Unfolding Impact of two years of E-Waste (Management) Rules 2016

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Unfolding Impact of two years of E-Waste (Management) Rules 2016

INFORMAL E-WASTE

RECYCLING IN DELHI

A PRIMARY STUDY REPORT BY

TOXICS LINK 2018

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information to help strengthen the campaign against toxics pollution, provide cleaner alternatives and bring together groups and people affected by this problem.

Toxics Link’s Mission Statement - “Working together for environmental justice and freedom from toxics. We have taken upon ourselves to collect and share both information about the sources and the dangers of poisons in our environment and bodies, and information about clean and sustainable alternatives for India and the rest of the world.”

Toxics Link has a unique expertise in areas of hazardous, medical and municipal wastes, international waste trade, and the emerging issues of pesticides, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), hazardous heavy metal contamination etc.

from the environment and public health point of view. We have successfully implemented various best practices and have brought in policy changes in the afore mentioned areas apart from creating awareness among several stakeholder groups.

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Mr. Ravi Agarwal, Director, Toxics Link for his continued guidance and encouragement. We would like to thank Mr. Satish Sinha, Associate Director, Toxics Link who guided us through the entire research process and helped us in shaping the study and the report. We would also like to give special thanks to Ms. Anna Kaufmann for her participation in the research and documentation. Our sincere thanks are also due to all team members of Toxics Link for their valuable inputs and suggestions.

Research Team

Study and Report: Priti Banthia Mahesh, Manjusha Mukherjee Field inputs: Vinod Sharma

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

Toxics Link

H-2, Jungpura Extension New Delhi – 110014

Phone: +91-(11)-24328006, 24320711 Fax: +91-(11)-24321747

Email: info@toxicslink.org Web: www.toxicslink.org

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List of Tables

Table 1: Categories of EEE covered under E-waste management Rules, 2016 3

Table 2: Recovery potential of different WEEE 6

Table 3: Health Impacts of Toxins released in informal recycling 7

Table 4: Area profile of the e-waste informal hubs in Delhi 15

Table 5: The informal e-waste operations in Delhi at a glance 18 Table 6: Change in the inflow of waste of different WEEE categories in the informal sector 27

Table 7: Equipment and the processes 29

Table 8: Waste Materials generated from e-waste processing/dismantling units and their impacts 41

Table 9: Cost Benefit Analysis of Dismantling Practices 45

Table 10: Cost Benefit Analysis for the Refurbishing Units 47

Table 11: Rules and the present scenario 49

List of Figures

Figure 1: Global e-waste generation (The Global E-waste Monitor, 2017) 2 Figure 2: Types of emissions and pathways of pollutants of informal e-waste recycling 7 Figure 3: E-waste Informal hotspots in Delhi by units & workers 15 Figure 4: E-waste Informal Processing Hotspots of Delhi: An inside look 16

Figure 5: Informal E-waste Flowchart 24

Figure 6: Inflow of WEEE to the informal sector: The Source 25

Figure 7: Change in the e-waste inflow by volume to informal sector since 2016 25 Figure 8: Destination routes for resource outflow from Informal WEEE sector 40

Figure 9: Waste Disposal from the Informal Sector 42

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ABBREVIATION

BFR Brominated Flame Retardant CRT Cathode Ray Tube

TFT Thin Film Transistor LCD Liquid Crystal Display LED Light Emitting Diode MCB Mini Circuit Board PCB Printed Circuit Board

UEEE Used Electrical and Electronic Equipment EEE Electrical and Electronic Equipment WEEE Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment PRO Producer Responsibility Organisation EPR Extended Producer Responsibility SPCB State Pollution Control Board PVC Poly Vinyl Chloride

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At an age of information, life without electrical and electronics is hard to consider. Digital economy, faster communication, increasing consumerism, technological advances in health, education, entertainment, commerce and all other spheres of professional and personal spaces have made the presence of electronic and electrical equipment (EEE) constant in our daily lives. So much so, that any increase in the levels of individual income, country level development, urbanization or industrialization reflects directly to a growing usage of EEE and certainly to greater amounts of e-waste. Meanwhile, the Global E-Waste Monitor (2017) estimates a record high generation of e-waste in 2016 worldwide as

44.7 million metric tonnes. A rise of 8 percent by weight from 2014 makes e-waste the

‘fastest growing part of the world’s domestic waste stream’. This amount equals to 6.1 kilogram per capita e-waste generation which shows a five percent growth in two years.¹ Quite distressingly, only 20% of the global e-waste generated in 2016 was documented to be collected and properly recycled. Of the undocumented, about 4% have been thrown in landfills in the higher income countries.

Remaining 76% takes unknown pathways, mostly, dumped, traded, recycled under inferior conditions in informal operations or remain stored in our households.¹This disturbing pattern leads to the global crisis of

01

INTRODUCTION

The challenges and opporunities in E-waste management

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e-waste management. And E-waste remains the least managed waste streams globally, even with all its hazards and resource contents.

