Friday, February 5, 2010

INDIA!

e
February 5th, 2010
Published in Governence

During 2005, 1,46,800 tonnes of e-waste was generated in the country, which is expected to increase to 8,00,000 by 2012. A survey carried out by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) further states that the top ten cities generating e-waste are Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata Chennai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Pune, Surat and Nagpur. There is an estimate (2008)that the total obsolete computers originating from offices, business houses, industries and household is of the order of 2 million. Manufactures and assemblers in a single calendar year are estimated to produce around 1200 tonnes of electronic scrap.

Electronic waste or E-waste is one of the rapidly growing environmental problems of the World. In India, the electronic waste management assumes greater significance not only due to the generation of our own waste but also dumping of E-waste particularly computer waste from the developed countries.

A 2007 study also revealed that approximately 29,000 tonnes of E-waste is generated in the four Metro cities in the country. The total quantity of e-waste generation in Delhi is about 10,000 tonnes/annum.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has notified the Hazardous Wastes (Management, Handling and Trans-boundary Movement) Rules, 2008 for proper management and handling of hazardous wastes which include e-waste. Rules, All the units handling e-waste need to register with CPCB and the hazardous wastes generated shall be sent or sold to a registered or authorized recycler or re-processor or re-user as per the rule.

The Guidelines for Environmentally Sound Management of e-waste published by CPCB provide the approach and methodology for environmentally sound management of e-waste, which include details such as e-waste composition and recycle potential of items of economic value, identification of possible hazardous contents in e-waste, the recycle, re-use and recovery options, treatment and disposal options and the environmentally sound e-waste treatment technologies. The Guidelines emphasize the concept of Extended Producer Responsibility.

No comments: