Residents, govt don't care about e-waste

No mechanism to collect electronic waste in Delhi, awareness abysmal

Though Delhi is one of the biggest producers of electronic waste in the country, a proper mechanism to collect e-waste in the Capital is still a distant dream.

The new electronic waste management and handling rules were implemented across the country on May 1 this year. While the producers of electronic goods are yet to establish the collection mechanism, government agencies have also failed to implement the rules.

“Nothing much has changed in real terms. The industry is still to come up with a collection mechanism. However, the only positive development over the issue has been the fact that people have started talking about it,” says Satish Sinha, associate director of Toxics Link, a green NGO engaged in disseminating information to help strengthen campaigns against toxic pollution.

The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) was notified in May last year and the government gave states a year’s time to set up a collection and disposal mechanism.

Good policy only on paper 

The EPR is a policy instrument that holds manufacturers responsible for environmental and social impacts of their products. Apart from selection of materials for the products, the EPR makes collection of used products from consumers’ doorstep and their transportation for proper disposal a primary responsibility of the producer.

“The biggest problem is that the government has failed to implement the EPR. Several multinationals that sell their products in the country are doing business in other countries as well. They follow the rules abroad, but have shied away from taking initiatives in India till date. The only visible cause for their inaction is the way laws are implemented in the country and abroad,” says Sinha.

While some large corporates send their e-waste to authorised recyclers, individual consumers and households — contributing heavily to total e-waste generation — largely remain unaware of the rules about waste disposal.

Mixed disposal

The ‘uneducated’ consumer generally dumps e-waste along with regular garbage, or at best sells it to kabadiwalas. So a bulk of e-waste generated from households in the city either lands up in a landfill or is dismantled in informal set-ups, leaving people and the environment open to hazardous pollutants.

“A study suggests that households produce over 40 per cent of the total electronic waste generation. But people hardly know how dangerous electronic and some electrical items could be for the environment and health if not disposed of in a scientific manner,” says a senior Delhi government official.

“So there is a serious need to educate people about the issue. While the law puts the onus on producers of electronic goods, even government agencies need to play a proactive role,” the official says.

However, if one goes by the facts, not much is being done on that front. Government agencies are themselves bulk consumers of electronic and electrical items, and most of them are still to wake up to the reality.

“Nothing much has been done. But we plan to take some measures soon,” says East Delhi Municipal Corporation commissioner S S Yadav.