Apple and Samsung India are among the top e- waste violators: Central Pollution Board

Hyderabad: According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) reports, ten significant companies have been reported for violating e-waste management rules, ever since the E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011, came into force. The ten notable companies are namely:

1. Apple India Private Limited
2. HP India Sales Private Limited
3. Motorola Mobility India Pvt Ltd.
4. Canon India Pvt Ltd.
5. Eltech Appliances Pvt Ltd.
6. ETA General Pvt Ltd.
7. Samsung India Electronics Pvt Ltd.
8. Vivo Mobile India Pvt Ltd.
9. BE Office Automation Products Pvt Ltd.
10. Tara Consultants Pvt Ltd.

The Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) authorisation, given to these companies, was suspended and the Central Pollution Control Board revoked the suspension after they submitted reports of them following the rules.

The definition of EPR, according to E-waste Rules 2011, is that it is the manufacturer’s responsibility to handle electronic components produced by them, once the consumer discards it. For the producer to get authorisation, they have to inform Central PCB and State PCB on how it will collect its discarded electronic products. If the producer doesn’t do that, then the Central Pollution Control Board will suspend their authorisation.

Excluding this, the report also states that according to the United Nations publication — The Global E-Waste Monitor 2017 — India has generated two million tonnes of e-waste in 2016.

India has both government authorised and non-authorised e-waste dismantlers and recyclers. CPCB only has data of the authorised ones. According to the data, there are 312 dismantlers and recyclers, and the cumulative annual processing capacity is 782,080 million tonnes.

Maharashtra has the maximum number of authorised dismantlers/recyclers, which is 75, followed by Karnataka, which has 71. Maharashtra and Karnataka’s capacity to recycle e-waste is 78,179 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) and 52,722 MTPA, respectively. Uttar Pradesh has fewer numbers of dismantlers/recyclers at 41, and their capacity is 243,627 MTPA, says the report.

What is E-Waste?

E-Waste or Electronic Waste is discarded or old electronic items like TV computers or even disc batteries. They if not discarded without care, can be highly toxic as they contain certain harmful. The harmful materials include lead, cadmium, chromium, brominated flame retardants or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).