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January 2018
Internship Report submitted to El-Kretsen
Submitted by:
HARVEEN KAUR Doctoral Research Scholar
University of Delhi, Delhi (India)
E-waste has emerged as an important environmental concern in India because of the large quantities and the
existing unscientific processing practices. Besides, this it can also be misused to extract confidential data of an organization. Over the last few decades, India has become a major destination for E-waste exports from the developed nations. The report discusses about the Swedish E-waste management system and propose possibilities and opportunities to implement an organised collection and recycling system in India.
E-WASTE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA AND SWEDEN
E-waste management in India and Sweden Internship conducted in Feb- March 2017 Report Submitted in July 2017 Revised version of Report submitted in January 2018 Prepared & Submitted by:
Harveen Kaur Doctoral Research Scholar Department of Resource Management & Design Applications Lady Irwin College University of Delhi New Delhi-110001 Email: [email protected]
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would extend my thanks to El-Kretsen, a non-profit organisation in Stockholm,
Sweden for allowing meto pursue an internship at their organisation. I am grateful
to Martin Seeger, CEO and Mårten Sundin, Head of Marketing for their co-
operation and encouragement for completion of this report. Thanks are also due
to my other colleagues at El-Kretsen who helped through focussed discussions
and filed visits. Special thanks is due to Dr Sushma Goel, Associate Professor
(Supervisor) for her support and help with necessary documentation required for
the internship program. Sincere thanks are also due to Mr Alok Mukherjee and Mr
Ramesshwar D.Gupta for necessary support. Lastly, I extend my thanks to my
parents who believed in my potential and encouraged me to pursue this program.
- Harveen Kaur
(Doctoral Research Scholar)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
E-waste has emerged as an important environmental concern over the globe. The issue is
dealt considerably well in the developed nations due to the availability of stringent rules. In
contrast, developing countries are struggling with the management of electronic waste (E-
waste). E-waste in developing countries is internally generated as well as imported illegally
from other nations (Nnorom & Osibanjo, 2008).
However, the scenario is very different in Sweden and it has become a benchmark nation for
best practices related to E-waste scenario. It is very highly positioned globally in respect of
the amounts of electrical waste that it gathers and recycles. Considering the accomplishment
of this framework for efficient waste management, it can be acknowledged as a standard
model for different nations with the comparative conditions to adopt and adapt to
accomplish a powerful E-waste collection framework to enhance the manageability of
overseeing E-waste problem(Lee etal., 2012).
The aim of this internship program was to understand the Swedish waste management
system and propose possibilities and opportunities to implement an organised collection and
recycling system in India. The researcher tried to investigate answers to the following
research questions:
What are the policies and rules concerning the management of E-waste in Sweden
and India?
Are stakeholders complying with the rules and regulations pertaining to E-waste
management in Sweden and India?
What are the existing practices of stakeholders with regard to E-waste
management in Sweden and India?
What roles and responsibilities are undertaken by different stakeholders for E-
waste management in Sweden and India?
TABLE OF CONTENTS
S.No. Title Page No.
1. Introduction 1
2. Comparison of Categories and Products of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
2
3. General comparison of two countries at a glance 5
4. Official associations between two countries in respect to E-Waste 6
5. Overview of general waste management in Sweden 7
6. Extended Producer Responsibility: An Approach of extending responsibility on the generator
9
7. Management of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) in Sweden 10
8. Role of Producer Responsibility Organisations in Sweden 12
9. Management of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) in India 13
10. Comparative analysis of India and developed nations in respect of implementation of E-Waste legislations
15
11. Conclusion 16
12. References 17
1
1. INTRODUCTION
Considering amplified E-waste generation day by day due to increased dependence of
people on electronics it has become imperative that we look for sustainable solutions for
managing consumption of electronics. Electronic products are purchased, used and then
disposed of very quickly by the end users without giving due consideration of its harmful
effects to health as well as the environment(Pathak et al., 2017). The current scenario for
E-waste disposal is very disastrous as there is no system in place for proper collection,
disposal, recycling and refurbishment of E-waste from the end user.
