E-Waste info source

Environmentalists seek new law on e-waste recycling

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:56:03 +0000

Fri, Jun 5 01:01 PM
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) The firm that makes your computers and mobile phones must take legal responsibility for recycling them, say environmentalists who are pushing for a new law on handling e-waste. They also want a ban on import of old computers to India.

India is likely to generate as much as 800,000 tonnes of electronic waste by 2012, and there’s only one government- registered recycling firm. Most computers and phones are dismantled and shredded in the informal sector under dangerous circumstances, with little attention paid to safeguarding workers from the toxic components.

Greenpeace India, along with Toxics Link and the Manufacturers’ Association of Information Technology (MAIT) are pushing for separate legislation for e-waste management to be enacted under the Environment Protection Act.

‘E-waste is not entirely hazardous. Recycling e-waste includes four main processes – dismantling, shredding, recovery and disposal or treatment. Of these it is the latter two that are actually hazardous. Currently under the present act there are key issues that aren’t addressed,’ said Abhishek Pratap, Greenpeace toxics campaigner.

E-waste management at present comes under the Hazardous Wastes (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008 – based on the multilateral UN Basel convention to which India is a signatory.

The convention covers all discarded materials that possess hazardous characteristics as well as all wastes considered hazardous.

According to a Greenpeace Report, in 2007-2008, India generated 380,000 tonnes of e-waste. Only three percent of this made it to the authorised recycler’s facilities. India’s e-waste generation is growing at an annual rate of 15 percent and is expected to cross the 800,000 tonne mark by 2012, the report said.

The main contention of environmentalists is to place the legal onus of take-back services (collection and recycling) directly on producer companies.

‘Unlike most hazardous wastes that are directly produced by factories, e-wastes are post-consumer waste, so the way to recycle and treat it is different. It needs a separate law and a cradle-to-grave approach,’ Pratap said.

India has evolved into a global e-waste dumpyard as laws aren’t stringent enough and loopholes existed, environmentalists said.

‘In order to escape and externalise their pollution costs, it is true that developed countries dump their electronic wastes and other hazardous wastes in India. Lax environmental regulations and gullible and conniving officials are hand in glove with such activities,’ environmentalist Gopal Krishna told IANS.

‘It is estimated that the amount of discarded electronics imported to India is growing at the rate of 10 percent each year,’ Krishna added.

A 15-year-old circular in the ministry of commerce is also to blame for this, according to Pratap.

‘It allowed the import of second-hand and used computers for charity purposes despite the UN convention banning the flow of electronics from developed to developing countries. Fifteen years ago when the IT industry was nascent it made sense – but now our IT sector is self-sufficient,’ Pratap said.

So the legislation would place a blanket ban on imports of all electronics and IT.

As per the 2008 Rules, all companies recycling electronic waste have to register themselves with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Only one firm is registered – Attero Recycling.

‘In our last registration committee meeting, we decided to give registration to five more recycling units that also procure the electronic waste and have CRT (cathode ray-tube) cutting equipments along with segmenting the waste and dismantling it,’ a senior CPCB official said on condition of anonymity.

Two Karnataka-based firms including E-Parisaraa pvt. ltd will be registered within the next 15 days along with units based in Maharashtra, Hyderabad and Gurgaon, the official said.

‘By 2015, two billion PCs are expected to invade our homes and our mobile subscriber base is expected to be about 450 million. The e-waste generated by just these two segments would be staggering,’ said Rohan Gupta, chief operating officer of Attero.

The new legislation will hold producer companies responsible for the way their e-waste is recycled.

E-Waste Australia

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:42:28 +0000

Electrical and Electronic Products Infrastructure Facilitation
Nolan-ITU
Prepared in association with Centre for Design at RMIT and Product Ecology Pty Ltd
Department of the Environment and Heritage, January, 2004

The e-waste association of South Africa

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:25:45 +0000

eWASA – the e-waste association of South Africa – is the new platform for recycling of electrical and electronic waste in South Africa. On this website you will find information about how to get rid of your old electric or electronic equipment, where you can dispose it and how it is recycled. Companies can apply to become member of eWASA, to ensure that their old equipment will be treated in an environmental friendly way. eWASA is registered as a non-profit organization and represents the interests of all the stakeholders in the e-waste stream.

E-waste in India

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:16:26 +0000

Electronic waste – or e-waste – is growing rapidly given the faster rate of obsolesce of electronic equipment. Previous studies on e-waste management in India have pointed out the problems and hazards of widespread informal e-waste recycling as it takes place in many bigger cities such as Delhi or Bangalore.

NYC Wastele$$

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:13:30 +0000

Until July 1, 2010, NYC residents can discard unwanted or broken electronics (computers, monitors, TVs, cell phones) in the trash, but recycling these items keeps hazardous materials out of the waste stream and the environment. See electronics recycling info below for more information on how residents can recycle used electronic equipment.

Recycling Vendor Qualification Program

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:08:20 +0000

The Electronics Recycling Standard defines the minimum requirements for managing end-of-life electronics. This Standard is intended to assist in determining if these products are managed in an environmentally sound manner that safeguards worker health and safety and the environment from the point of primary processing to final disposition.

Encorp Pacific (Canada)

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:04:12 +0000

Encorp Pacific (Canada) is a federally incorporated, not-for-profit, product stewardship corporation with beverage container management as our core business. Our mandate is to develop, manage and improve systems to recover used packaging and end-of-life products from consumers and ensure that they are properly recycled and not land-filled or incinerated.

Atlantic Canada Electronics Stewardship (ACES)

admin — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:00:56 +0000

ACES is a not-for-profit association registered in Nova Scotia under the Societies Act. It represents brand owners, manufacturers, retailers and other stakeholders who are committed to collecting and recycling electronic waste in an environmentally responsible manner. ACES is responsible for all aspects of the Nova Scotia Electronics Recycling Program that has been approved by the Province of Nova Scotia.

Electronics Product Stewardship Canada

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:58:44 +0000

Electronics Product Stewardship Canada (EPS Canada) is developing a national electronics end-of-life program in Canada. As a not-for-profit organization, EPS Canada will work with an array of partners and stakeholders to design, promote and implement sustainable solutions for Canada’s electronic waste problem.

Nova Scotia’s Electronic Waste Regulations

admin — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:53:46 +0000

Nova Scotia is proud to be the first province in Atlantic Canada to develop and implement regulations to effectively deal with electronic waste.

come into effect on February 1, 2008 for the first phase of products and February 1, 2009 for the second phase.

Products to be collected during Phase one:

laptop /desktop computers and peripherals
printers
monitors
televisions
Products to be collected during Phase two:

computer scanners
telephones
fax machines
cell phones and other wireless devices
audio and video playback and recording systems. e.g. vcr’s, dvd players, etc.