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Growing understanding of e-waste impacts, volumes in India

It is heartening to see the increasing attention paid to e-waste impacts in India by media outlets and individuals throughout the country. I just read two articles that reflect the growth of attention to these important issues:

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/andhra_pradesh/Ignorance-on-...

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/states/india-cautioned-aga...;

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Comment by Sarah OBrien on July 22, 2014 at 10:55pm: Hi Ritu - not quite sure the dictinction you are makign wiht fees. But in any case EPEAT is extremely transparent - all registry fees contracts, verification efforts, participants are available on our website at www.epeat.net. Look in manufacturer resources for all documents related to manufacturer participation. Because we work through a network of registrar organisations it's not possible for me to enumerate the precise fees all organisations charge for different services - that is confidential business information. But please delve into epeat. net - you will find extremely full disclosure on many many aspects of the system that might interest you. And I'm happy to provide additional info by email, or discussion by phone should you wish.

Comment by Ritu Maini on July 22, 2014 at 11:24am: Ankita - My comments were after reading the report cover to cover and I still hold on to the same. Although I would like to acknowledge your effort and hope to see some quality and credible stuff from Toxics Link.

Comment by Ritu Maini on July 22, 2014 at 11:21am: Sarah - thanks for an elaborate response. Two follow up comments -

1) On the fee, it would be interesting to note the fee at the time of joining. You have interestingly mentioned the lowest which is conditional. IN my view, the joining fee, if prohibitive shall discourage domestic players - leave alone those in the SME sector. I hope to see information on the joining fee. At least that's the level of transparency we may expect from organisations promoting transparency in industry. I am also keen to know some of the domestic Indian companies including SMEs that have either joined or initiated steps towards joining the program.

2) On your engagement with the recycling sector in India. it is indeed a great step. However our concerns is over some big organsiations partnering with tainted recyclers against who there is sufficient evidence that they obtain e-waste from customers and companies and sell back in the informal sector!!! A reputed NGO, CSE had done a full report.

Comment by Ankita Jena on July 22, 2014 at 1:44am: Ritu Maini...thank you for your suggestion but would like to clarify to you that it is not an opinionated report. The ranking is based on real facts, ground survey and in RTI results. As per the e waste rules in India, producers and state boards have been vested upon certain responsibilities and ranking criteria were developed on that...the study was done for India and very objective approach was used for ranking...kindly go through the report thoroughly and you will understand...

Comment by Sarah OBrien on July 22, 2014 at 12:02am: Ritu - on your point about e-waste management - indeed I have been speaking with a number of organizations and recyclers about the opportunities for innovative approaches to collection and treatment of e-wastes. We are looking forward to providing additional support for all e-waste efforts through the EPEAT requirement that Manufacturers provide takeback and responsible recycling for all products registered in the system.

Comment by Sarah OBrien on July 22, 2014 at 12:00am: Hi Ritu - really great questions and thoughts. The first really important point to make is that EPEAT is explicitly designed to allow smaller manufacturers the opportunity to compete head to head with larger ones. The registry fees are not assessed per product registered - they are annual fees that cover as many products as a company has that can qualify, and as many geographic areas as the brand wants to register in. And most importantly, they are on a sliding scale based on company revenue from the product category they wish to register in - down to as low as $1500 per year (with a petition process to lower even that, for microenterprises). SO the system is designed to welcome and support smaller companies. Of course, meeting stringent environmental criteria requires more resources and capacity - which is why we are working with a number of India-based partners to develop programs to hold the hands of SMEs in the electronics sector to better enable them to participate.

We believe this model works well - 18 of our 55 registering manufacturers are small to medium sized businesses - in Poland, Lithuania, Spain, US, and most particularly in Brazil - where we have 8 local manufacturers participating in EPEAT to meet the requirements of purchasers in local, state and national government agencies. So we see this model succeeding for SMEs and regional brands elsewhere - and hope that the same can be true in India, with our concerted effort to reach out, educate and support those companies.

Comment by Ritu Maini on July 21, 2014 at 12:41pm: Sarah O Brien - Interesting to learn of your view and your interest in e-waste issue in India. I hope expansion of EPEAT to India proves to be a good business decision for Green Electronic Coalition GEC and worth your investment I was interested to know the registration fee for participating in your program? Is this not exclusionary in approach - our Indian domestic manufacturers able to afford this participation?

Comment by Ritu Maini on July 21, 2014 at 12:36pm: Ankita Jena - I am new to this group and this thread caught my attention. I tried to find more about a report that was mentioned in the message and was a bit disappointed. I hold high regard for Toxics Link and associate the organization with some well researched reports such as paints and heavy metals. In contrast this report comes across as an opinion piece. Although I am no expert on the issue, but I have looked into the existing e-waste management systems across the world. What this work by Toxic Link does is reduce the e-waste system into a single management model and anything that falls outside the view of the 'authors' is rejected. Hope to see more credible work from Toxics Link in future.

Comment by nalini krishnasamy on July 16, 2014 at 2:14am: Its really a good effort Sarah!In India,the channellising the ewaste for effecient resource recovery is facing a challenge.I am currently working on the assessment of stakeholders challenges ewaste policy implementation to formulate a sustainable ewaste management.

Comment by Sarah OBrien on July 16, 2014 at 1:47am: Yes Nalini - participation by all stakeholders is critical. My work is to help purchasers drive more sustainable practices by using the EPEAT system - which requires manufacturers to provide responsible takeback and recycling for all registered products. Now that EPEAT is available for purchasers in India I am working to raise bulk consumers' consciousness about using the tool to compel better practices above and beyond the regulatory requirements. www.epeat.net