As per a recent report by Toxics Link (2014)approximately 50 well-known electronic brands
manufacturing the mobile phone, laptop, camera etc. have no system in place with respect
to taking back their products after 'end of life' or after they turn into E-waste. Furthermore,
there are not enough collection centres for same. The menace is also increasing as there is
no system in place by Government for a consolidated inventory of E-waste manufacturing
units, storage facilities for e-waste, authorizing E-waste recycling plants and no action plan
for storage of E-waste (Times of India, 2017).It is estimated that India produces an
estimated quantity of 1.70 Million tonnes of E-waste per annum which is comprised of
mobile phones, laptops and various other electronic products. Out of this, only 4,62,896
Million tonnes of E-waste is recycled. The lack of proper system to record inventory is a
major setback for non-availability of quantified data on E-waste in India. However, few
states namely Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Goa and Madhya Pradesh
have come forward and started the process of recording inventory. The Parliament report
also stated that 70 % of the total E-waste is generated majorly by 10 States and 65% of E-
waste is generated by 65 cities alone in the country (The Tribune, 2017).E-waste Waste has
evolved with various names such as Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and
end-of-life electronic waste etc. It is also used as a generic term defining different types of
electronic items that are no longer of any an incentive to their possessors. It has been
observed that there is considerable information available about different aspects of E-
waste, yet the meaning of the expression "electronic waste" is very mind boggling to
illustrate. Referring to the academic writing on the subject, there is, uptil now, no standard
definition, as each nation has its own particular meaning of E-waste. The inquiries that
2
emerge, subsequently is: What is to be termed as an E-waste? Are these electronic or
electrical equipment (EEE), which are obsolete in terms of usefulness? Items that are
operationally disposed of? Or, on the other hand, is it both? (Mmereki et al., 2016 and
Wath et al., 2010). Definitions of E-waste applicable in Sweden and India are discussed
below:
2. COMPARISON OF CATEGORIES AND PRODUCTS OF WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC
EQUIPMENT (WEEE)
The product categories of Electronic items listed in the legislation of Sweden and India are
mentioned in Table 1 and Table 2:
Table 1: Categories and products of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in Sweden
S.No. Category Products
1. Large household
appliances
Large cooling appliances, Refrigerators, Freezers, Other large
appliances used for refrigeration, conservation and storage of
food, Washing machines, Clothes dryers, Dishwashing machines,
Cooking Electric hot plates, Microwaves, Other large appliances
used for cooking and other processing of food, Electric heating
appliances, Electric radiators. Otherfanning, exhaust ventilation
and conditioning equipment
2. Small household
appliances
Cleaners, Carpet sweepers, Other appliances for cleaning,
Appliances used for sewing, knitting, weaving and other processing
for textiles, Iron and other appliances for ironing, mangling and
other care of clothing, Toasters, Fryers, Grinders, coffee machines
and equipment for opening or sealing containers or packages,
Electric knives, Appliances for hair-cutting, hair drying, tooth
brushing, shaving, massage and body care appliances, Clocks,
watches and equipment for the purpose of measuring indicating or
In Sweden: ‘Electrical and electronic equipment’ or ‘EEE’ means equipment which is
dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly and
equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields and
designed for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1 000 volts for alternating current
and 1500 volts for direct current (EU Directive, 2012).
In India: E-waste means electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part discarded as
waste by the consumer or bulk consumer as well as rejects from manufacturing,
refurbishment and repair processes (MoEFCC, 2016).
3
registering time Scales.
3. IT and
telecommunicat
ions equipment
Centralized data processing, Mainframes, Minicomputers, Printer
units, Personal computing, Personal computers (CPU, mouse,
screen and keyboard included), Laptop computer (CPU, mouse,
screen and keyboard included), Notebook computers, Notepad
computers, Printers, Copying equipment, Electrical and electronic
typewriters, Pocket and desk calculators and other products and
equipment for the collection, storage, processing, presentation or
communication of information by electronic means, User terminals
and systems, Facsimile, Telex, Telephones, Pay telephones,
Cordless telephones, Cellular telephones, Answering systems, And
other products or equipment of transmitting sound, images or
other information by telecommunications.
4. Consumer
equipment
Radio sets, Television sets, Video cameras, Video recorders, Hi-fi
recorders, Audio amplifiers, Musical instruments, Other products
or equipment for the purpose of recording or reproducing sound
or image, including signals or other technologies for the
distribution of sound and image than by telecommunications.
