Page 440 - Kaleidoscope Academic Conference Proceedings 2024

2024 ITU Kaleidoscope Academic Conference

for record-keeping. Final processing guidelines are impact of their products and possibly save costs while
limited but are addressed in CENELEC TS 50625-5 improving performance.
for end-processing of copper and precious metals.
CENELEC EN 50614 outlines standards for reuse This standard emphasizes looking at electronic
preparation, though practical documentation for products' entire lifecycle, starting from the extraction
promoting repairs and longer equipment life spans is of raw materials to their manufacturing, use, and
scarce. disposal. It encourages practices like eco-design,
extended producer responsibility, and closed-loop
India's updated e-waste management standards, recycling to promote sustainability and efficient
encapsulated in the E-Waste (Management) Rules, resource use.
2022, which took effect on April 1, 2023, replace the
previous 2016 regulations. These new rules enhance Overall, IEC 63395 is a valuable tool for promoting
the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regime, eco-friendly practices in the electronics industry. It
requiring manufacturers, producers, refurbishers, and helps reduce electronic waste, conserve resources, and
recyclers to register with the Central Pollution Control protect the environment. Similarly, proposed
Board (CPCB). They emphasize environmentally international e-waste management standards aim to
sound recycling practices, integration of the informal address environmental and social challenges posed by
sector, and provisions for environmental electronic waste by providing clear guidelines for
compensation, verification, and audits. Additionally, collection, recycling, and disposal. To ensure their
the rules mandate safe storage, transportation, and success, international cooperation, flexible standards,
handling of e-waste, alongside strict guidelines for and consideration of social and economic factors are
transboundary movements and data security during crucial [58] .
disposal, aiming to mitigate environmental and health
impacts associated with improper e-waste disposal [52] . 5. CHALLENGES TO ADOPTABILITY OF
SUSTAINABILITY STANDARDS
The Indian Standard IS 17862:2022 provides
guidelines for the storage, collection, dismantling, and 5.1 Interoperability:
recycling of e-waste. This standard, developed by the
Chemical Department and overseen by the Solid The increasing complexity of society and the growth of its
Waste Management technical committee (CHD 33) [53] , industrial base require the interoperability of society's
products, processes, and procedures. This interoperation
outlines practices to manage e-waste in an provides a basis for greater integration of elements in the
environmentally sound manner. It references IS/ISO society, which in turn causes increased social
14001:2015 [ 54 ] for environmental management interdependency and complexity” [59] . Especially, a major
systems and IS/ISO 45001:2018 for occupational objective of developing a standard in telecommunications is
health and safety. These guidelines aim to ensure safe to provide interoperability. The interoperability [60] operates
and effective e-waste management processes to as a forcing function to develop standards compliant
minimize environmental and health impacts. The products (SCPs) such as smart phones, laptops, desktops,
standard aims to ensure safe handling and processing server systems etc. Telecommunication services hosted on
of e-waste to minimize environmental and health these SCPs interwork despite these SCPs developed by
risks. [55] multiple vendors and the services provided over multiple
carriers. The dependency of interoperability is becoming a
core reason to develop standards (such as 5G, 6G, Wi-Fi 6,
Since 2021, the International Electrotechnical Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth etc.) and build SCPs. However, such
Commission (IEC) [ 56] has been developing a global interoperability does not appear to be a core reason for
standard called IEC 63395 [57] for managing electrical developing sustainability standards. In the absence of
and electronic waste sustainably. This standard, due to interoperability acting as a forcing function to build SCPs,
be released in 2024, aims to protect the environment in sustainability standards, the processes that needs to be
by establishing guidelines for handling electronic standardized to achieve sustainability should be based on
waste responsibly. IEC 63395, also known as strong incentives.
"Environmental aspects related to electronic
products," is an international standard focused on 5.2 Uniformity:
designing electronic products with the environment in The e-waste policies of the national governments are not
mind. It encourages manufacturers to consider factors uniform and are non-standard and there is a need to
like energy efficiency, recyclability, and responsible standardize these processes and allow some level of
disposal from the very beginning. By following these customization to be built on the standard processes. At the
guidelines, companies can reduce the environmental international level, there have been some attempts to create

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