The e-waste management crisis hits India harder as the country, owing to its huge population, generates a large quantum of e-waste and also is one of the waste dumps for the developed countries. The growing e-waste generation is linked to the tremendous growth in the electronics industry. The demand for electronic products is expected to grow at a CAGR of 41% during 2016-2020 in the country. Clearly the sharp increase in the demand and usage is reflected into the growth of waste. While the global rise in E-waste is 23.5% during the forecast period 2014-2020, for India it is likely to be 30% for the period of 2018-2020.²,³ But in an

underprepared India, about 95 percent of this waste is being managed by the informal sector, that is, in the unorganised market.⁴ E-waste in India is majorly processed using inefficient technologies, inadequate infrastructures and improper and unhealthy eco-system. Backyard operations of recycling, dismantling and refurbishing, use rudimentary technologies which include open burning of plastics, exposure to toxic solders, dumping of acids, and widespread general dumping. Further, no health safeguards or environmental protection of toxics releasing to the environment are provided.^5,6

E-waste is a part of the international treaty of Basel Convention which binds signatory nations legally under a global policy framework. Trans-boundary movement of e-waste along with ‘environmentally sound

Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE):

Equipments dependent on electric current or electro-magnetic field in order to become functional.

E-Waste: Electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part discarded as waste by the consumer or bulk consumer as well as rejects from manufacturing, refurbishment and repair processes.

E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016, Govt. of India Figure 1: Global e-waste generation

(The Global E-waste Monitor, 2017)

2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Note: 2017-2021 are estimates 60

50 40 30 20 10 0 World totals (Mt)

44.7

52.2 E-waste totals

Per inhabitant (kg/inh.)

E-waste per inhabitant 6.1

6.8 0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

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management, prevention of illegal traffic to developing countries and building capacity around the globe to better manage e-waste’

are addressed in the Convention from 2002.

In India, e-waste came under regulatory framework around the same time – as part of Hazardous Wastes (Management and Handling) Amendment Rules, 2002, which mainly addressed it from the point of transboundary movement. The first defined rule on e-waste came into effect from 2012 as E-waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011. This rule was replaced by the E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016 mandating targeted responsibilities to the producers and the maintenance of national registry. Despite having regulations in place, holistic and sustainable management of e-waste remains a grave concern for India till date.

Toxics Link has been working on the issue of e-waste since its inception in the legal territories both nationally and internationally.

The journey of e-waste management in India is also documented in different reports by us. In continuation with our longstanding efforts to push the boundaries for an environmentally sound and inclusive management of e-waste, this report aims to evaluate the situation of e-waste informal sector in the country’s biggest e-waste hub, Delhi, after two years of introduction of the new rules.

1.1 E-Waste (Management) Rules in India: the highlights

■ The E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016 was introduced by the Indian government superseding the 2011 rules. The rules aimed to ensure effective implementation and clear delineation of the role of producers. Collection targets were also introduced under Extended Producer Responsibility. It introduced the refurbisher and Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO) also as additional stakeholders with specific roles. The product scope was also widened with inclusion of compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) and other mercury containing lamp.

Table 1: Categories of EEE covered under E-waste management Rules, 2016

Categories of electrical and

electronic equipment Electrical and electronic equipment code Information technology and telecommunication equipment:

Centralized data processing:

Mainframes, Minicomputers

ITEW1

Personal Computing:

Personal Computers (Central Processing Unit with input and output devices)

ITEW2

Personal Computing:

Laptop Computers(Central Processing Unit with input and output devices)

ITEW3

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Categories of electrical and

electronic equipment Electrical and electronic equipment code Personal Computing:

Notebook Computers

ITEW4

Personal Computing:

Notepad Computers

ITEW5

Printers including cartridges ITEW6

Copying equipment ITEW7

Electrical and electronic typewriters

ITEW8

User terminals and systems ITEW9

Facsimile

I

TEW10

Telex ITEW11

Telephones ITEW12

Pay telephones ITEW13

Cordless telephones ITEW14

Cellular telephones ITEW15

Answering systems

I

TEW16

Consumer electrical and electronics:

Television sets (including sets based on (Liquid Crystal Display and Light Emitting Diode technology)

CEEW1

Refrigerator CEEW2

Washing Machine CEEW3

Air-conditioners excluding centralized air conditioning plants

CEEW4

Fluorescent and other Mercury containing lamps

CEEW5

■ The formal chain is distinguished by different players, i.e. manufacturers, producers, dealers, bulk consumers, consumers, dismantlers, refurbishers and recyclers. All these interacting groups, except the consumers, need to get authorization from the concerned State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) and are obligated to maintain records of the e-waste handled. Ensuring safe transport of material to another authorized interacting group, safeguarding health and preventing environmental damage are the other major aspects of their responsibilities.

■ The base of the E-Waste rules 2016 is the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). EPR makes every producer liable for a) collection &

channelisation of e-waste (end-of-life of their EEE products) to an authorised dismantler/

recycler to ensure their environmentally sound management, b) making information related to end-of-life facilitation of EEE return, hazardous constituents and hazards of improper handling and disposal of e-waste available in public domain and c) creating awareness through various communication modes. Every producer also shall have an authorization for EPR from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) with an EPR plan mentioning the estimated

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quantity of e-waste generated during the year. CPCB shall fix a product code wise target for them for the quantity of e-waste to be collected.

■ Besides that, Producers need to ensure the Reduction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS). Products manufactured after the implementation may not contain lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominateddiphenyl ethers beyond a specified limit.

■ Producers were mandated to collect 30%

of what they put in the market in the first year of implementation, going up to 70%

by the 7th year.

