Binaries of a loss

India now has adequate facilities to recycle its e-waste, but poor monitoring and informal dismantlers resulted in collection of just 10 per cent of the country’s electronic refuse in 2018-19

- SIDDHARTH GHANSHYAM SINGH

INDIA, THE world’s third-largest electronic waste producer, as per the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor 2020, is struggling to handle its gargantuan toxic refuse. This despite the government documents suggesting that the country has enough installed capacity to recycle its electronic waste (e-waste).

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the nodal agency responsible for e-waste management in the country, claims there are 407 authorised e-waste dismantlers or recyclers that can scientifically handle 1.1 million tonnes per annum. The country generated an almost equal amount of e-waste in 2019-20, shows the most recent numbers submitted by CPCB to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) towards the end of January 2021. Yet, only a minuscule percentage of the entire e-waste gets collected.

For instance, India collected just 10 per cent of the e-waste generated in 2018-19 and 3.5 per cent of that generated in 2017-18. The collection numbers are so low that it even falls short of the unambitious targets set under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016. The rules set a target of collecting at least 20 per cent of the e-waste generated in 2018-19; for 2017-18, the target was 10 per cent. CPCB is yet to release the collection data for 201920. What is known though is that the country saw a 32 per cent jump in e-waste generation in 2019-20 from the 0.77 million tonnes generated in 2018-19 (see ‘What a waste’).