Environmental laws in relation to E-Waste Management

Author – Vishnu Wardhan Singh, Student of Kirit P. Mehta, School of Law, Mumbai

Best Citation – Vishnu Wardhan Singh, Environmental laws in relation to E-Waste Management, INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL RESEARCH JOURNAL, 1 (1) of 2023, Pg. 88-94, ISBN (P) – 978-81-960702-1-2.

ABSTRACT

E-waste is a great hazard to the environment as it contains various chemicals like beryllium, cadmium, mercury, lead etc. which may sweep into the soil when this electronic waste is buried in landfills. Eventually, after some considerable time the traces of these chemicals can be found in the groundwater as well. E-waste can simply be defined as any electrical material that has to be discarded away. It includes working or non-working devices which may have been thrown away for some reason.. CPCB reported e-waste generation in India has touched 31% growth rate which is extremely high taking into account that India is  in its transitional phase.

One of the most feasible way of dealing with this creeping problem is through penal laws and strict punishments. The history of national environmental laws commence after Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1986 when the government came up with Environment Protection Act. Major improvements were made in 2016 when the government came up with a revised edition called e-waste management rules. After that there has been various amendments in the environmental laws through legislature as well as through judicial proceedings to adopt these to the changing times. Until now the environmental ministry has notified 21 types of various electrical and electronic equipment as E-Wastes. The author through this paper tries to critically analyse the e-waste management rules In India and various other amendments given out by the government of India. This critical evaluation has been done keeping in mind the changing times and the ever increasing percentage of e-waste generated inside India. The author will also try to find out various loopholes through which the ‘violators’ find a legal way to exploit the environment. In the end the author will suggest some changes that can be incorporated into current system and stop there violators from exploiting the environment further.