■ The CPCB has come up with ‘Guidelines on Implementation of the rules’ in 2016. It mentions specific guidelines for extended producer responsibility, collection centers, storage, transportation, environmentally sound dismantling and recycling, refurbishment, and random sampling of EEE for testing of RoHS parameters. It also specifies the life spans of products included in the scope of the Rules.

1.2 The Paradox of E-waste:

Resources & Hazards

Waste electrical and electronic equipments may consist of as many as 60 different elements which can be valuable as well as hazardous. These include heavy metals, like, arsenic, cadmium, barium, lead, lithium, mercury, nickel, zinc and other toxic substances, like, polychlorinated biphenyls.

Some of the important metals used for EEE productions are copper (4,500,000 t/year globally), tin (90,000 t/year globally), antimony (65,000 t/year globally), cobalt (11,000 t/year globally), silver (6,000 t/year globally), lead, nickel, etc. Proper separation of different elements from WEEE, recovering of the elements of economic value, and prevention of environmental pollution of hazardous components depend on dismantling and recycling technologies. In case of mismanagement in handling, treatment, incineration, and dumping of WEEE serious consequences might appear to human health and environment. Thus all WEEE is characterized as potentially hazardous waste in nature.⁷

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Table 2: Recovery potential of different WEEE8,9,10,11,12,13

Part Recovered * Market value^¥ CRT

(Cath- ode Ray Tube)

Copper, Glass, Lead, Steel, Plastics

• Copper: INR 421.60/kg

• Aluminum: INR 132.10/kg

• Ferrous metals:

INR 40-50/kg

• Lead: INR 140.50/

kg

• Indium ingot: INR 25000-45000/kg

• Tin: INR 1400- 1500/kg

• Silver: INR 42,356/kg

• Gold: INR 3,283/

gm

• Palladium: INR 3,033/gm

• Transparent glass: INR 100- 150/square feet

• Plastic scrap:

INR 20-65/kg (depending on the quality) LCD

panels

Indium, Tin, Copper

PCB Tin , Copper, Lead, Iron, Bromine, Nickel Mobile

phones

Copper, Silver, Gold, Palladium, Coltan

• Recovery potential depends on the recycling technologies

• Prices as of January 2019 in Indian market

1.3 Impacts: Environment &

Health

The environmental damage from electronic waste can come from the hazardous elements contained in EEE, or the auxiliary substances

used in the recycling process, or the by- products generated during the transformation of primary constituents.¹⁴ Open and manual dismantling, shredding, burning, leaching and uncontrolled dumping of WEEE not only directly harm the exposed workers but also reach environment through contaminating soil, ground water, surface water and polluting air. Some of the known hazards are listed below-

■ Printed circuit boards are imperative to electronic equipments and they are hazardous with contents like, lead (in solder), brominated flame retardants (5-10% by weight) and antimony oxide (1-2% by weight as BFR).¹⁵ Open burning or leaching of these boards to recover valuables can be source of pollution.

■ Open crushing and burning of CRTs emits toxic fumes.¹⁶

■ Dioxins and furans are released while burning plastics out of poly vinyl chloride.¹⁷

■ Mercury used in switches, relays, old computers, flat screen displays can be released during open dismantling, incineration or landfilling in different stages of informal EEE recycling.¹⁸

■ The cadmium contents of mobile phones also have the potential to reach landfill or directly contaminating soil and water.

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Figure 2: Types of emissions and pathways of pollutants of informal e-waste recycling ¹⁵

Subject to long distance transport

Table 3: Health Impacts of Toxins released in informal recycling³⁰ Elements Health Impacts

Lead (Pb) Damages central and peripheral nervous system, blood systems, kidney, causes developmental toxicity (affects brain development & central nervous system in foetus and children)

Cadmium (Cd) Irreversible toxicity effects on human health, damages nervous system, accumulates in kidney and liver and damages kidney, bone and pulmonary systems, teratogenic (leads to birth defect), develops hypertension and heart disease

Mercury (Hg) Chronic brain damage, developmental toxin, respiratory and skin disorders, damages kidney, liver, spinal cord, bio-accumulates in fish

Dioxins &

Furans

reproductive and developmental toxicity, damage immune and regulatory hormone system

BFR Carcinogens, alters liver function, impairs reproductive function & disrupts endocrine system, damages immune and nervous system, skin, liver, digestive tract

Hexavalent chromium (Cr) VI

Causes asthmatic bronchitis, damages DNA (mutagenic)

Beryllium (Be) Carcinogenic (lung cancer), causes chronic beryllium disease (beryllicosis), skin disease

Barium (Ba) Even short term exposure can cause cardiac, liver or spleen damage Phthalates Causes reproductive toxicity, damages liver, kidney

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Parameters Indigenous technologies

developed by MeitY Umicore Informal Sector Materials recovered

from e-waste Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium, Plastics of different

varieties

17 metals including Gold, Silver, Plati- num and Palladium

Gold, Silver, Plati- num, Palladium and Lead Efficiency of

recovery of materials Between 80% to 97% Above 95% 20%-30%

Informal dismantling causes release of high concentrations of heavy metals in dust and air. In a study conducted by Greenpeace in 2005, street dust samples from the recovery units in Delhi detected alarmingly high concentrations of lead, cadmium, mercury, tin, organochlorines, chlorinated benzenes, polybrominateddiphenyl ether (PBDEs) and polychlorinated namphalenes (PCNs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (PBDE, PCN & PCBs are known BFRs) compared to the ones from the other (residential or other commercial areas where significantly less concentrations of these metals were detected.20 Heavy metals contaminating soil and groundwater can also be a pathway into the plants further affecting human health.

