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Wipro pitches for e-waste
law in India; a welcome step, says Greenpeace
Bangalore, 26 August,
2008: The demand by IT and consumer electronic brands for a
comprehensive law embracing IPR (1) in India to tackle impending e-waste
crisis is getting louder as brands have started openly pitching for
this. Close on the heels of HCL, another iconic Indian brand, Wipro
has announced its support for e-waste law. Acer is the only global
brand that openly speaks about the necessity of such law in
India(2).
“We
welcome and appreciate Wipro’s pro-law move. With this the brand has
joined the league that includes HCL and Acer,” commented Abhishek
Pratap, Greenpeace toxics Campaigner. “Now the brand needs to lobby
within electronic sector and with government to make the law a
reality”
On
chemical management of products, Wipro has moved further with a
stronger ‘Precautionary Principle’ and chemical management policy.
This is reflected in its aggressive timeline of 2010 for complete
phase out of phthalates, beryllium and antimony, along with
phase-out time line set for BFR and PVC as 2009 (3).
These
three brands have ensured effective takeback service for their
respective branded, end-of-life products in India, even before they
became vocal on this law. In fact, HCL took the lead in mobilizing
other brands to move the process.
Legislation embracing Producer Responsibility for e-waste is already
in force in the EU, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and in a few of the states
in the US.
Presently, India adds 1040 tonnes of e-waste everyday which is
estimated to reach 3000 tonnes per day by 2012. The cocktail of
toxics chemicals and metals present in the electronic devices cause
irreversible environmental damage and public health nightmare, when
discarded recklessly. Solution to this impending crisis lies with
the brand owners, who must bear the cost for takeback and safe
recycling of their respective end-of-life products. The principle of
Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) makes brands responsible
for end of the life costs of their products by phasing out toxic
chemicals and metals at the design stage, so that recycling will be
safer and easier.
Greenpeace demands that other electronic brands
should follow the path taken by Wipro and publicly announce support
for e-waste law in India. The legislation is important in making
electronic sector green and clean as it provides level-playing field
for all brands, makes provision of incentive for those brands which
accept responsibility of their end-of-the-life products. The
legislation will also help in establishing a robust system of e-waste
collection and treatment infrastructure so that e-waste can be
collected and recycled in safe manner. This will not only save
environment and public health from irreversible damage but also
provide precious metal recovery in the country itself.
Contact:
Ramapati Kumar, Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner +91
98455 35414
Abhishek Pratap, Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner +91 98456 10749
Saumya Tripathy, Greenpeace Communications +91 93438 62212
Note to Editor:
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Individual Producer Responsibility is a refinement the Extended
Producers Responsibility, which is a policy tool that makes
producers responsible for the entire lifecycle of products -
production, usage and finally disposal. EPR works best when it
makes full use of both the ingredients of the precautionary
principle such as designing-out- toxics and the polluter pay
principle such as internalization of full end-of- life cost. EPR
also means adopting the same operating standards regardless of
location.
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HCL and Acer support for e-waste
legislation in India at
http://www.hclinfosystems.in/hclesafe_ipr.html#top
http://www.global.acer.com/about/sustainability32.htm
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Wirpo’s support for IPR/EPR framework at
http://www.wipro.in/Products/greenpc/html/0002core.htm#8
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