5. Lighting
equipment
Luminaries for fluorescent lamps with the exception of luminaries
in households, Straight fluorescent lamps, Compact fluorescent
lamps, High-intensity discharge lamps, including pressure sodium
lamps and metal lamps, Low-pressure sodium lamps, Other lighting
or equipment for the purpose of spreading or controlling light with
the exception of filament bulbs.
6. Electrical and
electronic tools
(with the
exception of
large-scale
stationary
industrial
tools)
Drills, Saws, Sewing machines, Equipment for turning, milling,
sanding, grinding, sawing, cutting, shearing, drilling, making, holes,
punching, folding, bending or similar processing of wood, metal
and other materials, Tools for riveting, nailing or screwing or
removing rivets, nails, screws or similar uses, Tools for welding,
soldering or similar use, Equipment for spraying, spreading,
dispersing or other treatment of liquid or gaseous substances by
other means, Tools for mowing or other gardening activities.
7. Toys, leisure
and sports
equipment
Electric trains or car racing sets, Hand-held video game consoles,
Video games, Computers for biking, diving, running, rowing, etc.,
Sports equipment with electric or electronic components, Coin slot
machines.
4
8. Medical devices
(with the
exception of all
implanted and
infected
products)
Radiotherapy equipment, Cardiology, Dialysis, Pulmonary
ventilators, Nuclear medicine, Laboratory equipment for in-vitro
diagnosis, Analyzers, Freezers, Fertilization tests, Other appliances
for detecting, preventing, monitoring, treating, alleviating illness,
injury or disability.
9. Monitoring and
control
instruments
Smoke detector, Heating regulators, Thermostats, Measuring,
weighing or adjusting appliances for household or as laboratory
Equipment, Other monitoring and control instruments used in
industrial installations (e.g.in control panels).
10. Automatic
dispensers
Automatic dispensers for hot drinks, Automatic dispensers for hot
or cold bottles or cans, Automatic dispensers for solid products,
Automatic dispensers for money, All appliances which deliver
automatically all kind of products.
Source: EU Directive, 2012
Table 2: Categories and products of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in India
S. No Categories of electrical and electronic equipment Average Life (years)
Category A:INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND TELECOMMUNICATION EQUIPMENT
1.
Personal Computing: Personal Computers (Central Processing Unit
with input and output devices) 6
2. Personal Computing: Notebook and Notepad Computers 5
3. Printers including cartridges 10
4. Copying equipment 8
5. Telephones 9
6. Cordless telephones 9
7. Cellular telephones Cellular (NA), Feature
(7), Smart (5)
8. Answering systems 5
Category B: CONSUMER ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS
9. Television sets (including sets based on (Liquid Crystal Display and
Light Emitting Diode technology) 9
10. Refrigerator 10
11. Washing Machine 9
12. Air-Conditioners excluding centralized air conditioning plants 10
13. Fluorescent and other Mercury-containing lamps 2
Source: MoEFCC, 2016
5
3. GENERAL COMPARISON OF TWO COUNTRIES AT A GLANCE
Sweden is a Scandinavian country, also known as one of the cleanest nation worldwide. It
has landmass of just 450,295 sq. km in comparison to with 3,287,590 sq km for India. Its
population size is even lesser – 9.9 million people compared with 1.3 billion for
India(Worldometers, 2017). The table below shows a demographic comparison of two
countries:
Table 3: Comparative analysis based on demographic data
S.No. Sweden India
1. The current population of Sweden is 9,904,614 based on the latest United Nations estimates.
The current population of India is 1,338,826,135 based on the latest United Nations estimates.
2. Sweden population is equivalent to 0.13% of the total world population.
India population is equivalent to 17.86% of the total world population.
3. Sweden ranks number 90 in the list of countries (and dependencies) by population. 85.3 % of the population is urban,
India ranks number 2 on the list of countries (and dependencies) by population. 32.8% of the population is urban.
Source: Worldometers, 2017
Sweden is also well –known for management of its energy requirements, using non-
conventional sources of energy, wherever possible, to reduce its dependence on oil and to
remain environmentally responsible. In sharp contrast, India is struggling with
management of various kinds of waste. Its municipalities have failed to manage piles of
landfills (Bhaskar, 2014).