A Toxics Link study (2014) conducted in Mandoli and Loni informal e-waste processing areas found discharging of effluents

into open lands, high concentrations of mercury in surface water and change of soil characteristics.19

As well known, e-waste is a huge secondary source for many materials, mainly metals and

often referred as ‘urban mine’. The material value alone is worth $62.5 billion, three times more than the annual output of the world’s silver mines and more than the GDP of most countries20. There is 100 times more gold in a ton of mobile phones than in a ton of gold ore. The rudimentary processes used by this sector, often, results in lack of optimal recovery. According to the report by World Economic Forum and PACE (Platform for accelerating the circular Economy), improper handling of e-waste is resulting in a significant loss of scarce and valuable raw materials, including such precious metals as neodymium (vital for magnets in motors), indium (used in flat panel TVs) and cobalt (for batteries).

Almost no rare earth minerals are extracted from informal recycling. Benchmarking of the technologies21 which are in use in the informal sector as well as the best available technologies show the huge gap which exist when it comes to recycling complex materials embedded in e-waste. Furthermore, when it comes to recycling of precious metals, the efficiency of recycling and extraction of metals in the informal sector lags behind.

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02

OBJECTIVE &

METHODOLOGY

Designing a framework to assess changes on ground

2.1 Objective

Informal sector has been the backbone of e-waste recycling in India. More than 85- 90% of the waste is estimated to flow in the informal sector, marked by crude process and at times inefficient resource recovery. Though this unorganized sector has managed to keep tonnes of toxic waste out of landfill and also provide livelihood to millions of people, the environmental and health risk emanating from their activities cannot be ignored.

E-waste Rules in 2011 was meant to mitigate some of the risks associated with the informal sector operations and ensure that the waste flows in the clean channel. Failure of the rules to change that resulted in the revised Rules

in 2016 and it is important to assess if there has been any impact on the operations in the unorganized sector.

In the third year of E-waste Management Rules, 2016, this report presents the scenario of informal e-waste sector with a larger objective of contributing to the Sustainable Development Goal 12 (Responsible

Consumption and Production), Goal 3 (Good health and Well-being), Goal 6 (Clean water and Sanitation), Goal 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), Goal 14 (Life Below Water), and Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and a better evaluation of the systems and implementation of the e-waste rules in the country.

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Since Delhi is the largest and one of the most important e-waste recycling hubs in India, our study has focused on the informal sector operation in and around Delhi.

Study specific objectives are as follows:

■ To re-map the areas of informal WEEE units in Delhi and document their current practices

■ To document the flow of WEEE to the informal sector;

■ To examine changes in the informal WEEE market in the city post the 2016 e-waste Rules.

2.2 Methodology

2.2.1 Literature Review

Secondary research of literature, international and national reports and policies were conducted to document the current situation of e-waste management around the globe as well as in the country and the impacts of e-waste toxicity.

2.2.2 Selection of study area

An initial screening was conducted by an expert team in the city to list out all major areas of e-waste informal operations. Taking advantage of the organizational expertise on

e-waste, old existing operations areas were revisited and new areas were explored in the city.

2.2.3 Preparation of assessment tools

A questionnaire was developed as a guideline of the interaction-based survey (The survey form is provided in Annex 1). It was designed to assess the waste flow, shift in the material inflow and outflow, cost benefits, health and environmental safeguarding practices followed, knowledge about the E-Waste rules 2016 etc. in the informal sector.

2.2.4 Field visits

Identified informal operating areas were visited by the expert team for a general observation of the situation as well as semi- structured interviews were carried out with e-waste collectors, scrap dealers, dismantlers, traders, refurbishers, and recyclers in these units. Interviews were held with 63 operating units in the interviewee’s typical working environment

2.2.5 Data analysis

Interviewed data were first fed into Microsoft Office Excel format and then analyzed further for specific findings. Further aspects and information of the qualitative interviews

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and observations were documented separately. It was important to generate a comprehensive picture of the informal WEEE sector by combining both the qualitative and quantitative information.

2.2.6 Location mapping

The study area locations (latitudes and longitudes) were documented live using an android GPS app and mapped using Q GIS and Google Earth, to depict the places of informal e-waste operations so that it gives an overall understanding of the areas and shifting of waste.

2.2.7 Limitations of the study

The study being carried out for the informal/

illegal e-waste sector, challenges were many. At every stage of the field study, from locating the operation sites to getting access

to the units or holding formal interviews or photo-documenting the observations – it was difficult as they operate without any registration and are very much aware of their vulnerability from the regulatory system.

It took continuous pursuance for them to open up about their business. Area profiles were majorly documented from people’s perception and observation. Interviews along with the survey forms were documented post the visits to avoid unnecessary attention and complications.

This study tries to give an overview of changes in the informal e-waste sector since the introduction of the E-Waste rules 2016.

Further it does not try to give an overview of concrete processes which are conducted in the informal sector. This study also did not conduct any testing for air, water or soil contamination.

