India’s E-waste Surges By 73% in 5 years

Syllabus: GS 3/Environment 

In News

• India’s e-waste generation increased by 73% in five years, from 1.01 million metric tonnes (MT) in 2019-20 to 1.751 million MT in 2023-24.

What is E-waste?

• It  consists of discarded electronic and electrical devices that have reached the end of their lifespan or become obsolete due to rapid technological changes, including computers, phones, TVs, and other equipment.

Reasons for Surge 

• The increasing adoption of electronic products, fueled by technological advancements and affordable internet access, has greatly improved living standards worldwide.
  • However, this digital revolution has also led to a significant rise in electronic waste (e-waste). 
• The sharpest rise in e-waste occurred between 2019-20 and 2020-21, linked to the demand for electronic devices due to work-from-home and remote learning during the pandemic.

Concerns and Challenges 

• Environmental and Health  Concerns: E-waste contains toxic substances like arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury, which can harm the environment and human health if not properly managed.
• Lack of State-Level Data: There is no state-wise data on e-waste generation; instead, national-level figures are estimated from sales data and average lifespan of electronic items.
• Challenges in Recycling: The low recycling rate is attributed to inefficiencies in engaging stakeholders.
• Lack of Tax Incentives: The government has not implemented a tax credit system to encourage manufacturers to design recyclable, sustainable electronics.
• Informal Sector: The large, unregulated informal sector complicates tracking and adhering to environmental norms.
• Data Privacy Concerns: Many consumers are hesitant to recycle devices due to fears about personal data security.

Government Efforts:

• The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, introduced Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to ensure producers are responsible for recycling and disposal through authorised recyclers.
• EPR Mechanism: Producers are assigned annual recycling targets based on e-waste generation and product sales. They must purchase EPR certificates from registered recyclers to meet these targets.

Role of Circular Economy

• A circular economy seeks to reuse electronic components rather than simply salvaging them.
  • This model emphasizes that every material is a resource, not waste.
  •  India needs policies to encourage manufacturers to reuse old components, similar to China’s goal of using 35% secondary raw materials by 2030.

What more needs to be done ?

•  E-waste is a global crisis that needs equitable, cross-border e-waste management strategies to mitigate the “environmental and health damage” caused when high-income countries export their e-waste to low-income regions.
• Public institutions (schools, government offices) are considered bulk consumers and must ensure their e-waste is handled by registered recyclers.
• There is a call for public-private partnerships for setting up reverse supply chains to collect and recycle devices. 
• And Focusing on a circular economy for e-waste is critical, especially with the shrinking supply of new components. Formalizing the recycling process and extracting full value from electronics will require capital and better resource clustering.
  • The informal sector’s role in collection and disposal needs to be integrated with formal systems.

Source :DTE