India has witnessed a sharp rise in the generation of E-waste such as televisions, computer monitors, keyboards, mice, phones, etc. from 7,08,445 tonnes in 2017-18 to 10,14,961.2 tonnes in 2019-20.
This information was given by Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ashwini Kumar Choubey in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
The e-waste comprises TVs, computer monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, cables, circuit boards, lamps, clocks, flashlights, calculators, phones, answering machines, digital and video cameras, radios, VCRs, DVD players, MP3 and CD players among other things.
Under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, 21 types of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) have been notified. These notified EEE at the end of their life becomes E-Waste. The input data for estimation of generation of e-waste is available only from Financial Year 2017 – 18 and for national-level generation only, the minister said.
In 2017-18, a total of 7, 08,445 tonnes of e-waste was generated followed by 7,71, 215 tonnes in 2018-19 and 10,14,961.2 in 2019-20, according to the data shared by the Union minister.
The import and export of hazardous and other wastes are regulated under the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016 notified by the Ministry.
The government had banned the import of e-waste in the country since 04-04-2016 by listing e-waste in the Schedule VI (Basel No.A1180) of the said rules. The increase in the generation of e-waste is due to an increase in the sales of EEE in the Country in previous years, the minister further informed the House.