The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has announced the implementation of Environmental Compensation (EC) Guidelines under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022. These guidelines will apply to producers, manufacturers, recyclers, and refurbishers involved in the e-waste management process.
It may be recalled that the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, mandate the CPCB to develop EC guidelines for non-compliance with the rules. The CPCB engaged with stakeholders to prepare the EC guidelines, which were discussed in the 4th Steering Committee meeting and a follow-up stakeholder meeting.
The CPCB submitted the EC guidelines to the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for approval on August 28, 2024. The MoEF&CC granted its approval on September 9, 2024.
Key Points
The EC guidelines outline the procedures for calculating and imposing environmental compensation on entities that fail to comply with the E-Waste (Management) Rules.
These EC guidelines will be applicable to entities involved in manufacture, sale, transfer,
purchase, refurbishing, dismantling, recycling and processing of e-waste or electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) listed in Schedule I, including their components, consumables, parts and spares which
make the product operational.
The EC is divided into two regimes, EC Regime 1 and EC Regime 2 based on the non-fulfilment of EPR target and other non-compliances of E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 and amendments thereof.
EC Regime 1
This Applies to producers who fail to meet their end-product-wise targets. Not meeting targets damages the environment because e-waste is not collected, transported, and recycled properly.
Producers must pay the average cost of collecting, transporting, and processing e-waste to compensate for environmental harm.
EC Regime 2
This applies to producers, manufacturers, recyclers, and refurbishers who are not compliant with other E-Waste Rules requirements.
A base charge of Rs. 20,000/- is applied to producers. Recyclers, manufacturers or refurbishers face a flat fee of Rs. 15,000/- for registration.