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Photo 1: Dismantling of Printed Circuit Board in Mustafabad, Delhi.

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03

THE INFORMAL

E-WASTE HUB OF DELHI

Delhi - Asia's biggest scrap market - has several hot-spots

The National Capital Region (NCR) is a coordinated planning region centred upon the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT) in India. It encompasses the entire NCT of Delhi and several districts surrounding it from the states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The NCR and the associated National Capital Region Planning Board were created in 1985 to plan the development of the region and to evolve harmonized policies for the control of land-uses and development of infrastructure in the region. Prominent cities of NCR include Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Faridabad and Ghaziabad. The NCR is a

rural-urban region and contains ecologically sensitive areas like the Aravali ridge, forests, wildlife and bird sanctuaries.

The region, marred by a number of deadly environmental miseries including its hazardous air pollution status or water crisis, also holds the crown of one of Asia’s biggest scrap market. All sorts of junk, including metal, plastic, paper, electronics etc are processed in the formal-informal setups across the national capital region. The city and its adjoining areas are also known as one of the most important e-waste processing

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destinations, primarily informal. For long the electronic waste from all over the country, as well as from some western countries, have been finding their way to the processing yards in the region. These hotspots are majorly located towards the north-eastern and eastern part of Delhi including the bordering Ghaziabad in the National Capital Region surrounding the river Yamuna.

■ A total of 15 areas were surveyed during the study, namely, Behta Hazipur, Brijpuri, Daryaganj, Loni, Mandoli, Mata Sundari Road, Maya Puri Junk Market, Mustafabad, New Seelampur, Old Seelampur, Saeed Nagar, Seema Puri, Shastri Park, Turkman Gate and Zafrabad. Out of these, Seelampur (New

& Old) in Shahdara, Mustafabad in North East Delhi, Behta Hazipur and Loni in Ghaziabad came across as the biggest hotspots accounting for about 57%, 15%, 9% & 10% of all the e-waste informal processing & handling units in Delhi respectively.

■ According to the estimation made from the perceptions of locales (in the

business), these 15 areas have about 3400 units employing more than 12300 workers. However, our own perception and field experience indicates that Delhi NCR region may have more than 5000 e-waste processing units, directly and indirectly engaging 50000+ people.

■ E-waste collection, international, national and regional trading, dismantling, segregation of components, repairing, refurbishing, metal recovery & recycling are the operations carried out in these hotspots. The operations, across the units, manual, rudimentary and unrefined, directly exposing the workers and the environment to hazardous contaminations.

■ Many of these units have been operating for about three decades now, especially in Seelampur, Daryaganj, Turkman Gate and Zafrabad areas. Mandoli is also one of the oldest areas of e-waste processing in Delhi. Rests of the areas too have been functioning for over a decade now

Import-Ban

As part of the E-Waste rules 2016, the import of e-waste is restricted. Only producers which have EPR authorization of the CPCB are allowed to import old equipment/

components only for specific purpose (depending on permissions by regulatory agencies) to India.

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Figure 3: E-waste Informal hotspots in Delhi by units & workers

Overview of these identified and visited e-waste hotspots are provided in Table 4 and Table 5.

Table 4: Area profile of the e-waste informal hubs in Delhi Area of

operation Location Land use Resident profile No. of units

(appx.) No. of workers (Appx.) Behta

Hazipur

Delhi NCR (north-east), Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

Residential Daily wage laborers, LIG & MIG families

250-300 2000-2500

(10% female workers)

Brijpuri New Mustafabad, North East Delhi

Residential &

commercial mixed

Daily wage laborers, LIG & MIG families

6-7 15-20 (100%

female workers) Daryaganj Central

Delhi Commercial MIG families into

business & service 40-50 200-250 (20% female employee mainly in front office)

8.9 0.2 1.5 10.4 0.4 0.4 0.7 14.9 46.4 10.4 0.6 0.2 1.5 3.0 0.4

20.3 0.2 2.0 9.8 0.3 0.4 0.9 16.3 32.5 12.2 0.5 0.2 1.6 2.4 0.4

0.0 5.0 10.0 15.0 20.0 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0 45.0 50.0

Behta Hazipur Brijpuri Daryaganj Loni Mandoli Mata Sundari Road Maypuri Mustafabad New Seelampur Old Seelampur Saeed Nagar Seemapuri Shastri Park Turkman Gate Zafrabad

% Units

% workers

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Figure 4: E-waste Informal Processing Hotspots of Delhi: An inside look

Inf ormal Hub s in Delhi

The hotspots Turkman gate Shastri Park Seema Puri Saeed Nagar

Old seelampur New Seelampur Zafrabad Mustafabad Mayapuri Matasundari Road Mandoli Dariyaganj Brijpuri Behta Hazipur Loni

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Area of

(appx.) No. of workers (Appx.)

