eWaste Policy Initiatives January 2003 Mrs Almitra H Patel Member, Supreme Court Committee for Solid Waste Management 50 Kothnur, Bagalur Road Bangalore

“Policy Intervention is needed when the market fails to address environmental problems” Policies are best created by those who understand the issues, by the industry collectively with user involvement, e.g. AIPM

eWaste Recycling is a thriving business in India Copper, silver, gold, platinum, palladium are recovered in secrecy by highly polluting methods: burning of PCBs, treatment with acids or cyanide salts, mostly from imported scrap. Gas displays & tubes are dumped.

No pro-active advice or help is given to upgrade this industry HP and IBM have worldwide take-back policies, for a small fee. Neither are recycling in India. We should encourage them to recycle here and bring us state-of-the-art practices.

RE-USE IS THE BEST POLICY even for defective items : cell-phones for SMS for deaf & dumb, keyboard + monitor for typing classes, VCR used as VCP, TVs downgraded, washing - machines for manual use. Industrial eWaste from control panels or phone exchanges for ? ? ? ? ?

RE-MANUFACTURING is next best : Dis-assemble old eqpt and use parts for repair of similar items or use in new items, e.g. old memory and hard drives into simpler CPUs for schools.

WASTE MINIMISATION IS EASY Use less toxic or more recyclable components Replace styrofoam packaging with cardboard (like Sony)or bubble-pack. Adopt the proven use of less hazardous chemicals, water, energy in production processes. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

RE-DESIGN products and processes Lead - free computer products are already available from Fujitsu, NEC, Oki, Panasonic, Sony, Toshiba. PVC alternatives exist, though costlier. Energy-saving models are aplenty.

SHARE INFORMATION: Use or create websites for Donation: Another Byte, GreenDisk, Kartridges for Kids Floppies for Kids Recycling: EnviroCycle, Recycling IT (UK) EPA NetShare (open chat) ‘Road-Maps’ for state-of-the-art information EPA’s Common Sense Initiative Plan for the Computer and Electronics Industry

We need an IMPORT POLICY like China’s (1996), which allows import of only waste which is usable as raw material, not for toxic recycling. Enforcement is crucial, as well as an independent watchdog group.

EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY EPR means full life-cycle accountability: Producers of products must be made financially, physically and legally responsible for their products till the end. This encourages reduced resource and energy use + pollution prevention thru less hazardous & more recyclable mat’ls.

DESIGN FOR RECYCLING Mandatory time-bound requirements to ensure clean, safe and efficient dis- assembly and raw material recovery. Also, a pre-established product route to a recycling market needs to be in place, through collective planning.

INDIA NEEDS A MANDATORY e -TAKE - BACK POLICY like the EU’s Directive 94/62/EC of 1994, or EU’s 1998 Ordinance on Avoidance & Recovery of Packaging Waste. In Germany, Duales System (a Ltd Co) organises the nationwide collection, sorting & recycling of post-consumer packaging, funded pro-rata by user firms. See

+ A POLICY for HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES RESTRICTION similar to EU’s ROHS = Restriction Of Use of certain Hazardous Substances, which are required to be phased out of electrical + electronics products by 2008 All the precedents and working models are there before us. Let us now act !