Urban News

The Hindu - Karnataka 19.08.2009

E-waste may fall on manufacturer’s lap

Deepa Kurup

— A FILE PHOTO: Mohammed Yousuf

TRASHED: Technicians dismantle discarded electronic devices.

BANGALORE: Manufacturers of electronic and electrical equipment in India may soon find that managing e-waste or implementing “take-back initiatives” is more than a voluntary token of corporate social responsibility.

If the draft rules on environmentally sound e-waste management — submitted recently to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests last week — are adopted as legislation, then manufacturing firms will be held accountable for the product till the end of its life cycle.

With Individual Producer Responsibility at its core, this will put in place an effective mechanism to regulate generation, collection and environmentally sound recycling of e-waste. Significantly, it lays down guidelines to restrict the use of hazardous substances by ensuring manufacturers’ compliance with the European Union directive (2003) on restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS).

The proposed legislation, to be enforced under the Environment (Protection) Act, is unique as it has the “dual blessings of industry and civil society”, as Vinnie Mehta, Director of Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology, puts it. The draft is a result of year-long consultations coordinated by industry body MAIT and green organisations GTZ, Toxic Links and Greenpeace. This, if accepted, will be a first standalone policy on e-waste.

By including all stakeholders – producers, retailers and even bulk consumers – the policy is critical. Given that 3.8 lakh tonnes of e-waste was generated in India in 2007 — estimated to touch 4.7 lakh tonnes by 2011— according to a MAIT-GTZ report, this policy is critical. Further, the study said 94 per cent of the companies did not have e-waste programme. To ramp up accountability, it is proposed that products should be tagged with numbers or codes for tracking the product in the e-waste management system.

Producers will “transparently” finance and manage the e-waste generated through a consortium of producers and stakeholders.

This consortium would be responsible for production waste, organise collection of used equipment, designate dealers and recyclers, and create awareness about hazardous constituents.

All firms will submit annual reports on sales and e-waste collection, and dealers, collection centres and bulk consumers will report to the State Pollution Control Boards.

The MAIT-GTZ report pointed out that 96 per cent of the e-waste was recycled in the informal sector. It estimated that about 50,000 tonnes was illegally imported every year. The draft policy stated that no import of used electrical/electronic equipment would be allowed for recycling or disposal.

Toxic metals

E-waste, per se, was not hazardous. It might contain hazardous elements, which when dismantled and processed, might be hazardous to the health of those who handled it — often children — and the environment. Enforcing the RoHS directive on use of materials was critical as it nipped the problem in the bud. As it stood, the assembly-oriented industry was largely RoHS-compliant because of the global nature of the market (most countries have enforced this), said Mr. Mehta.

However, the component industry — making resistors and capacitors — continues to use metals such as lead, chromium and mercury.

In March 2008, MoEF released “voluntary” guidelines for e-waste management and the Hazardous Waste Management Handling Rules (1998) was amended to include e-waste. “But this is not legally binding and given the magnitude of the problem, a law was crucial. It can change the whole scenario, and then we can take this forward to other sectors too,” says Abhishek Pratap, campaigner for Greenpeace.

Business Standard 18.08.2009

The West Bengal government has failed to fully utilise funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) due to inability to raise finances on its own, according to Saugata Roy, Union minister of state, department of urban development.

At an interactive session organised by the Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BNCCI), Roy said, the state had been allocated Rs 3,018 crore under JNNURM, but it could utilise just about Rs 1,250 crore.

For the seven-year period between 2005 -12, a massive Rs 50,000 crore has been earmarked under JNNURM.

According to Roy, while Gujarat topped the list of states in terms of utilisation of JNNURM funds, followed by Maharashtra, West Bengal lagged behind due to lack of projects.

“Nearly Rs 1,700 crore is awaiting to be sanctioned to the state under JNNURM, but the state government is yet to submit any project reports,” he said.

In this regard, Roy will hold a meeting with officials of state urban development department on August 24, to discuss projects, especially water-related projects, which can be funded under JNNURM.

“Instead of focusing on infrastructure projects like highways, the West Bengal government should have focussed on projects related to the basic needs of human beings, like water and sewerage proejects,” the minister said.

West Bengal has also been sanctioned funds for purchasing 1,200 low-floor buses in Kolkata, and 100 buses in Asansol.

JNNURM has identified 65 cities as mission cities for infrastructure development, out of which only two fall in West Bengal, namely Kolkata and Asansol, according to Roy.

On Metro rail projects, Roy informed, recently the government had sanctioned the Metro rail project in Kochi, while Chandigarh had sought permission to have underground railways.

In Kolkata, one of the major issues pertaining the extension of the Metro rail was whether a special permission vehicle (SPV) or Indian Railways would build it, Roy said.