The Indian Scenario and Challenges about E-waste 4 th EU-India Environment Forum Jaijit Bhattacharya Director, Global Government Affairs
Current e-waste Scenario- INDIA Rapidly growing e-waste 434,000 metric tonnes Processing dominated by unmonitored Informal Sector Uninformed consumers Multiple Stakeholders (producers, consumers, refurbishers, dealers, recycler, dismantlers, collection centre) Increasing Government Focus
The e-waste actors Producer / Manufacturer: cater to Global Requirements and Market Consumers: aware... Not capable Dealer: willing... Overburdened Collection centre : available... Inaccessible Recycler: regulated / standardized? Refurbishers and Dismantlers: Show me the waste!! Source of Picture: http://www.treehugger.com/india-e-waste.jpg
E-waste Rules Way forward.. National Regulation to reduce overall product environmental impact. 4 2009 HP Confidential
Considerations for India Broad involvement of informal sector in e- waste management Significant grey market Almost non-existent culture of consumers paying for waste collection and processing Traditional waste is still largely managed by government institutions and agencies
Government: Key Enabler National regulation attempts to be effective and attempts to provide genuine incentive to reduce overall product environmental impact Ensure that the standards, implementation guidelines and enforcement practices are deployed uniformly across the country and across industry players Standardization of processes will help upgrade recycling facilities, technical capabilities and upscale equipment handling e-waste Help in International Harmonization of rules, regulations and waste processing and labelling standards
Recycling at lowest cost to Consumers Awareness campaigns Higher participation of the consumer by enabling a specific consumer compliance system Regulating the informal sector responsible for recycling 95% of e- waste Encourage the consumer to facilitate the process of reuse, treatment and recovery through adequate collection and recycling infrastructure Source of picture: http://zyozy.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/mobile-phones-rural-india.jpg
Enabling the Consumer HP s offer to its customers
Recycling Statistics HP s recycling program began in 1987 Recycled - 1,435 million pounds (650,000 tonnes) have been recycled increase in annual recycling volumes Recovered for reuse- More than 275 million pounds (125,000 tonnes) have been reused. In total, more than 1.71 billion pounds have been recovered. year tonnes 900000 HP s goal is to recycle 2 billion pounds (900,000 tons) of electronic products and supplies by the end of 2010 (since 1987) 650000 Many of our products like scanners and printers have recycled content in them. HP exceeds the goal to triple the amount of recycled materials used in our inkjet printers relative to 2007, originally targeted for 2010. 120000 2008 2009 2010 1 2 3 source: http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/commitment/goals.html
Enabling the Producer Most IT products are manufactured keeping in view global requirements and cater to international market The e-waste requirements alignment with established international standards. Source of picture: http://bikereview.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/ultrafun.jpg Change in categories of e-waste has helped
Accountability of Dealers/distributors and stakeholders The administrative responsibilities and record keeping to be the role of recyclers and authorized collection centres Registration / authorization Record keeping Filling of annual returns Change in definition of Dealer to Distributor has helped Change in serial number requirements has helped Change in transportation related rules has helped Source of Picture: http://beta.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00106/18in_waste_106445f.jpg
Enabling the System Process based automated approach Easy to follow processes and methods Benefits Maintaining records of e-waste handled through the computerized system with the automated process chain Reduced administrative burden for the government arising out of overwhelming volume of repetitive paperwork Appropriate framing of the e-waste guidelines is important
Some legislative considerations Reduction in the use of hazardous Substances [RoHS] in the manufacture of Electrical and Electronic equipment Exemptions introduced Step ahead.harmonization with International directive Would help to include Product information / Wheeled Bin Label exemptions Export of waste for reuse and recycling is required to handle cases such as processing of printed circuit boards [PCBs] which requires complex metal smelters for responsible recovery Such smelters are currently not available in India
Addressing the Informal Sector The 95% of e-waste generated is collected and recycled by informal sector e-waste rule mandates the handling of e-waste only by companies registered with the Central Pollution Control Board Currently, only 13 companies are registered to segregate e-waste and only 1 is registered to recycle. The informal sector should be involved in collection, segregation, dismantling and refurbishing of e-waste and recycling to be done by approved units. The absence of the option to auction may mitigate the diversion of e- waste to the informal sector. Orphaned and white box products not covered Refer http://beta.thehindu.com/news/cities/delhi/article433742.ece Appropriate framing of the e-waste guidelines is important
THANK YOU Jaijit.bhattacharya@hp.com 15 2009 HP Confidential