Loni Delhi NCR,

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

Unauthorized residential settlements on agricultural lands where commercial activities are also undertaken

Daily wage laborers, LIG migrant families

300-350 1000-1200

(30-40% female workers)

Mandoli North East

Delhi Residential colonies &

unauthorized settlements on agricultural land

Daily wage laborers, LIG & MIG families including migrants

12-15 operating now out of 80 units (closed due to SDM inspection &

demolition)

35-40 (25%

female workers)

Mata Sundari Road (Takiya Kale Khan)

Central

Delhi Majorly slums with some commercial units

LIG & BPL families working as daily wage laborers in automobile or waste business

10-12 (dismantling units are closed now as was carried out in Govt. land &

is demolished now)

40-50 (no female workers)

Maya Puri, Junk Market

West Delhi Residential, industrial &

commercial mixed

MIG, LIG & BPL families (Slum dwellers) into the waste business as owners or workers

20-25 85-110 (5%

female workers)

Mustafabad North East

Delhi Residential area where commercial activities are also carried out

MIG & LIG families into service, business & daily wage labor

400-500 1500-2000

(2-3% female workers)

New Seelampur

Shahdara Residential

(predominantly) Slum dwellers, BPL,

LIG & MIG families Big units (warehouses):

50-60 Small units within households:

1500

3000-4000 with 10-13% female workers

Old Seelampur

Shahdara Residential &

commercial mixed

Daily wage laborers, LIG & MIG families

300-350 1200-1500;

majorly male workers

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Area of

(appx.) No. of workers (Appx.) Saeed

Nagar

Delhi NCR, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

Residential LIG & MIG families in business, service, daily wage laborers, etc.

15-20 50-60 (no

female workers) Seemapuri

(opp. Bus depot)

East Delhi Roadside slum settlements with shops

LIG families 8 25-30 (no

female workers) Shastri Park North East

Delhi Residential Daily wage laborers, LIG & MIG families

40-50 (small

scale) 150-200

(no female workers) Turkman

Gate

Central

Delhi Residential &

commercial mixed

LIG & MIG families into service &

business

80-100 250-300

(no female workers) Zafrabad North East

Delhi Residential LIG & MIG families into service, business &

hospitality

10-12 (2 dismantlers

& rest refurbishers)

40-50 (2- 4% female workers)

Table 5: The informal e-waste operations in Delhi at a glance Area of

operation Source of

WEEE Type of WEEE^# Type of Oper-

ation Recovered mate-

rial/component Destination of recovered/recycled material

Behta

Hazipur Scrap dealers, Kabadiwalas

& kabadi shops, mobile chargers from Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai &

other cities of India.

Cables and wires, mobile charger

Stripping of wires. Dis- mantling of chargers.

Metals (Copper, Aluminum, Iron), circuit boards and Plastic

PVC to Shahdara &

Metals to Mandoli in Delhi for further recycling & recovery.

Charger boards, if working, sold to manufacturing units in different cities and if not working, sent to Seelampur and Moradabad.

Brijpuri Bulk and individual consumers, scrap dealers, Kabadiwalas &

kabadi shops

Computers and televisions (TV), electric motors, mobile chargers

Dismantling,

Trading CRTs, plastic, circuit boards, UPS battery, dismantled parts of the items

Dismantlers and ka- badi shops of Musta- fabad & Moradabad (Moradabad is now closed)

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Area of

operation Source of

Daryaganj Import of WEEE from US, EU countries, South Korea, China, etc. *

Printers, photo-

copier Refurbishing/

Repairing Repaired/ refurbished printers

& photocopiers

Small shopkeepers

& companies in Delhi, Bihar, Kolkata as well the rest of India

Loni Scrap dealers

and traders Computers and

TVs, CFL boards Dismantling, Refurbishing/

repair, Recy- cling/ Open burning

CRTs, Metals (lead, copper, aluminum), circuit boards (post some recovery), plastic

Scrap market, scrap dealers (EEE) of Irshad Nagar, Ashok Nagar, Sonia Vihar &

Mustafabad in Delhi NCR

CRTs sold to TV manufacturing units of UP. Plastics & boards are sent to other scrap market Mandoli Scrap dealers

of Seelampur, Mustafabad and Shahdara

Printed Circuit

Boards (PCB) Recycling/

Metal recovery

Copper & Plastic Recovered metals sent to Mandoli industrial area units Mata

Sundari Road (Ta- kiya Kale Khan)

Kabadiwalas, kabadi shops, producers, Formal dealers (show- room)

ACs, refrigerator, washing machines, TVs, computers and microwaves

Trading, Refurbishing/

repair, Dis- mantling

Repaired/

refurbished functional items.

Dismantled and segregate circuit boards, electrical motors

& other parts of the equipment.

Repaired/refurbished items sold to consumers directly and traders. Disman- tled parts are sent to Seelampur or Turkman Gate

Junk Mar- ket, Maya Puri

Producers, formal dealers and scrap dealers

TVs, computers, electric motors, ACs, refrigerators, washing machine, mi- crowave, cables and wires

Compressor, metals (copper, aluminum, iron), electric motor (functional), plastic

Refurbished/repaired items sold to consumers and mer- chants. Dismantled parts sold to scrap dealers (EEE)

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Area of

operation Source of

Musta-

fabad Producers, bulk and individual consumers, Kabadiwalas &

kabadi shops, formal dealers and scrap dealers from all over India

TVs, computers (CRT, LED &

LCD), mobile phones, compressor of AC

& refrigerator, electric motors, mini PCBs, MCBs network- ing panels, transformer, inverters , keyboard, mouse

Trading, Refurbish- ing/repair, Dismantling, separation through blow torch

Refurbished CRT, circuit boards, mobile screens, hard disk, metals (lead, copper, brass, aluminum, iron, etc.), plastic

