E-Waste: A wake-up call for India
With the dawn of 21st century the world has witnessed the information and communication revolution which has taken the world by storm and affected every sphere of our lives. The advent of Internet and the use of computers have changed the way we live and go about our daily lives. As our activities shift to cyberspace, one can carry on a myriad of activities by sitting within the precincts and comfort of his home with a mere click of a mouse. Today people across generations speak of e-mails, e-money, e-commerce, e-contracts, e-crimes, etc. The latest mantra is digital development which has left an everlasting mark on every aspect of our lives. No doubt, technological innovations have made our lives easier, but one has to ponder as to whether behind all the glitz and glamour of information and communications revolution and the emergence of the information society, is there a darker side to it?
The increase in the usage of the electronic and electrical equipments has led to a consequent rise in setting up industries which are into manufacturing of electronic goods and it has become the world’s fastest and growing manufacturing industry. The electronics industry has become a leveraging tool in order to determine the socio-economic and technological growth of a developing society. The growth of these industries has been a result of the rapid product obsolescence and technological advances which have posed new environmental threats the world over, especially the developing nations like India, namely the growing menace of ‘electronic waste’ or ‘e-waste’. The presence of deadly chemicals and toxic substances in the electronic gadgets has resulted in environmental pollution, leading to severe health hazards. E-waste has today become one of the fastest growing waste streams. Every year, with new technological developments, people are discarding their old cell phones, televisions, computers and other equipments at a faster pace which has resulted in mountains of e-waste accumulating in the European Union, Japan, United States of America, India and China. This problem raises pertinent questions such as – ‘what will be the impact of this kind of waste on our health, environment and our future generations?’ and ‘are our laws sufficient enough to tackle the problems and hazards created by the accumulation of tonnes of e-waste?’ In the backdrop of the above, let us consider the following:
E-Waste: What is?
Electronic waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) refers to loosely discarded, surplus, obsolete, or broken electrical or electronic devices. Electronic waste may be defined as all secondary computers, entertainment devices, electronics, mobile phones, and other items such as television sets and refrigerators, whether sold, donated, or discarded by their original owners. This includes used electronics devices which are meant for reuse, resale, salvage, recycling or disposal. Others define the re-usable (working and repairable electronics) and secondary scrap (copper, steel, plastics, etc,) to be ‘commodities’ and reserve the term ‘waste’ for residue or material which was represented as working or repairable but which is dumped or disposed or discarded by the buyer rather than recycled, including residue from reuse and recycling operations. Because loads of surplus electronics are frequently co-mingled (good, recyclable, and non-recyclable), several public policy advocates apply the term ‘e-waste’ broadly to all surplus electronics. E-waste has also been defined to mean waste materials generated from using or discarding electronic devices, such as computers, televisions, and mobile phones.
The Problem of E-Waste - Raising Alarm bells for India:
Solid Waste management in India is a mammoth task and this has become all the more difficult with the piling up of e-waste. The quantity of electronic products discarded globally has skyrocketed recently, with 20-50 million tonnes generated every year. If such a huge figure is hard to imagine, think of it like this - if the estimated amount of e-waste generated every year are put into containers on a train, it would go around the world!
Manufacturer’s Association for Information Technology (MAIT), which is the apex body representing India’s IT hardware, training and R&D services along with GTZ, a German Technical Cooperation agency carried out a study on e-waste assessment in the country. The study, which was a first of its kind to inventorize e-waste in India revealed that a total of 3,30,000 metric tones of e-waste is generated annually in India. To add to the woes, an additional 50,000 metric tones is illegally imported into the country. It has been estimated that the e-waste generated in India will touch 4,70,000 metric tons by 2011. Commenting on the findings of the study, GTZ Director Dr. J. Bischoff observed that, “Significant growth in consumption of electronics items in the last few years, accompanied by a very high rate of obsolescence of these products is leading to generation of electronic waste in the country. In addition to the e-waste generated in the domestic market, dumping from developed countries has further compounded the problem in India. It is essential that India take note of this menace or it will have to pay a heavy price for environmental degradation.”
