Dinesh Kamath's Editorial 'Ensure perfect implementation of rules to manage e-waste' that was published in Newsband

Ensure perfect implementation of rules to manage e-waste

The Ministry of Environment and Forests have come up with new rules to manage electronic waste. If these rules are properly implemented, they will close the gap between growing volumes of hazardous trash and inadequate recycling infrastructure. Producers and consumers of electronic goods have a responsibility to ensure proper disposal of electronic waste,

Some units use crude methods such as open burning to extract copper, lead, aluminium and iron. The concentrated acids are used in an open-air environment to remove copper from printed circuit boards; the corrosive chemicals are then discharged into surrounding lands. Several cities are similarly polluted.

Hence the Environment Ministry must work closely with the States to implement the tighter rules. The success of the new rules will depend on incentivising consumers to enter the formal recycling channel using the producer-operated buy-back scheme. The policy is still in its nascent stage, but the intent is great. The Government should make arrangements to promote this drive and create awareness across the villages of the nation. Hopefully, we would see people acting positively on this count.

The government should also double its recycle sites from the current 151 sites to 302. The funds required to do this should be included in the budget in the same category used for cleaning cities and towns. Illegal dumping of e waste is a health hazard. Care needs to be taken to dump and treat this waste in a dedicated site that will have facilities in place to ensure that e waste is properly treated so that it doesn’t pollute the environment and result in unwanted out breaks of diseases.

The making of new rules by the government is certainly an appreciable move.

People have a tendency of not letting go the defunct electronic gadgets. Perfect implementation of these rules will really help to achieve a better environment.

Also the industrial tycoons and corporates have a vital role to play in stemming the volume of electronic waste. Goods produced must be thoroughly checked and standards must be maintained to see that the money and material of consumers do not go waste in quest of purchasing goods for comfort.