Buyers (Scrap dealers-EEE) come from the other informal hubs of Delhi NCR (Mustafabad, Shastri Park, Mandoli) and Uttar Pradesh (Meerut & Morad- abad), CRTs sent to manufacturing industries (Produc- ers) of Delhi & UP, Plastics to Mundka, New

Seelam- pur

Producers, scrap dealers, kabadi shops

Cables and wires, polyvinyl chloride (PVC)- plugs

Dismantling, Separation through application of heat

Copper, Alumi- num, Iron, Steel, Brass & Plastics

Metals are sent to Shahdara, Mandoli industrial areas. PVC plastic in Shahdara Old

Seelam- pur

Kabadi shops, Scrap dealers, Kabadiwalas

All types of WEEE (Electric motors, TVs, computer, monitors (CRT, LED, LCD), mobile phones, compressors of AC & refrigerator, inverters, transformers, keyboard, mouse

Trading, Dismantling, Refurbishing/

repair (CRT), separation through blow torch

Refurbished CRT, circuit boards, phone screen, compressors, metals, hard disk & plastics

Delhi NCR (Musta- fabad,

Shastri Park, Man- doli, Loni, Behta Hazipur), Meerut &

Moradabad, Chinese buyers (for mother boards)

Saeed

Nagar Bulk and individual consumers, kabadiwala, refurbishers, scrap dealers and formal dealers (showrooms)

TVs (CRT, LED

& LCD) , mobile phones, electric motors, ACs, CFLs, Cables and Wires, inverters, etc.

Repaired/refurbished TVs, ACs, CRTs, dismantled metals, plastics, circuit boards, copper

Refurbished/repaired items sold to consumers &

dismantled monitor parts & PCBs to Mus- tafabad, metals to local kabadi shops or to the metal dealers of Mandoli

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Area of

operation Source of

Seema-

puri Individual consumers, Formal dealers (showrooms) scrap dealers and Kabadiwalas

ACs, refrigerators, washing machines, TVs

Refurbishing/

Refurbished/

repaired ACs, refrigerators, washing machines, TVs, Dismantled parts of these items

Repaired items re- sold to consumers &

dismantled parts to the scrap dealers

Shastri

Park Scrap dealers of Seelampur, Mustafabad, Mayapuri, Mata Sundari Road and other areas in Delhi

TVs, printers, keyboard, mouse and computers, hard disk, phone chargers

Trading, Dismantling, separation through blow torch

Circuit boards, metals and plastics

Informal recyclers or scrap dealers (EEE) from the locality or from Old Seelampur

& Mustafabad

Turkman

Gate Bulk and individual consumers, scrap dealers, formal dealers (showrooms) kabadiwalas

ACs and refrigerators, washing machines, electric motors

Refurbishing/

Refurbished/

repaired functional items, non-functional or dismantled parts of these items

Refurbished/repaired items sold to consumers, dismantled parts sent to kabadi shops & scrap dealers (EEE) of the area or Seelampur and Mustafabad in Delhi

Zafrabad Producers,

formal dealers TVs and computers (screen:

CRT, LED &

LCD), ACs, refrigerators, audio systems,

Refurbishing/

Refurbished/

repaired functional items, non-functional or dismantled parts of these items

Refurbished/repaired items sold to consumers, dismantled parts sent to Mustafabad

& Mandoli in Delhi

# All units may not be working on all kinds of equipment listed

* Note: Import is restricted and since the enforcement is strong, the number of old usable equipment coming in from outside India has reduced. Hence the refurbishers are mainly working on the items coming from different Indian cities. A case is filed to obtain permission for processing of already purchased and stored foreign items.

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Different Players

■ Kabadiwalas: Door-to-door informal waste collectors who buys/collect waste materials (all types like plastic, glass, paper etc). He also buys/ collects end of use EEE from dealers, consumers or bulk consumers.

■ Kabadi shop: Informal waste collectors who collect all types of waste, including end of use EEE from various sources and segregates the waste according to their type in his small local shops. Segregated waste is sent to specific (usually material specific) waste dealers.

■ Scrap Dealer: Unauthorised person/agency dealing/trading in end-of-use electrical and electronic equipment. They get e-waste from various sources and act as point of entry for e-waste into the informal processing.

■ Formal Dealer: Any individual or firm that sells EEE and at times offers to takeback old EEE.

■ Bulk consumer: Bulk users of electrical and electronic equipment (as defined in the Rules)

■ Dismantlers: People engaged into disassembling electric and electronic equipments or their parts to take out their functional component or product or resource elements which are sold further. There are both authorised and unauthorised dismantlers of WEEE. This report looks at unauthorised WEEE dismantlers who might be also doing cannibalisation.

■ Refurbisher: Those who refurbish or repair EEE products and then sell out the functional ones for reuse. Refurbishing shops are mainly in the informal sector.

■ Recyclers: Formal or informal groups who depending on the nature of the waste, dismantle, recover or smelt valuable resources from waste. The nature of recyclers work depends on which part they deal with for example plastic, metal. This report deals with the informal e-waste recyclers.

■ Industry: Any industrial unit using recycled or recovered resources from e-waste to make new products.