At the very face of it, it is perhaps not judicious to match a country as massive as India with
a country as small as Sweden as far as waste management is concerned. However, the way
Sweden is known to innovate is indeed amazing and worthy of learning from. Swedes
normally emphasize significantly on recycling. It is to such an extent that only 1% of the
entire waste generated in this country is deposited in landfills. At least, that has been the
rate since 2011.It is this habit of the Swedes that has not created problems for the country.
6
The programme of converting waste-to-energy by the technique of incineration has been
there in Sweden foralong time. At the present, the demand has clearly outstripped supply.
Sweden is importing waste from neighbouring countries and also acquiring compensation
in the process ofexhausting the same(Samudranil, 2017).
In recent years, Sweden is seeing an increase in incineration capacity with the start-up of
new plants and expansion in capacity of the existing plants. Presently, it has 33 burning
plants with an incineration capacity of handling approximately 6 million tonnes each year.
For meeting specific end goal for feedstock prerequisites for its incineration plants, Sweden
as of late began bringing in around 8,00,000 tonnes of waste from European countries
every year. Sweden has started accepting bulk quantities of waste from neighbouring
countries like Norway where sending out waste is less expensive than consuming it. The
incineration plants in Sweden are equipped to produce energy in the form of electricity or
heat which in turn is dispersed from district heating grids to various cities in Sweden for
heating purposes and the electricity produced is vented to power market (Legislative
Council Secretariat, 2014).
4. OFFICIAL ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN TWO COUNTRIES IN RESPECT TO E-WASTE
To deal with the sustainable issues both countries have signed various Memoranda of
Understanding (MoUs) together in past few years to enhance the bilateral cooperation
with regard to environment protection and sustainable development. Sweden and India
have entered into a number of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) within a wide range
of areas. The MoUs are of great importance as they facilitate cooperation between the two
countries in areas of mutual interest. Future collaborations between two countries for
areas related to the environment have been agreed upon. The areas include pulp and
paper industry, waste policy, e-waste policy, bio-medical waste management and waste
to energy, sewage treatment technologies, climate and air quality control, air and water
quality monitoring and environmental issues related to pharmaceuticals, collaboration
on mercury and chemicals in products, biodiversity and climate change. The responsible
Ministries for collaboration under MoU are Ministry of the Environment in Sweden and
Ministry of Environment, Forests &Climate Change in India (Embassy of Sweden, New
7
Delhi, 2017). It is interesting to report that the MoU has been signed between Sweden and
India with respect to E-waste policy and some positive change can be anticipated in this
matter soon. In view of above discussion, an internship program was planned by the
researcher to explore waste management system in Sweden. The detailed purpose of
internship has been discussed in next heading.
5. OVERVIEW OF GENERAL WASTE MANAGEMENT IN SWEDEN
Because of correspondingly less populace in Sweden, it has a waste management
framework, which is impressively more resource-efficient today than it was during the
1990s(Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, 2012).Swedish ministries are small by
international norms, and delegation of authority is large with central government
organisations. However, central environmental agencies depend on provincial constituency
executive boards and the local authority to execute the Government's environmental
agendas and policies. The Ministry of the Environment has Swedish Environmental
Protection Agency (Swedish EPA) as its central agency which is otherwise called as
Naturvårdsverket. A large part of the practical implementation related to this policy
relating to licensing, inspection and reporting is carried out by these boards and
authorities. The county secretarial boards set environmental goals for their countries, and
often local authorities set objectives for their municipalities, all based on the national
environmental goals. One of the significant responsibilities of the Swedish EPA is,
therefore, monitoring the state of the environment (Lönnroth, 2010).In Sweden, there is a
legislative producer responsibility for eight product groups (Fig 1) namely:
8
Fig 1: Product categories as part of producer responsibility in Sweden
Source: Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, 2012
Producers sponsor the foundation of collection structures in neighbourhoods where packaging
waste, news and pams (realistic papers) are sorted and gathered. Such collection systems are
established either by the municipalities or by the property proprietor. Collection establishments
in each area fluctuate from municipality to municipality. The contractor procured by the
municipality or the property proprietor transports the gathered waste to an accumulation point
named by one of the producers. The collected waste is then directed for recycling. Thus,
Producers must ensure that there are suitable collection systems in all residential areas and
that certain quantity of the waste is channelized for recycling (Swedish Environmental
Protection Agency, 2012).
