EPR Compliance for E-Waste Management

Introduction 

EPR compliance for electronic waste necessitates the proper disposal and recycling of electrical & electronic equipment taking into consideration –

• Information technology and telecommunication equipment 
• Consumer electrical and electronic photovoltaic panels 
• Large and small electrical and electronic equipment 
• Electrical and electronic tools 
• Medical device 
• Laboratory instruments 

EPR  mandates electrical and electronic equipment producers to meet specific recycling targets, utilizing registered recyclers. To comply with this policy, producers must provide detailed information regarding the constituents and components of their equipment, along with a declaration of hazardous substance reduction in user documentation. 

CPCB  conducts random inspections and periodic audits, either directly or through a designated agency, to verify compliance by producers, manufacturers, refurbishers, dismantlers, and recyclers with hazardous substance reduction provisions.

To promote a conscientious approach to waste management, manufacturers must systematically collect electronic waste arising from the production of any electrical or electronic equipment. This collected waste must undergo proper recycling or disposal procedures. The manufacturer is mandated to employ advanced technologies or methodologies that enhance the recyclability of the end product. 

EPR  is a crucial initiative towards ensuring sustainable waste management and reducing the environmental impact of electronic waste. To ascertain adherence to these guidelines, manufacturers must submit comprehensive annual and quarterly returns in the prescribed format through the designated portal. The submission deadline for these returns is set for the end of the month succeeding the respective quarter or year, underscoring the importance of timely compliance.

Responsibilities of stakeholders and Annual return submission 

Responsibilities of the manufacturer 

• Manufacturer means a person or stakeholder or company as defined in the Companies Act 2013 a factory as defined in the Factories Act 1948 or small and medium enterprises as defined in Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises Development Act 2006 which has facilities for the manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment as specified in schedule 1.

• All manufacturers shall have to register on the portal.
• As per the regulatory compliance, all manufacturers must undertake the responsibility of collecting the electronic waste that is produced during the manufacturing and production of any electrical or electronic equipment. 
• The collected waste must be properly recycled or disposed of. The manufacturer shall use the technology or methods to make the end product recyclable. 
• To ensure compliance, manufacturers must file annual and quarterly returns in the prescribed format on the designated portal. The annual returns must be filed in Form 3, to the concerned state pollution control board on or before the 30th of June following the financial year to which the return relates.

Responsibilities of the producer

Producer means any person or stakeholder who 

• Manufactures and offers to sell electrical and electronic equipment and their component, consumables or parts, and spares under its brand.
• Offers to sell under its brand, assembled electrical and electronic equipment and their components or consumables or parts or spares produced by other manufacturers or suppliers.
• Offers to sell imported electrical and electronic equipment and their components or consumables, parts or spares.
• Who imports used electrical and electronic equipment irrespective of the selling technique used such as dealer, retailer e- retailer.

As per the regulations, the producer of electrical and electronic equipment is required to take responsibility for obtaining and implementing the extended producer responsibility targets as per Schedule 3 and Schedule 4. They must ensure the necessary standards for recycling and waste management. Additionally, they must file annual and quarterly returns in the prescribed format on the portal before the end of the month following the quarter or year, as applicable, to which the return pertains. This is to ensure that they are complying with the regulations.

the producer shall fulfil their extended producer responsibility through the purchase of an extended producer responsibility certificate from a registered recycler only and submit it by filing the quarterly return. 

Filing annual return in form 3, to the central pollution control board on or before the 30th of June following the financial year to which the return relates, in case of the producer with multiple offices in a state, one annual return combining information from all the offices shall be filed

Responsibilities of the refurbisher 

In alignment with the directives from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, all refurbishers must assume responsibility for electronic waste generated in the refurbishing process. This necessitates the systematic collection and proper disposal of such waste through delivery to a duly registered recycler.

Additionally, compliance entails ensuring that refurbished equipment aligns with the compulsory registration scheme of the Ministry and meets the standards set by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Timely filing of annual and quarterly returns on the designated portal, before the end of the month succeeding the respective quarter or year, is a requisite obligation.

In recognition of adherence to these regulations, a refurbishing certificate will be generated in favour of registered refurbishers, affirming their commitment to compliance and responsible electronic waste management    

Ensure that the refurbished equipment shall be as per the compulsory registration scheme of the Ministry of Electronic and Information Technology and standards of the Bureau of Indian standards framed for this purpose.

file annual and quarterly returns in the laid down on the portal on or before the end of the month succeeding the quarter or year to which the return relates. 

file an annual return in form 3 to the concerned state pollution control board on or before the 30th day of June following the financial year to which that return pertains. A refurbishing certificate shall be generated in favour of the registered refurbisher.