According to UN experts, in the landmark report released on February 22, 2010 in Bali by United Nations Environment Program, e-waste generated from old computers will jump by 200% to 400% from 2007 levels in South Africa and China and by 500% in India. By the same year in China, e-waste from discarded mobile phones will be about 7 times higher than 2007 levels and, in India it will 18 times higher. Further by 2020, e-waste from televisions will be 1.5 to 2 times higher in China and India while in India e-waste from discarded refrigerators will double or probably even triple. The report estimates e-waste generation in India to be over 100,000 tonnes from refrigerators, 275,000 tonnes from televisions, 56,300 tonnes from personal computers, 4,700 tonnes from printers and 1,700 tonnes from mobile phones.
Further, e-wastes from developed countries find their way easily into developing countries in the name of free trade and consequently developing countries like India, China and parts of Africa have become dumping yards of e-waste, owing to lack of effective laws and political will in these countries. Further, although the Foreign Trade Policy of India does not permit the import of e- waste, it however finds its way into the country through mis-declarations in their inward invoices and bills of lading. It is easy for brokers who call themselves as re-cyclers to export unscreened electronic waste to developing countries as it is an inexpensive means to dispose of the e-waste generated by them.
E-waste: Environmental and Health Hazards:
Discarded electronic scrap components contain many toxic substances which pose a threat to human health and the environment. According to Toxics Link, in its report on e-waste in India, e-waste contains many toxic substances such as lead, cadmium, mercury, polychlorinated Biphenyls, Poly Vinyl chloride, etc. in their components. Further, it has been estimated in the report that e-waste accounts for 40% of the lead and 75% of the heavy metals found in the landfills. The report has also highlighted the various health hazards caused by the different chemicals which are used in the manufacture of electronic goods. It has emphasized that lead causes damage to the central and peripheral nervous systems, blood systems, kidney and reproductive systems, and impedes brain development among children. Mercury can cause damage to organs including brain, kidney and foetus. It is estimated that 22% of the yearly world consumption of mercury is used in the electrical and electronic equipment. Mercury is used in thermostats, sensors, relays, switches, medical equipment, lamps, mobile phones and in batteries. Chromium VI can cause damage to DNA and is extremely toxic in the environment. Exposure to Barium, a chemical which is used in the front panel of a CRT monitors to protect users from radiation, can cause brain swelling, muscle weakness, damage to heart, liver and spleen. Similarly, exposure to beryllium can cause lung cancer. Beryllium is commonly found on mother boards of computers. Carbon black found in the plastic printer cartridge containing black and color toners can cause irritation of the respiratory tract. The phosphorous coating on the cathode ray tubes contain heavy metals such as cadmium, and other rare metals which are a serious health hazard to those who dismantle CRT monitors manually.
Further, e-waste poses the additional problem of environmental pollution. Land filling of e-wastes can lead to seeping of the lead into the ground water. If the tubes of the CRT monitors are crushed and burnt, they emit toxic fumes into the air. Several rechargeable battery wastes contain toxic substances that can contaminate the environment when burned in incinerators or disposed of in landfills. The quantity of cadmium in landfill sites is significant and considerable toxic contamination is caused by the inevitable medium and long-term effects of cadmium seeping into the surrounding soil. Because plastics are highly inflammable, the printed wiring board and devices that house electronic products contain brominated flame retardants, a number of which are clearly damaging to human health and the environment.
The recycling of e-waste is largely done by industries in the small and unorganized sector over which the state has little or no control, which has consequently posed a health hazard to the people involved in such industries. According to MAIT-GTZ study on, ‘Assessment of e-waste in India’, the authorized e-waste recycling facilities in India capture only 3% of the total e-waste generated; the rest makes it way to the informal recycling yards in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. This is because businesses sell their discarded IT and other equipment to informal recyclers for quick money without realizing the hazardous implications it causes to health and environment. The use of primitive recycling methods and disposal of e-waste in landfills and incinerators also cause an irreversible environmental damage by polluting soil and the air. A study conducted by Greenpeace in electronic recycling yards in Delhi clearly indicates the presence of high levels of hazardous chemicals including deadly dioxins and other chemicals where the primitive recycling takes place.
E-waste also involves serious health risks to workers who are engaged in recycling and disposal of e-waste due to unsafe exposure and leaching of materials from landfills and incinerator ashes.
