Bangladesh Bangladesh publishes E-waste Management Rule

Including collection targets and RoHS provisions for 10 substances

Bangladesh publishes E-waste Management Rule

On June 10, 2021, Bangladesh’s Department of Environment (DOE) published the Hazardous Waste (e-waste) Management Rules, 2021 under the Bangladesh Environmental Protection Act, 1995. The E-waste rule covers the products listed in the Schedule (home appliances, monitoring and control equipment, medical equipment, automatic machines, IT and communication equipment), and establishes obligations for manufacturers, assemblers, collectors, sellers, and consumers of the products. The rule also sets provisions to limit the use of the 10 substances covered by the EU RoHS Directive. This regulation entered in force upon publication.

 

The main provisions of this regulation are as follows.

  • Manufacturers, traders, sellers, transporters, repairers, collection centers, recyclers, dismantlers, etc. of the subject products are required to register with a prescribed form to the DOE. When applying for registration, they shall also submit WEEE management plan.
  • Registered manufacturers, recyclers, etc. shall obtain environmental clearance in accordance with the Bangladesh Environmental Protection Rules, 1997.
  • Manufacturers have to establish individual or joint collection centers and set aside funds for the management of WEEE.
  • For fluorescent lamps and mercury incandescent lamps, if they cannot be recycled, they need to be handed over to collection centers for storage and disposal.
  • Manufacturers, importers, etc. shall meet the collection targets for WEEE as specified in the Schedule (10% in the first year of the implementation, 20% in the second year, 30% in the third year, 40% in the 4th year, and 50% in the fifth year and thereafter).
  • In order to facilitate the proper management of WEEE, the name, address and contact information of the trader or seller as well as the information on the registered collection center shall be displayed on the product or on the product label, or this information shall be provided to consumers or large consumers.
  • Traders, sellers and collectors of WEEE shall receive them from consumers at designated points and transport them to collection centers.

 

In case of violation of the provisions of these rules, the offender shall be liable to imprisonment for a maximum period of two years or to a fine of up to two hundred thousand taka, or to both, in accordance with Section 15(1) of the Bangladesh Environmental Protection Act, 1995. In case of repeat offenders, they shall be punished with imprisonment for a term ranging from two to ten years or a fine ranging from Taka 200,000 to Taka 1,000,000 or both.

Author / Responsibility

YAMANOUCHI Kengo

Senior Research Associate, Research & Consulting Dept. EnviX Ltd.

Business Performance

In charge of South Asia (India, Bangladesh, etc.), South Korea, Latin America (Mexico, Colombia, etc.) and Turkey for managing infomation on the environmental regulations

Background

MA, Environment, Development and Policy, University of Sussex

YAMANOUCHI Kengo