%
• Violators will be required to pay an "environment compensation" fine, which will be partially repaid based on the delays in meeting targets
• The guidelines include a wide range of consumer electronics, telecommunications equipment, medical equipment, electronic tools etc.
TRADABLE CERTIFICATE SYSTEM
• Carbon credits are permits that allow the company owning them to emit a particular amount of CO2 or other greenhouse gases over a set period of time
• These permits are tradable and their price is determined by market forces, incentivising businesses to pollute less
• This also eliminates the need to purchase them to stay under the emissions cap. Companies can sell their credits to others if they pollute less than they are allowed to
• The draft notification states, "A producer can purchase EPR certificates restricted to its current year EPR liability plus any remaining liability from previous years plus 10% of the current year liability"
CONCLUSION
• According to the Global E-Waste Monitor 2017, India generates over 2 million tonnes of e-waste each year, ranking fifth among e waste producing countries
• The top manufacturers of e-waste are the United States, China, Japan, and Germany
• In 2016, India enacted e-waste management regulations, which were later revised in 2018
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