The Challenges of E-Waste Management in India: Can India draw lessons from the EU and the USA?

Abstract

This article examines e-waste management in India, identifying lessons and implications from e-waste management in the European Union and the United States which may influence or predict both strengths and obstacles to effectiveness in Indian e-waste regulation. India's new draft E-waste (Management and Handling) Rules are much more comprehensive than any US e-waste regulations and contain several similarities to the EU's current WEEE Directive. The inclusion of the EPR principle and the role of stakeholders in formulating the draft rules are both positive developments that are essential to address the e-waste problem successfully. Once in effect, however, the draft rules are likely to face many of the same obstacles to implementation and enforcement present in the EU and the US. Ultimately, until an international definition of e-waste is in place and the economic causes of illegal e-waste export and handling are addressed in all three entities, enforcing regulatory compliance and eliminating the health and environmental hazards related to e-waste dismantling in India will remain difficult.