A video is being shared where the person in the video claims that the government came up with a new scrapping policy for mobile phones and other electronics. The video also claims that the policy specified a time period for using each electronic gadget after which these should be scrapped. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Government of India introduced a new scrap policy for mobile phones and other electronic goods.
Fact: Under the provision of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) of E-waste management rules, manufacturers, importers, and brand owners are required to collect and recycle old and discarded devices. The government has not specified a period for any gadgets to be discarded under EPR. Hence, the claim made in the post is Misleading.
With a relevant keyword search regarding the claim, we found that no such announcement was made by the Indian government lately. Subsequent research on the provisions related to electronic waste in India led to E-waste Management Rules. E-waste Management Rules, 2022 replaced by E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016 by The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC). It is an environmental regulation aimed at addressing the problem of electronic waste (here).
Extended producer responsibility is one of the central provisions of the rules where producers, manufacturers, and importers of electric equipment are supposed to manage the end-of-life disposal of their products. However, the government has not specified a period for any electronic gadgets mentioned, to be discarded under EPR.
To sum up, the Government of India did not notify any time-specific gadget scrapping policy.
