The management of e-waste in the Country is regulated under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 and amendments thereof. The Rules are effective from 01-10-2016 and have the following specific objectives:

• Extended Responsibility to producers to manage a system of E-waste collection, storage, transportation and environmentally sound dismantling and recycling through EPR Authorization (EPRA).
• To promote and encourage establishment of an efficient e-waste collection mechanism.
• To promote environmentally safe and sound recycling through authorized dismantlers and recyclers of e-waste.
• To minimize illegal recycling / recovery operations.
• Reduce hazardous substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE).

Under the aforesaid rules, provisions have been made for dismantling and recycling of e-waste. The dismantlers and recyclers have to obtain authorization from concern State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs)/ Pollution Control Committees (PCCs). The concerned SPCB/PCC grants authorization after ensuring that the dismantlers and recyclers have the dismantling and recycling facilities as per the guidelines of Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).  Presently four hundred and sixty-eight (468) numbers dismantlers/recyclers of E-Waste are operating in twenty-two (22) States namely Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. These authorised dismantlers/recyclers have annual processing capacity of 13,85,932.22 tonnes.

Principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has been implemented for management of e-waste in the country. Under EPR, Producers have to collect targeted quantity of e-waste for environmentally sound dismantling and recycling only through an authorised dismantlers and recyclers. The authorized dismantler and recyclers are required to carry out dismantling and recycling of e-waste in an environmentally sound manner as per the guidelines published by CPCB.In a dismantling and recycling facilities, the number of employees depends on its processing capacity.

As per the information provided by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), being the nodal ministry for electronics and IT, MeitY has amended the existing Scheme for Promotion of Manufacturing of Electronic Components and Semiconductors (SPECS) to provide support for setting up of state-of-art e-waste recycling facilities for extraction of precious metals from e-waste components. The scheme envisioned for financial incentive of 25% on capital expenditure. The salient feature of the scheme inter-alia is as under:

• The scheme will provide financial incentive of 25% on capital expenditure for the identified list of electronic goods that comprise downstream value chain of electronic products, i.e., electronic components, semiconductor/ display fabrication units, Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) units, specialized sub-assemblies and capital goods for manufacture of aforesaid goods, all of which involve high value added manufacturing.
• The Scheme will be applicable to investments in new units and expansion of capacity/ modernization and diversification of existing units.  Application under the Scheme can be made by any entity registered in India.
• The capital expenditure will be total of expenditure in plant, machinery, equipment, associated utilities and technology, including for Research & Development (R&D).
• The Scheme is open for applications initially for 3 years from the date of its notification. Incentives under the Scheme will be applicable from the date of acknowledgment of the application. The incentives will be available for investment made within 5 years from the date of acknowledgement of application.
• The Scheme will be implemented through a nodal agency which will act as Project Management Agency (PMA) and be responsible for providing secretarial, managerial and implementation support and carrying out other responsibilities as assigned by MeitY from time to time.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply in Rajya Sabha, today.

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