E-Waste and Indian Legal regime:
The concern for protecting the environment has been there since times immemorial. Ancient scriptures and religious writings propagate the cause of environmental protection. The Vedas, Upanishads and Smritis have emphasized on the need of environmental protection. Similarly, Manu and Yagnavalkya have expressed their concern for protection of environment. Rivers like Ganga, Yamuna and trees like tulsi, peepal and banyan are worshipped by people since times immemorial. The kings were under a duty to maintain the natural resources. Many religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Islam have re-iterated upon the need for environmental protection.
However, the seeds of Indian environmental laws were sown at the United Nations conference on the Human Environment held at Stockholm in 1972, in which India had participated. At that conference it was realized that there was a need to have a legal framework to deal with the environmental hazards that the countries were facing. Since then, a plethora of laws have been enacted aimed at environmental protection. The Legislature has enacted various laws like The Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974; The Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981; The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1981; and The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 amongst others.
Further, the forty-second amendment to the Indian Constitution in 1976 has introduced principles of environmental protection into the Constitution in the form of Directive Principles of State Policy. Article 48A and Article 51A of the Constitution obligates the State to protect and improve the environment. The amendment has also moved the subjects of ‘forests’ and ‘protection of wild animals and birds’ from the State List to the Concurrent List.
The Indian Judiciary too has played a proactive role in the direction of protecting the environment. The Supreme Court has on several occasions postulated that the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution includes right to pollution free air and water. Some of the landmark judgments by the Supreme Court of India in this direction are -
In Subhash Kumar v. State of Bihar , the Supreme Court has observed that:
“The right to live is a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution, and it includes the right of enjoyment of pollution free water and air for full enjoyment of life. If anything endangers or impairs that quality of life in derogation of laws, a citizen has the right to have recourse to Article 32 of the constitution…..”
In Virandar Gaur v. State of Haryana , the Supreme Court applied Principle 1 of the Stockholm Declaration and held that, “Article 21 protects right to life as a fundamental right. Enjoyment of life and its attainment including their right to life with human dignity encompasses within its ambit, the protection and preservation of environment, ecological balance free from pollution of air and water, sanitation without which life cannot be enjoyed. Any contra acts or actions would cause environmental pollution. Environmental, ecological, air, water pollution etc., should be regarded as amounting to violation of Article 21”.
In T.N.Godavarman Thirummulped v. Union of India , the Supreme Court emphasized that the natural resources are the assets of the entire nation. It is the obligation of all concerned, including the Union Government and State Governments to conserve these resources. Any threat to the ecology can lead to violations of the right to enjoyment of healthy life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
In Intellectual Forum, Tirupathi v. State of A.P , the Supreme Court held that under Articles 21 and 51A, it is the constitutional obligation of the state to protect and preserve the environment.
In spite of all the laws and the precedents set by the Supreme Court, Indian laws are silent of the issue of e-waste. The management and handling of waste in India is currently governed by legislation such as the Environment Protection Act, 1986, and Hazardous Material (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules of 2008. Current rules mainly address the handling and disposal of industrial waste generated in manufacturing but do not address the problem of e-waste generated by computers and other electronic goods. Further, e-waste has not been defined anywhere in the Indian laws. However, Sec 2 (e) of the Environment Protection Act, 1986 defines hazardous substance- “as any substance or preparation which by reason of its chemical or physic-chemical properties or handling, is liable to cause harm to human being, other living creatures, plants, micro-organisms, property or the environment.” The classification of e-waste as hazardous in Indian legislation is unclear. Its status depends upon the extent of presence of hazardous constituents present in them and there are no specific laws or guidelines for defining e-waste. Also none of the laws directly refer to e-waste or its handling. Some of the other e-waste related rules in India are Hazardous Waste (Management and Handling) Amended Rules, 2003 which defines hazardous waste as ‘any waste which by reason of any of its physical, chemical, reactive, toxic, flammable, explosive or corrosive characteristics causes danger or is likely to causes danger to health or