Maharashtra association will help draft e-waste policy

With the rise in use of electronic goods, the amount of e-waste produced has also risen to alarming levels. To address the issue, the Maharashtra E-Waste Association (Mewa) has been invited by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to get suggestions on the draft of the E-Waste (Handling and Management) Rules, 2010.

The initiative is being taken by Clean Sweep Forum (CSF), an NGO which has been advocating proper waste management for the last eight years.

The NGO, along with MEWA, is now organising a seminar with all the stakeholders to come up with an agreed set of comments and suggestions to be considered for the e-waste policy.

“We have been waiting for the government to formulate the rules since a long time. Since the last two years, we have been organising awareness programmes for the public, students and others on e-waste. It is imperative for us to study the draft rules and give our considered views on it as it will affect us directly,” said Raj Kumar Sharma, Convenor, CSF.

E-waste needs to be recycled and reused, say experts. However, there is no set policy on e-waste and most of its disposal is done by the informal sector.

“While developed countries have a process to dismantle and recycle, in India there is no such policy. Most of it goes to the ragpickers who then sell it to the informal industry in Saki Naka and Dharavi where cheap TVs or computer sets are made out of it,” said Sharma.