National Green Tribunal seeks report from Central Pollution Control Board on generation, treatment of e-waste

New Delhi: With the complaints that many states were not complying with the E-Waste (Management) Rules, the National Green Tribunal has directed the Central Pollution Control Board to file a fresh status report in generation and treatment of electronic waste by all the states.

The Principal bench of the National Green Tribunal headed by its Chairperson Justice Prakash Shrivastava said the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had filed a report dated August 30, mentioning the action taken by states and Union Territories regarding the green panel's directions.

The Tribunal was hearing a plea claiming non-compliance with its previous directions for the rules' "scientific enforcement".

The Bench also asked the board to mention the action that would be taken against the states and Union territories not complying with the E-Waste (Management) Rules.

The bench, also comprising Judicial Member Justice Sudhir Agarwal and Expert Member A Senthil Vel, said the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, were enforced on April 1, 2023, and assigned responsibility to the CPCB for taking action against violations.

"We find that though in the report, the CPCB has mentioned the non-compliance or partial non-compliance by some of the states or Union territories but the report does not reflect any action which is taken by the CPCB for that non-compliance and the report also does not reflect the extent of the target which has been achieved for the year 2023-2024," the tribunal said.

It directed the CPCB "to provide details relating to the generation of e-waste, its treatment, the treatment facility and the gap" by states and Union territories and file a fresh report within six weeks. The matter has been posted to December 12 for further proceedings.

The CPCB also had to conduct random checks to ensure compliance with the rules, conduct training and awareness programmes and enforce provisions to reduce the use of hazardous substances in the manufacturing of electrical and electronic equipment, the order said.