Responsibility of the recycler 

The recycler is obligated to oversee the proper flow of materials to and from dismantlers, with the latter restricted to supplying dismantled material solely to registered recyclers and maintaining meticulous records thereof. Both parties bear the responsibility of ensuring the disposal of any residue generated during the recycling process at an authorized treatment storage disposal facility. Furthermore, all e-waste must be diligently documented on the designated portal, from collection to dismantling, recycling, and dispatch to registered recyclers. All records must be made available for verification or audit as and when required.

Simultaneously, all recycling entities must adhere to the standards outlined by the Central Pollution Control Board in their facilities and recycling procedures. Compliance extends to the timely submission of annual and quarterly returns by the end of the month following the respective quarter or year to which the return pertains.

Recycler means any person or stakeholder who is engaged in recycling and reprocessing of waste electrical and electronic equipment or assemblies or their components or their parts for recovery of precious, semi-precious metals including rare earth elements and other useful recoverable materials to strengthen the secondary sourced materials and having facilities as addressed by the CPCB.

All recyclers shall have to maintain a record of e-waste collected, dismantled, recycled, and sent to registered recyclers must be recorded on the portal, and all records must be made available for verification or audit as and when required.

“All recycling stakeholder are required to ensure that their facilities and recycling processes align with the standards set forth by the Central Pollution Control Board. It is mandatory to submit annual and quarterly returns by the conclusion of the month following the respective quarter or year to which the return applies. 

File the annual return in form 3 to the concerned state pollution control board on or before the 30th day of June following the financial year to which that return relates.

A legal consequence 

Any registered stakeholder furnishes false information or willfully conceals information for getting registration or return or report or information required to be provided or furnished under these rules or in case of any irregularity, the CPCB may revoke the registration of such stakeholder for a period up to three years after allowing being heard and in addition, environmental charges may also be levied.

Epr credit 

Recycling 

CPCB shall generate an EPR certificate through the portal in favour of a registered recycler in a designated format.

Refurbishing 

E-waste shall also be allowed for refurbishing and the refurbisher shall have to get registered on the portal, and a refurbishing certificate shall be generated in favour of a registered refurbisher.

On production of the refurbishing certificates purchased from the registered refurbisher, the EPR liability of the producer shall be deferred by the duration as addressed by cpcb for the corresponding quantity of e-waste shall be added to the EPR  of the producer upon expiry of the extended life of the refurbished product.

Description of EPR certificate 

EPR certificate shall have a unique number containing the year of generation, code of end product, recycler code and a unique code and the EPR certificate shall be in denominations of 100, 200, 500, 1000 kg or other denominations as accredited by cpcb with the approval of the steering committee.

Validity of EPR certificate 

The validity of the EPR certificate shall be two years from the end of the financial year in which it was generated and the expired certificate automatically extinguished after the period.  

Exemption 

To incentivise refurbishing, only 75 per cent of the deferred quantity shall be added to the EPR of the producer for recycling upon expiry of the extended life of the refurbished product.

Epr credit for producer 

If a producer has an EPR obligation of 100 tonnes in the year 2023 – 2024 and purchases a recycling certificate of 60 tonnes and a refurbishing certificate of 40 tonnes the concerned item has an extended life of 5 years due to refurbishing.

In this case, 60 tonnes of the EPR  of the producer shall be achieved in the year 2023-2024 itself and 75 per cent of the remaining 40 tonnes. 30 tonnes shall be carried over and added to the EPR  responsibility of that producer for the years 2028-2029 for that product.

The EPR  obligation shall be extinguished only after end-of-life disposal through a registered recycler and producing an EPR  certificate and not by refurbishing certificate.A producer may purchase an EPR  certificate limited to its EPR  liability of the current year plus any leftover liability of preceding years plus 5 per cent of the current year liability.

The producer shall fulfil the EPR obligation by proportionately purchasing the EPR responsibility certificate quarterly.As soon as the producer purchases the EPR  certificate it shall be automatically adjusted against its liability and priority in adjustment shall be given to earlier liability and EPR certificate so the adjusted shall be automatically extinguished and cancelled 

As soon as the producer purchases refurbishing certificates its EPR  liability shall be deferred automatically for the relevant quantity of the product, for the duration as addressed by the CPCB.