environment, whether alone or when on contact with other wastes or substances”. In Schedule 1, waste generated from the electronic industry is considered as hazardous waste. Schedule 3 lists wastes of various kinds including electrical and electronic assembled or scrap containing compounds such as accumulators and other batteries, mercury switches, glass from cathode ray tubes and other activated glass and PCB capacitors, or contaminated with constituents such as cadmium, mercury, lead, polychlorinated biphenyl or from which these have been removed, to an extent that they do not possess any of the constituents mentioned in Schedule 2. Further the DGFT (Exim Policy 2002-07) provides that second hand personal computers (PCs)/ laptops are not permitted for import under EPCG Scheme under the provisions of the para 5.1. of the EXIM Policy even for service providers. Second-hand photocopier machines, air conditioners, diesel generating sets, etc., are also not be imported under EPCG Scheme under the provisions of the Para 5.1. of EXIM Policy even if these are less than ten years old. Recently the Government of India has drafted the E-waste Management and Handling rules, 2010. The new rules proposed by the Government attempts to regulate not only producers, but also recyclers and intermediaries such as operators of collection centers. Consumers are also required under the proposed rules to send end-of-life products for recycling. Though these rules are a step in the right direction to address the problem of e-waste yet these rules concentrate more on the extended producers responsibility and recovery and re-use of useful materials from e-waste rather than addressing the problem of e-waste directly. There are many initiatives taken at the international level for addressing the problem of e-waste. In September 2003, California passed the “Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003”; the European Union Parliament passed a directive that requires producers of electronics to assume responsibility, financial and otherwise for recovery and recycling of e-waste; the OECD has developed international guidelines on the environmentally sound management of uses of scrapped personal computers. The most notable amongst the international initiatives has been the Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-boundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, adopted by the Global community in 1989. This is one of the most comprehensive global environmental treaty on hazardous and other wastes. Though India is a signatory to this Convention, it has unfortunately displayed a poor record in dealing with the problem of e-waste. There is a lack of clarity and ambiguity on the part of Indian Government, and this has made the application of the regulations impossible which has in turn contributed tremendously to the problem of e-waste. Further, the recent Delhi Mayapuri Radiation case has brought the problem of e-waste and laxity of the Indian government in handling the problem of e-waste once again to the fore.
The above scenario has already set the alarm bells ringing as a wakeup call for India to rise from its slumber and address the problem of e-waste by enacting a comprehensive legislation exclusively to deal with this growing menace of e-waste. After all we owe it to the generations to come!
References:
1. Dr. J.N. Pandey, Constitutional Law of India, 44th edition, (Central Law Agency, Allahabad, 2007)
2. Dr. Md. Zafar Mahfooz Nomani & Anis Ahmad, Need for Electronic Waste Laws in India available at http;//www.countercurrents.org/nomani310508.htm accessed on 16-09-10
3. Environment: E-Waste Management in India, available at http://www.deejayjp.co.cc/environemtn-e-waste-management-in-india accessed on 09-09-10
4. E-Waste in India available at www.toxicslink.org/ accessed on 16-09-10
5. E-Waste: Environmental and Health Hazards available at http;//www.iowadnr.gov/waste/recycling/hazards.html accesses on 12-09-10
6. Fatima Chowdhury, Toxic E-Waste: The New Age Contamination, available at http://www.boloji.com/environment/240.htm accessed on 08-09-10
7. John Ribeiro, India Plans Laws on E-Waste Management available at http;//www.cio.com/articles/592198/India_Plans_Laws_on_E_Waste_Management accessed on 16-09-10.
8. Kaya Acharya, In sore need of E-Waste Regulation, available at http://goodelectronics.org/news-en/india-in-sore-need-of-e-waste-regulation accessed on 11-09-10
9. Kurian Joseph, Electronic Waste Management in India- Issues and Strategies available at www.swlf.ait.ac.th/.../Electronic%20waste%20management%20in%20India.pdf accessed on 12-09-10
10. Lal’s Encyclopedia on Environment Protection & pollution laws, 5th edition, (Delhi Law House, Delhi, 2009).
11. Press release of MAIT available at http;//www.mait.com/admin/press_images/press77-try.htm accessed on 12-09-10
12. Radiation exposes India’s laxity in dealing with e-waste available at http://www.deccanherald.com/content/66686/radiation-exposes-indias-laxity-dealing.html accessed on 08-09-10
13. The E-waste Problem available at http://www.greenpeace.org accessed on 08-09-10
14. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. available at http://en.wikipedia.org accessed on 09-09-10
-By Prof. Sunitha Abhay Jain
B.A.L., LL.M., MHR, PGDCL, (PhD)
Assistant Professor,
Bangalore.
Edited by: virupaksha r p.
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