Sustainable development can be interpreted as "development that lasts" i.e., "a path along which the maximisation of human well-being for today's generations does not lead to decline in future well-being".

Development translates into exponential technological advancements which lead to increase in e-waste generation. India produces an appalling amount of e-waste and due to lack of effective implementation of the Extended Producer's Responsibility ("EPR"), a major chunk of it enters the informal sector of recycling. Environmental concerns regarding the operations in the informal sector occur at different stages of the recycling chain.

In yet another step towards sustainable growth, Government notified the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 on 2nd November 2022 ("Rules"), superseding the E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016 with effect from 1st April 2023.

This is a much-needed change to the existing regime to put India at par with the international conventions and global e-waste management policies. The rules define various terms, including bulk consumer, component, dismantler, environmentally sound management of e-waste, electrical and electronic equipment ("EEE"), EPR, and producer. These definitions provide clarity on the scope and applicability and ensure that all stakeholders follow the same interpretation.

The new rules put larger responsibility on entities like manufacturer, producer, refurbisher and recycler unlike 2016 Rules wherein dealer, consumer, bulk consumer, and collection centres were also responsible for multiple compliances. These entities are required to register on a central portal to continue operating and fulfil specific responsibilities.

The definition of term 'producer' has also been widened and now includes any person or entity who:

  • manufactures or offers to sell EEE under its own brand; or
  • offers to sell under its own brand, assembled EEE produced by other manufacturers or suppliers; or
  • offers to sell imported EEE; or
  • who imports used EEE;

irrespective of the selling technique used such as dealer, retailer, e-retailer, etc.

The definition of term 'e-waste' has been widened to include solar photo-voltaic modules or panels or cells, which are discarded as waste and the term 'bulk consumer' has been widened and simplified. Now, any entity which has used at least one thousand units of electrical and electronic equipment listed in Schedule I of 2022 Rule, at any point of time in the particular financial year including the e-retailer, will be considered as bulk consumers of e-waste.

Some of the key points of the E-waste Management Rules 2022 are:

1. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR):

  • The new rules have strengthened the EPR concept, which makes producers responsible for the entire life cycle of their products. Producers will now have to ensure that their products are collected, dismantled, and recycled in an environmentally sound manner.
  • EPR is a policy-based approach wherein responsibility is casted over the producers of specific category of waste for the treatment and safe disposal of such waste. EPR mechanism under the 2016 Rules focused more on the producer's responsibility to collect back the e-waste introduced in the market and provided collection targets, whereas the EPR regime under 2022 Rules provides an annual e-waste recycling targets to the producers. This will help in proper recycling and safe disposal of e-waste.

2. Collection Targets and certificates:

  • The new rules have set higher collection targets for e-waste.
  • Producers are required to meet recycling targets up to 60% by 2023 to 70% and 80% in 2024 and 2025, respectively only through registered recyclers.
  • The concept of EPR recycling certificate, refurbishing certificate and deferred liability has also been introduced, for facilitating the fulfilment of EPR targets. The refurbisher will will be issued a refurbishing certificate for a particular quantity of refurbished product whereby the life of such product has been extended. Producers can purchase such refurbishing certificates to defer their EPR vis-à-vis corresponding quantity of e-waste in a particular year and same shall be added to the target of the year in which the extended life of the product is expired.

3. E-waste Refurbishment:

  • The new rules have allowed for the refurbishment of e-waste, which means that e-waste that is still functional can be repaired and reused.
  • Refurbisher's are under a duty to collect e-waste generated during the process of refurbishing and hand over the waste to registered recycler and upload information on the portal. Additionally, they have to ensure that the refurbished equipment is as per Compulsory Registration Scheme of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and Standards of Bureau of Indian Standards framed for this purpose.

4. Extended Scope:

  • The new rules have expanded the scope of e-waste to include more electrical and electronic equipment, including medical devices, monitoring and control instruments, solar photo-voltaic modules or panels or cells, which are discarded as waste, laboratory instruments etc. as per the revised Schedule I of 2022 rules.

5. Limited compliance on Bulk Consumer:

  • The term 'bulk consumer' has been widened and simplified. The requirement to qualify as bulk consumer now depends on specified usage of EEE by entity, unlike earlier where it depended on the type of entity, turnover and number of employees.
  • The requirement of annual return and maintaining records of e-waste by the bulk consumer has been done away with but they need to ensure that e-waste generated by them is handed over only to registered entities.

6. Producer's, manufacturers, and recycler's responsibility:

  • Producer of EEE and their components are responsible for reduction of hazardous substances by ensuring that products do not contain lead, mercury, and other hazardous substances beyond the maximum prescribed concentration.
  • Producer will be required to provide detailed information on the constituents of the equipment along with declaration of conformance to the reduction of hazardous substances provisions when required by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Prior to the amendment, detailed information had to be included in the product user documentation.
  • Producers are required to implement EPR targets, create awareness about e-waste management, and file annual and quarterly returns.
  • Manufacturers along with filing returns must collect e-waste generated during the manufacture of any EEE and ensure its recycling or disposal.
  • Recyclers are required to ensure that the fractions or material not recycled in its facility is sent to the respective registered recyclers; Residue generated during recycling process is disposed of in an authorised treatment storage disposal facility; Maintain record of e-waste collected, dismantled, recycled, and sent to registered recycler on the portal and make available all records for verification or audit as and when required

Key Insights

This is a welcome change in today's scenario where statistics indicates that India is the third largest generator of e-waste after China and USA. The growing environmental issue that e-waste is, we need to constantly reimagine, revaluate, and redefine ways to deal with e-waste to achieve our sustainability goals.

India would certainly benefit from optimizing e-waste management by mandating recycling through formal sector, as entities will be prohibited from dealing with unregistered players. Further, introduction of mandatory recycling targets will play a significant role in keeping a check on environmental pollution. The rules primarily emphasize on proper recycling and safe disposal of e-waste to reduce the long-lasting impact on the environment. With a proper disclosure and compliance mechanism in place, it has become important for the companies to prepare themselves to comply with the new regime.

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