India Passes WEEE & RoHS Regulations

The government of India last month passed Rules 2011, regulations that cover the restriction of hazardous materials in electronic and electrical components and equipment. Rules 2011 covers the equivalent of the European Union's WEEE e-waste regulations that guide the disposal of electronic and electrical equipment, as well as the restrictions on hazardous materials in electronic and electrical components, much like the EU's RoHS directive.

Rules 2011 applies to producers and distributors involved in the manufacture, sale, and processing of electronic and electrical equipment or components. The restrictions also affect waste collection centers, product dismantlers, and recyclers.

The waste-related provisions will be enforced beginnng May 1, 2012. The RoHS-related hazardous materials provisions will go into effect May 12, 2013.

Last month, India's Ministry of Environment and Forests released a notification spelling out the new WEEE and RoHS rules.

As expected, there is considerable similarity between India's regulations and the EU regulations. Batteries and radioactive waste are not dealt with under the Rules 2011, as they are already regulated by existing Indian laws. As with the EU RoHS directive, there are 39 substance exemptions.

There are some variances between India RoHS and the EU RoHS, but they are slight. "The hazardous materials and limits are the same as EU RoHS today, but encompasses a more limited scope," says Michael Kirschner, president of Design Chain Associates, a San Francisco firm that consults on environmental compliance, in an interview. "The EU RoHS exemptions in place today are the same for India RoHS except that unlike the EU, exemption expiration dates are not included."