Legislating e-waste management: progress from various countries

Abstract

Electrical and electronic equipment pervades modern lifestyles and its usage is growing rapidly around the world. Quick obsolescence and newer functionalities are resulting in huge quantities of these products become waste. This fast growing waste stream has been subject to regulations based on the concept of extended producer responsibility in several countries, mainly in Europe. This paper looks at the progress of legislating this particular waste stream with special emphasis on the three countries, namely China, India and South Africa, within the framework of the Swiss global e-waste programme, after looking briefly at the status of transposing the WEEE Directive (waste electrical and electronic equipment) in Europe.