India News | Country Saw 72 Per Cent Increase E-waste in 5 Years: Govt
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The country saw an increase of around 72 per cent in e-waste generated from electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) such as smartphones, computers, television sets and refrigerators over the past five years, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.
New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) The country saw an increase of around 72 per cent in e-waste generated from electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) such as smartphones, computers, television sets and refrigerators over the past five years, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Monday.
According to a written reply to a question by Union Minister of State for Housing and Urban Affairs Tokhan Sahu, 10.14 lakh tonnes of e-waste was generated in 2019-20 and the figure climbed to 17.51 lakh tonnes in 2023-24.
Sahu said 13,46,496 tonnes of e-waste was generated in 2020-21, 16,01,155 tonnes in 2021-22 and 16,09,117 tonnes in 2022-23.
Under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, 21 EEE items were notified and information about e-waste generated from these items is available for the last four years (2019-20 to 2022-23).
These 21 items include laptops, telephones, cordless telephones, cellular telephones, smartphones, television sets, air-conditioners (excluding centralised air-conditioning plants) and washing machines.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) guidelines on the implementation of E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, smartphones have a lifespan of five years, refrigerators 10 years, personal computers six years and washing machines nine years.
"The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has notified E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 w.e.f. 1st April, 2023, for the effective management of the e-waste in the country," Sahu said in his reply.
The objective of the said rules is to take all steps required to ensure that e-waste is managed in a manner which shall protect health and environment against any of its adverse effects, he said.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)