■ Producers: Any person who, irrespective of the selling technique used (dealer, retailer, e-retailer, etc.) manufactures, assembles or imports and offers to sell electrical and electronic equipment and their components or consumables or parts or spares under its own brand;

■ Consumer: Any person who uses electrical and electronic equipment, except the bulk consumer

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04

E-WASTE

MANAGEMENT IN THE INFORMAL

SECTOR

Understanding the material and financial flows

EPR in E-waste Rules, 2016 in India, mandates the producers to ensure proper collection and disposal of WEEE generated in India.

Post E-Waste (Management) Rules 2016, it was expected that e-waste flowing towards informal markets would reduce and the clean channel or the formal eco system will take over. The formal e-waste management system was also envisaged as inclusive which

would utilize skills and resources of informal sector. However, two years since the rules have come, the study finds that the informal sector still is the key player and receives WEEE from informal sources, as well as from formal sources-industries, bulk and individual consumers. The waste flow is charted down as follows:

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Figure 5: Informal E-waste Flowchart

Producers

Waste from Outside Country Bulk Consumers Consumers

Formal dealers

Kabadi shops Kabadiwallas Scrap dealers

(EEE)

Refurbisher/

Repair

Dismantler

Recycler (metal &

plasc recycling/

recovery)

Consumers

Industries Scrap dealers

(EEE)

Formal WEEE processing

units Formal dealers

Source Trading Processing Destination

Informal E-waste Flowchart (Figure 6): The flowchart describes how electronic and electrical waste in India moves from the formal sector to the informal trading and processing units and the recovered materials and repaired/dismantled functional parts are sold to the formal market again. This vicious cycle thus continues to sustain, holding the hands of formal stakeholders in the country.

4.1 Inflow of WEEE to the Informal Sector: The Source

Inflow of WEEE was assessed by analyzing the responses of the informal sector interviews.

Owners, operators and workers of the units were approached and it was found that the WEEE reaches informal sector from various sources and the units often have more than one source for the raw materials. Scrap dealers of e-waste came across as the largest source point (38%) to channelize the waste to the informal markets. But what is more alarming is the sourcing of e-waste directly from the formal sector which in this case is 28% including producers (manufacturing industries), formal dealers and showrooms. In some of the observed cases, the deal between

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formal and informal was billed appropriately, with GST applied. The waste comes from all over India to these informal hotspots including imported waste.

4.2 Inflow of WEEE to the Informal Sector: The Shift in Volume

Majority of the units across their type and size have reported a decrease in the volume of WEEE inflow for the last two years. In 51%

of the cases, the waste inflow volume has decreased by more than 50 percent. This decreased inflow of raw material has resulted into closing down of units also in many places.

The dearth of e-waste inflow in the informal market began towards the end of 2016.

Coincidentally, this was the time when India had both its E-waste (Management) Rules,

2016 coming into force (October, 2016) as well as a demonetization implemented with withdrawal of higher currencies (November, 2016). The sector, being unauthorized,

Demonitisation & GST implementation Import ban on WEEE through E-waste Rules, 2016

Shift in the market, introduction of new technologies, reduced demand

Implementation of E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016

Reasons for reduced e-waste inflow in the informal market according to the informal processing units

Figure 7: Change in the e-waste inflow by volume to informal sector since 2016

8%Decrease up to 30%

24%Decreased by 30-50%

16%Decreased by >75%

17%No Decreased

35%Decreased by 50-75%

Figure 6: Inflow of WEEE to the informal sector:

The Source

38%Scrap Dealer

12%Former Dealer

12%Individual Consumer

14%Producer

4%Other

15%Kabadiwalas

5%Bulk Consumer

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survives on raw cash; hence, there was a sudden money crunch and hence material cutoff in the market. Subsequently, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) System was implemented in the country from July 2017, with stricter and unified taxation system and that too impacted this sector.

Almost every unit, contacted during the study, identified GST and demonetization as the prime reason for the decrease in waste inflow.

According to them, the formal companies (dealers as well as Producers) are not able to sell their WEEE to the informal processing market because of GST requirements. Also, the units, which are primarily dependent on imported WEEE (Daryaganj: imported printers and photocopiers) have seen a steady decrease in volumes because of strict enforcement of WEEE import restrictions.

Some of the CRT processing units are bearing the brunt of technology change, as CRT monitor have been largely replaced by the LED & LCD monitors. For them there is reduced inflow as well as no demand for new CRT monitors. LED and LCD monitors have not come to the informal market yet in large numbers and also, according to these

processing units, their resource recovery potential is very less. Hence, the CRT processing units have lessened in number, have cut down the employees and also many are at the juncture of shifting to some other stream.

Large dismantling units with adequate financial resources expressed interest in obtaining authorization, in order to operate formally and in some cases have applied but their authorization applications are pending for the last two years.

A product category wise analysis of the WEEE inflow shows a decrease in the quantity across the categories ranging from 20% to even 100%

(Table 6) for last couple of years. Decrease in business volume was across the dismantling and recycling units in the informal setup. The recyclers under the purview of this primary study were the circuit board recycling units, which have reported the sharpest decrease by 80 to 95%. Most units using acid bath processes have closed down. Whereas the rest, which are mostly dismantlers or refurbishers have varying degrees of change in the business volume as can be seen in Table 6.

Unfolding Impact of two years of E-Waste (Management) Rules 2016