Make producer responsible for hazards of e-waste:Greenpeace to G

New Delhi, Aug 20 (UNI) Highlighting the environmental and health hazards of electronic waste lying undisposed in massive quantities in India, Greenpeace, the international environment NGO, today urged the Ministry of Information Technology to bring in a legislation to curb its growth.

It said the proposed legislation should make the producers resonsible for the entire lifecycle of a product, and bring the unorganised recyling sector under control.

''This is not just an issue of environment protection. If the IT Ministry truly wants the Indian industry to be globally competitive, they must phase out the use of hazardous substances and bring a legislation for ensuring 'Extended Producer Responsibility'(EPR),'' said G Anandthapadnabhan, Greenpeace India Executive director addressing a press conference here.

''EPR or brand responsibility will motivate manufacturers to address the toxic problems at the product's design stage itself(which is when most environmental impacts are predetermined), rather than at the end of its life,'' he said.

If that was not done, the Indian IT industry would lag far behind the rest of the world and countries like China will continue to outperform it, said Mr Padmanabhan.

He said Greenpeace had found scientific evidence of widespread worker and community exposure to toxic chemicals from e-waste due to their presence in computers and electronic products.

Meanwhile, Greenpeace activists today presenetd the Ministry with a report on 'Extended Producer Responsibility' urging for the new legislation.

''Our indepth study shows that there are no insurmountable obstacles to the implementation of EPR legsilation in India,'' said Dr Thomas Lindhqvist, an associated professor working at the Lund University on product policies and one of the authors of the report.

UNI