Eigh
t P
rod
uct
Gro
up
s
Packaging
Tyres
News and pams (graphic papers)
Cars
Electrical and electronic products (including incandescent bulbs and
certain light fittings)
Batteries
Pharmaceuticals
Radioactive products and unclaimed radio- active sources
9
6. EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY
The term “Extended Producer Responsibility”, and its concept as a preventative
environmental protection strategy was first used and defined by Lindhqvist in a report for
the Swedish Ministry of the Environmental and Natural Resources in 1990 (Lindhqvist, 2000
and Manomaivibool, 2009).Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is a policy approach in
which producers have an imperative responsibility be it financial or physical for the
handling, collection or disposal of products reached the end of their life. In other words,
the responsibility is handed over to the producer for the management of waste from local
government authorities and the general taxpayer. Often, environmental expenses of
management and disposal of waste are usually incorporated into the price tag of the
product by the producers. However, it is unknown to the consumers. The budgets of EPR
programmes also seem to vary from one nation to another and also depends upon the kind
of strategy mechanism selected, programme designed, products or waste streams
adopted(OECD, 2001). In Sweden, Producer responsibility is envisioned to encourage
producers to create products that are more cost-effective with resources, at ease to recycle
and do not comprise materials which can detriment environment (Avfall Sverige, 2016).
6.1 Model on types of Producer responsibilities
A model for characterising different types of producer responsibility was developed by
Thomas Lindqvist. The model illustrated in Fig 2, distinguishes different forms of
responsibility(Lindhqvist, 2000).
Fig2:Model on types of Producer responsibility
Source: Lindhqvist, 2000
10
6.2 Types of Producer Responsibilities
The detailed description of each responsibility is mentioned below (Toxics Link, 2006):
Liability: Producer is responsible for environmental damage caused by the
product in question
Economic responsibility- Producer covers all or part of costs for collection,
recycling or final disposal of products
Physical responsibility: Producer is involved in the physical management of the
products or of the effect of the products. This can range from merely
developing the necessary technology to managing the total ’take back' system
for collecting or disposing of products they manufacture.
Ownership: Producer assumes both physical and economic responsibility.
Informative responsibility: Producer is responsible for providing information
on the product or its effects at various stages of its life-cycle
7. MANAGEMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT (EEE) IN SWEDEN
Universally, Sweden is very highly positioned in respect of the amounts of electrical waste
that it gathered. Sweden has had an obligation for producers on E-waste management back
2001, which put the monetary heap of recycling electronic products on producers. The
producers in Sweden made an efficacious transportation and recycling framework through
the producer responsibility organization El-Kretsen. The researches show that Sweden at
present has one of the most astounding measures for collected and recycled per capita E-
waste in the world (Lestander, 2009). The Swedish commercial industry acknowledged in
the mid-1960s that, eventually, an environmental guiding principle would transpire and
they decided upon on collaboration with others over conflicts and suggested to the
Government to set up a Swedish Environmental Research Institute (IVL). The Government
in this manner also chose to set up the Environmental Protection Agency in 1967 and
presented the comparing enactment (the Environment Protection Act of 1969) and
industries also settled on collaboration as opposed to encountering. From that point
forward, Environmental protection came to be viewed up till now another compel for the
transformation of Swedish industry (Lönnroth, 2010).
11
The roles and responsibilities of every stakeholder are distinctly characterised in legislative
framework of E-waste in Sweden. Everybody takes an interest in the effort for
channelization of E-waste, be it Waste generators (households/businesses), Producers,
Municipalities and Governmentauthorities(Legislative Council Secretariat, 2014).The
diagram below in Fig 3 depicts how various stakeholder together demonstrates a funnel-
like an approach towards their responsively E-waste management.
Waste generator: Households are in charge of isolating and storing waste at the
different accessible collection pointspossessed up by the municipalities.Businesses
hold the obligation to ensure waste generated gets treated and recycled, on a free
market. Thus,
Private persons/households: Sort and disperse waste at designated
collection points
Companies/Industries: Handlestheir own generated waste
Municipalities: are obliged to have a waste management plan (excluding waste with
producers responsibility)and bear the responsibility of collecting and disposing of
household waste, except for the product categories covered by producer
responsibility. Municipalities may issue local regulations regarding the management
of household waste e.g.:Collection and treatment of municipal waste, Information
on households, Waste prevention
Producers: (manufacturer/importer/dealer) are obliged to take care of waste arising
from their products. They bear producer responsibility for end-of-life packaging,
cars, tyres, recycled paper, batteries and electrical and electronic products.
