In The Manufacturers Association for IT (MAIT) has urged the Ministry of Environment & Forests to address the hindrances in the successful implementation of e-waste management rules.
MAIT had welcomed the announcement of the E-Waste Rules notified in 2011 and which came into effect in May 2012. The notification aims at the safe handling and disposal of the growing volumes of e-waste in the country.
MAIT, in a collaborative approach with the industry, had suggested some measures, which were aimed at simplifying procedures and thereby increasing levels of compliance. The ministry had accepted MAITs suggestions in principle during the consultative meetings, but no actions have been taken so far.
Alok Bharadwaj, President, MAIT, said The Industry had extended all support to the Government to ensure the successful implementation of the rules. However, it is unfortunate that the apprehensions voiced by MAIT when the Rules were first notified are coming true and in the absence of clarity on certain matters, the industry is not sure if the compliance steps adopted by them will serve the intended purpose. IT is generally a highly globalised and organised industry. The decentralised, loose multiple authority interfaces is not the best way to achieve the set objectives. The experience of old inspector raj is beginning to be felt as our members are approaching individual State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs) with diverse compliance requirements.
The challenge that the industry faces is that the Rules mention obtaining an authorization from the concerned SPCB or PCC (Pollution Control Committee); however, the producers are now forced to take authorization from multiple states, thus adding to duplicity in data compilation. For the companies and SPCBs, this only adds to the administrative burden without adding any value addition. Single authorization will improve level of compliance amongst the companies; this information can be shared amongst various SPCBs and PCCs.
The bigger challenge emerges while submitting documents for authorization. Companies are facing difficulties across different states as there is no uniformity and every State has set up different parameters for accepting applications, thus causing unnecessary burden both on Producers and SPCBs/PCCs. To make matters worse, some of the states are demanding fees along with the applications. None of these requirements have been notified by the PCBs, nor have they been communicated to the companies in writing.
Bharadwaj further said, The whole focus of industry & government ought to produce healthy outcomes on e-waste collection, recycle & disposal. The last thing that we should expect is chaos at the stage of mere documentation.
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