Source : Down To Earth, New Delhi, Nov 3, 2017
New Delhi: On October 30 2017, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) came out with a draft notification on E-Waste (Management) Amendment Rules 2017. The ministry has proposed to relax the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) plan by reducing the e-waste collection targets for industries. The industries are liable to collect only 10 per cent of e-waste during 2017-18, 20 per cent during 2018-19, 30 per cent during 2019-20 and 40 per cent during 2020-21 and so on. However, the 70 per cent collection target by 2023 has been retained.
As per the current E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, every producer is supposed to ensure collection of 30 per cent of generated e-waste during the first two years of the implementation of the rules (2016-17 and 2017-18), and 40 per cent during 2018-19 and 2019-20.
India ranks fifth in the world in generating e-waste, according to the UN’s Global E-Waste Monitor, 2014. Earlier, over 200 manufacturers of electronic goods, including some e-giants, were served notices by the Central Pollution Control Board for not complying with e-waste procurement norms.