GovernmentAuthorities: are responsible for setting up national environmental
objectives and laws/regulations while authorities oversight the responsibility.
12
Fig 3: Shared responsibilityof all stakeholders
8. ROLE OF PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY ORGANISATIONS IN SWEDEN
The producer responsibility for batteries and waste from electrical and electronic products
(WEEE) is regulated by two EU Directives, which are each implemented in Sweden through
their own ordinance products (Swedish Ordinance 2008:834 and 2005:209).In 2015, the
updated Ordinance 2014:1075 was implemented in its entirety. Now, all producers dealing
in consumer electronics have to be covered by a nationally approved collection system,
whereas producers dealing with other equipment may choose to take responsibility for
their own producer responsibility. The new Ordinance clearly states that it covers virtually
all products (including components) powered by leads or batteries (El-Kretsen, 2015).
El-Kretsen is a non-profitmaking business, with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications,
owned by 21 trade organisations. El-Kretsen is recognised as a nationally approved
collection system electrical and electronic waste established in 2001. It Works jointly with
the 290 municipalities in Sweden, some 20 transport carriers and approximately 30
recycling sites and 600 recycling stations. Local recycling points are approximately
1,5000,000 in number. There are some 10,000 battery collection boxes all over Sweden and
it assists more than 1700 affiliated companies (El-Kretsen, 2017). They have control over the
entire recycling cycle. The system is called “Elretur” (a joint venture between El-Kretsen,
Shared responsibilty for management of Electronic waste
Producers
MunicipalityWaste
generator
13
Sweden’s municipalities and Avfall Sverige) and is managed in collaboration with the
Swedish local authorities (Avfall Sverige, 2001).The collaboration means that:
The local authorities manage and fund manned collection points, such as recycling
centres, where the households may leave the E-waste without charge.
El-Kretsen manages and funds transports the E-waste to pretreatment and recycling
in accordance with the prevailing laws.
Fig 4: Process of Collection of E-waste
Source: Avfall Sverige, 2001
9. MANAGEMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT (EEE) IN INDIA
E-waste has emerged as an important environmental concern in developing countries like
India. India yields nearly 12.5 Lakhs MT of E-waste every year. The highest generating E-
waste cities in India include Mumbai (96,000 MT) followed by Delhi-NCR (67,000MT) and
Bangalore (57,000MT). Further, cities like Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad and
Pune also generate 47,000 MT, 35,000 MT, 26,000 MT, 25,000 MT and 19,000 MT of E-
The common collection system “Elretur” makes it
easy for Swedish households and consumers to hand in their E-waste for collection
January 1st, 2009, a producer responsibility for batteries
was taken into effect in Sweden, which also is a
collection system managed by El-Kretsen.
E-waste collected by municipalities / businesses is
transported to specialised recycling facilities of El-
Kretsen
El-Kretsen then transports E-waste to the so-called pretreatment facilities
The amounts of collected waste are continuously
reported to El-Kretsen’s web-based information system, which allows the carriers to
plan and transport the waste effectively
Loaded carriers are marked with bar codes which helps in
keeping statistics of the collected waste quantities from each collection point
All contractors working for El-Kretsen hold necessary
permits for five categories of transports:White goods,
Refrigerators and freezers, Lamps, Batteries & Various
other electronics
The E-waste is transported to specialised recovery facilities
holding a contract with El-Kretsen
El-Kretsen, regulate how the pretreatment is carried out. Controls and follow-ups are made through audits at the
facilities. The control includes inspection of the treatment at
the facility as well as of the downstream treatment
14
waste per year independently(Kaur & Goel, 2016a). A study predicts that the aggregate of
E-waste is estimated to grow to 49.8 MT by 2018, with an annual growth rate of 4 to 5%
(Baldé, 2015).