Epr regime 

All producer shall fulfil their EPR  obligation as per Schedule 3 and Schedule 4 in doing so they may also take the help of third-party organisations such as producer responsibility organisations, collection centres, and dealers. 

The EPR  for each product shall be decided based on the information provided by the producer on the portal and the individual product’s life period as laid down by the cpcb in this regard and the targets specified in Schedule 3 and Schedule 4.

The producer shall fulfil their EPR through the online purchase of an EPR certificate from a registered recycler only and submit it online by filing quarterly returns.

For the fulfilment of the EPR obligation, producers are required to acquire an EPR certificate from registered recyclers While producers may opt to purchase retreading certificates for the extension of EPR obligations, it is essential to note that the fulfilment of obligations is casual upon the obtaining of recycling certificates. This strategic mechanism encourages the prioritisation of e-waste recycling. To streamline and facilitate these processes, a centralised EPR portal has been developed by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). This portal serves as a legible platform for the implementation of various processes:

• Registration of Stakeholders:
  • The portal facilitates the seamless registration of stakeholders involved in the life cycle of e-waste management. This includes manufacturers, producers, recyclers, and refurbishers.
• Generation of EPR Certificates:
  • Stakeholders, particularly recyclers and refurbishers, can utilize the portal to generate EPR certificates, providing a transparent record of their e-waste recycling and refurbishing activities.
• Trading/Issuance of Certificates:
  • The portal serves as a marketplace for the trading and issuance of EPR certificates, enabling producers to fulfil their obligations by acquiring certificates from registered recyclers.
• Filing of EPR Obligations:
  • Stakeholders can use the portal to file their EPR obligations, creating a streamlined and accountable process for regulatory compliance.

This regulatory framework, augmented by the EPR mechanism and the CPCB’s centralized portal, aims to fortify the responsible management of e-waste  while ensuring compliance

Solar photovalotaic module 

Manufacturer and producer 

Every manufacturer and producer of solar photo- voltaic modules shall 

• Ensure registration on the designated portal.
• Store solar photo-voltaic module waste generated up to the year 2034-2035 as per the guidelines laid down by cpcb in this regard. 
• File annual returns in the laid down on the portal on or before the end of the year to which the relates up to the year 2034 -2035.
• Ensure that the processing of waste other than solar photovoltaic modules shall be done as per the applicable rules or guidelines for the time being in force.
• Ensure that the inventory of solar photovoltaic modules is put in place distinctly on the portal.
• Comply with standard operating procedures and guidelines laid down by the cpcb in this regard.

Recycler 

Recycler of solar photo-voltaic modules shall be mandated for recovery of material as laid down by the cpcb in this regard.

EPR target 

EPR target means the quantity of e-waste to be recycled through a registered recycler by the producer in fulfilment of EPR.

The importers of used electrical and electronic equipment shall have a 100 % EPR obligation for the imported material after the end of its life, if not re-exported.

The E-waste recycling target shall be reviewed and may be increased after the end of the year 2028 -2029.

Once the number of years of sales operation equals the average life of their product mentioned in the guideline issued by CPCB, their EPR  obligation shall be as per Schedule 3.

Exemption 

The E-waste recycling target shall not apply to waste generated from solar photovoltaic modules panels or cells.

Conclusion 

To comply with EPR guidelines, electronic waste producers must keep detailed records of the creation and disposal of E-Waste. This requirement not only ensures compliance but also establishes a clear record of the life cycle of electronic products, promoting accountability under EPR mandates. Keeping such records is crucial, as it helps to maintain transparency and provides a clear trail of electronic products’ life cycle.

 The execution of extended producer responsibility is delineated through the acquisition of an Extended Producer Responsibility certificate from a duly registered recycler, with the subsequent submission forming an integral part of the quarterly return filing process

CPCB shall –

• Prepare and issue guidelines and standard operating procedures for collection, storage, transportation, segregation, refurbishment, dismantling recycling and disposal of e-waste under rules from time to time and also issue necessary forms/returns for implementation of these rules. 
• Integrate all stakeholders with the centralized digital system 
• Submit an annual report to the ministry.
• Enforcement of provision regarding reduction in the use of hazardous substances in the manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment.
• Interaction with the IT industry to reduce hazardous substances.
• Set and revise targets for compliance with the reduction in the use of hazardous substances in the manufacture of electrical and electronic equipment from time to time.
• Ensure ROHS  compliance and its certifications through a recognized lab and its mandatory checks.