The Hindu Business Line : National policy on e-waste sought

Pointing out that electronic waste (e-waste), unlike other forms of waste, can cause immediate danger to all inhabitants owing to its high toxicity and carcinogenic qualities, Dr Sudip K. Banerjee, Chairman, West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB), has called for a clear-cut national policy to manage electronic and electrical waste, especially the hazardous type.

Stressing on strong anti e-waste regulation, Mr Banerjee said the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) was already looking at separate laws under the existing Environment Protection Act to tackle the e-waste menace. At a recent meet in Hyderabad, the MoEF held detailed discussions with various experts on such legislation, mainly over collection and safe disposal of such waste after proper segregation.

Speaking at a workshop on `Waste from electronic and electrical equipment', organised jointly by the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry and WBPCB, Dr Banerjee said "we now generate nearly 1.5 lakh tonnes (annually) of total e-waste (over and above that imported into the country) as waste scrap, and there is an urgent need to study measures on how to tackle this problem".

Mumbai tops list

He said though authoritative data on e-waste in terms of tonnage was not available, among the major metros, Mumbai is said to be topping the list at 11,000 tonnes, followed by Delhi (10,000) Bangalore (6,400), Chennai (4,032) and Kolkata (4,000). Mr Banerjee said a hazardous waste management facility (with incinerator facility) was being set up at Haldia, and is expected to start functioning soon.

Citing the global scenario, especially in the developed countries where 90 per cent of such e-waste is incinerated to prevent damage through unsafe handling, he said nobody was strictly following the mandate of the Basel Convention requirements, under the Basel Action Network programme, which entails free take-back of electronic and electrical goods which get outdated.

(On March 24, 1994, in Geneva, Switzerland, some 65 parties to the Basel Convention adopted a consensus decision for a full ban on all trans-boundary movements of hazardous waste from the 24 rich industrialised countries of the OECD to other non-OECD nations.)

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