The recently amended E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016 has widened the scope of the
existing E-waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011 by including several major
provisions. The former E-waste rules had several limitations for stakeholders that
prevented proper implementation of the rules. The new Draft on E-waste Rules clearly lays
down the responsibilities of various stakeholders with detailed specifications. The inclusion
of Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs) is a welcome initiative in the draft rules.
However, whether the inclusion of PROs will change the existing scenario is still uncertain
as such models have worked well for developed countries where number of organisations
come together to implement the take-back policy of E-waste which is financed by
producers or manufacturers (Kaur & Goel, 2016a)
Target based approach for implementation of EPR has been adopted in the recent E-Waste
(Management) Rules, 2016, which stipulate phase wise collection target to producers for the
collection of e-waste, either in number or weight, which shall be 30% of the estimated
quantity of waste generation during first two year of implementation of rules followed by
40% during third and fourth years, 50% during fifth and sixth years and 70% during seventh
year onwards. The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 mandate CPCB to prepare guidelines
on implementation of E-Waste Rules, which includes specific guidelines for extended
producer responsibility, channelisation, collection centres, storage, transportation,
environmentally sound dismantling and recycling, refurbishment, and random sampling of
EEE for testing of RoHS parameters. Selling or placing of EEE in the market by any producer
without EPR Authorisation shall be considered as aviolation of the Rules and causing damage
to the environment, which shall attract provisions under E (P) Act, 1986(CPCB, 2016).
9.1 Collection targets for Producers
In India, E-Waste collection targets for the producers are clearly specified in Guidelines
on Implementation of E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 published by Central
15
Pollution Control Board (CPCB, 2016)(CPCB, 2016) and recently updated as per
amendment made in 2017 which are as follows.
Table 4: Collection targets for Producers in India
S.No. Financial Year Estimation of target for collection of E-waste from market
1. 2018 – 2019 5% of the sales figure for the financial year 2016-17
2. 2019 – 2020 5% of the sales figure for the financial year 2017-18
3. 2020 – 2021 10% of the sales figure for the financial year 2018-19
4. 2021 – 2022 10% of the sales figure for the financial year 2019-20
5. 2022 – 2023 15% of the sales figure for the financial year 2020-21
6. 2023 – 2024 15% of the sales figure for the financial year 2021-22
7. 2024 – 2025 20% of the sales figure for the financial year 2022-23
8. 2025 onwards 20% of the sales figures the year preceding the previous year.
Source: MoEFCC, 2017
10. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF INDIA AND DEVELOPED NATIONS IN RESPECT OF
IMPLEMENTATION OF E-WASTE LEGISLATIONS
Kaur & Goel(2016b) highlighted the Relative examination of enactments in India and
different nations:
Table 5: Comparative Analysis of India and Developed Nations
S.No. Developed countries India
1. Developed countries hardly import E-waste from other countries unlike India
India imports E-waste from developed countries
2.
Developed countries have online centralised system for management of E-waste
Developing countries like India lacks a centralised system for management of E-waste
3.
Producers take the absolute responsibility of end of life products e.g. Switzerland, Spain and United Kingdom
Concept of EPR is still a controversial subject
4. Penalties are stringent for violation Rules don’t specify any stringent penalty
5. Formal Sector is more active In India, formal sector is less active as compared to informal sector which is too large to tap
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6. For most electronic products there is a take-back policy
Less or no take-back schemes for electronic items e.g. old refrigerators / AC’s / washing machines
7. Advanced recycling fee (ARF) is paid by consumers for home appliances such as in Japan under Japanese Home Appliance Recycling Law (2001)
Consumers don’t want to bear cost of recycling for end- of- life goods
8. Recycling sector is highly active and well trained
Most of the recyclers in India are not even trained for recycling E-waste. They seem to have moved into this business because of profitability
Source: Kaur & Goel, 2016b
11. CONCLUSION
Sweden’s sophisticated system handle waste, and convert them into energy, are so good
that the Scandinavian country has run out of waste to feed the machines. The increasing
material costs made EoL (end of life) handling of E-waste all the more financially feasible in
Sweden and reasonable. India is struggling to clean-up trash under the Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan. Some lessons to learn from Sweden
Need for Producer Responsibility Organisation in India
Waste management is a public service
Clear division of roles and responsibilities that enable necessary investments
Long-term regulations and economical steering instruments
Cooperation between municipalities
Collaboration between public and private sectors
Focus on communication and public engagement
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