e-waste handling rules, which came into effect from Tuesday, will not make much difference at the ground-level, as there is no monitoring mechanism or guideline in place, says Toxics Link.

The environmental group said the rules put the onus of e-waste management on manufacturers or brands through the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility, but there is no target or accountability check.

Mere ‘tokenism’

As a result, the rules may not be able to change much, as companies may indulge in mere ‘tokenism’.

Mr Satish Sinha, Associate Director, Toxics Link, said a brand may just get away by setting up only a symbolic collection system, as the rules do not specify the number of collection points or amount of collection.

He said: “companies like Samsung, LG, Nokia, HCL, HP, Videocon and many more have to ensure that they have a proper take-back system and provide the opportunity to consumers to recycle e-waste.

“The new rules also look at the life-cycle approach, and restrict the use of hazardous substance in electronics, though the mechanism for effective implementation and monitoring of such substances has not been clearly articulated and informed,” it said in a release on Monday.

Consumer awareness

Also, there is need to raise consumer awareness. To top it, there is no information on collection centres and collection points across many cities. This is a major setback in rolling out e-waste rules, it added.

An estimated eight million tonnes of e-waste is generated in India consisting of electronics and electrical goods. In most cases, this e-waste flows to the informal sector and their operations run without hindrance, causing serious damage to the environment.

>aditi.n@thehindu.co.in

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