CHEMICAL AND HAZARDOUS WASTE IN INDIA: A SECTORAL ANALYSIS Edited by : Sairam Bhat Joint Publication of: Center for Environmental Law, Education, Research and Advocacy National Law School of India University, Bengaluru Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Government of India i Chemical and Hazardous Waste in India: A Sectoral Analysis Copyright © CEERA, NLSIU, 2021 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic and mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage application, device or otherwise, without permission in writing from CEERA, NLSIU. Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author(s) in this book are their personal views and do not refl ect the views of the National Law School of India University or Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. NLSIU and MoEF&CC are not responsible for mistakes if any, and for copyright violations of any kind. ISBN: 978-81-948677-1-5 Online hosting at: www.nlspub.ac.in Price: INR 500/- (Rupees Five Hundred Only) Printed at: National Printing Press, Bengaluru - 560 095 ii iii Chemical and Hazardous Waste in India: A Sectoral Analysis iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The Centre for Environmental Law, Education, Research and Advocacy, (CEERA) expresses its gratitude to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India for granting the Three-Year project on “Collaborative Engagement for Research, Training and Development in Handling of Chemical and Hazardous Waste”. We express our sincere thanks to Smt. Geeta Menon, Joint Secretary, MoEF&CC; Dr. Dharmendra Kumar Gupta, Director and Scientist- F, Hazardous Substances Management Division, MoEF&CC, and to Mr. Dinesh Runiwal, Additional Director and Scientist-E, Hazardous Substances Management Division, MoEF&CC for their guidance in this project. CEERA would like to show appreciation to the regional partners - West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata; School of Law, Bennett University, Greater Noida; Faculty of Law, Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal; Symbiosis Law School, Symbiosis International, (Deemed University), Pune and School of Law, CUSAT University, Kochi for their engagement in the project. We specially acknowledge the contribution of Prof. (Dr.) Shashikala Gurupur, Dean, and Dr. Smita Pandey, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis Law School; Prof. (Dr.) Yogendra Kumar Srivastava, Professor and Dean, and Ms. Ongmula Bhutia, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Jagran Lackecity University; Prof. (Dr.) N. K. Chakrabarti, Vice Chancellor and Prof. (Dr.) Sandeepa Bhat B., Professor of Law, West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences; Prof. (Dr.) Nuzhat Parveen Khan, Dean, and Mr. Praveen Tripathi, Assistant Professor, School of Law, Bennett University and Dr. Vani Kesari, Director, School of Legal Studies, CUSAT for their research inputs to the Handbook. v Chemical and Hazardous Waste in India: A Sectoral Analysis CEERA team also expresses its gratitude to Prof (Dr.) MK Ramesh for guiding and mentoring us. We would like to thank our team members, Ms. Madhubanti Sadhya, Mr. Rohith Kamath, Ms. Raagya P. Zadu, Mr. Raghav Parthasarathy, Mr. Vikas Gahlot, Ms. Geethanjali KV and Ms. Lianne D’Souza for their contributions towards this publication. Prof. (Dr.) Sairam Bhat Professor of Law & Coordinator, CEERA, NLSIU vi PREFACE The chemical sector in India is an industry in its own right for the sheer expanse of its operations, the bulk of raw materials it produces for itself and other allied sectors and the diverse industries it supports. The wide and disparate range of products directly and indirectly manufactured by the chemical industry can be grouped into a number of categories, such as inorganic chemicals, synthetic organic chemicals like drugs and pharmaceuticals, dyes and intermediates, pigments, pesticides, petrochemicals, paper, etc. In addition to the core industrial sectors, the chemical industry also contributes to several sectors that cater to the household consumer products including pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, paints, disinfectants among variety of other products. India also produces a large number of chemicals which have very specifi c usage as food additives, pigments, polymer additives, anti-oxidants in the rubber industry etc. The chemical sector has been extended a supportive arm by the Government through the policy and fi scal measures. Special focus on research and development, policy initiatives, increased investment incentives, reduction of basic customs duty on several imported products, along with other benefi cial measures. Under the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the Government has opened up the petrochemical sector to explore opportunities to improve domestic production, establishment of petroleum, chemicals and petrochemical investment regions. With the main objective of developing end-to-end manufacturing ecosystem through the growth of clusters for specialized products using chemicals. Owing to the wide spectrum of products manufactured and supported by the Indian Chemical Industry, the rapid expansion of the sector and the increasing development of new products, a number of environmental and health risks have surfaced and the Indian Government has been mindful of the development. Legislation covering different stages of the life-cycle of chemicals, including production, manufacture, sale, distribution, export, import, labeling, disposal and waste management have been comprehensively drafted. Additionally, specifi c legal instruments have been framed to deal with particular categories of chemicals, such as pesticides, petroleum, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals etc. Many of these laws, regulations, standards, have been framed to align with the obligations of the country under the multilateral vii Chemical and Hazardous Waste in India: A Sectoral Analysis environmental agreements to which India is a party including the Rotterdam Convention on Prior Informed Consent Procedure, that have identifi ed specifi c focus areas for interventions and implementation. Over and above the legal instruments that regulate hazardous chemicals and waste, the Judiciary has intervened time and again through a number of judicial pronouncements in an attempt to streamline the handling of hazardous chemicals and waste management efforts. Through these judgements, adequate attention has been drawn by the higher judiciary to the role that should be played by the different regulatory bodies including the Central and the State Pollution Control Boards in hazardous and chemical waste management and handling. Commissions and Committees have been set up by the Supreme Court and the National Green Tribunal to assess, report and suggest holistic measures to improve hazardous waste management in the country and any literature that details the regulatory mechanism governing hazardous chemicals and waste must necessarily make reference to the contributions of these Committees. This Book, the second in the series of publications under the Three-Year Project granted to Centre for Environmental Law, Education, Research and Advocacy (CEERA) by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Collaborative Engagement for Research, Training and Development in Handling of Chemical and Hazardous Waste is in continuation of its efforts initiated through the fi rst publication. This Book endeavors to provide for a more in-depth study into the laws governing some specifi c chemical sectors and delves deeper into some specifi c subjects that were briefl y discussed and touched upon in the fi rst edition. Spread across four parts, this book has covered, under Part A, subjects that include different approaches that can be adopted by the regulatory authorities and stakeholders in handling hazardous and chemical waste; international chemical trade; labeling requirements for chemicals; application of the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility in chemical and hazardous waste management; chemical safety and disaster management in the chemical sector and Committees established by the Judiciary to control and abate the generation of hazardous waste. Part B of the book deals with Focus Areas under the Rotterdam Convention and delineates the country’s obligations under the Convention. This part enlists the Indian regulatory framework governing hazardous pesticide formulations and legislative efforts taken by the Government to fulfi ll the mandate of the Convention. viii Preface Under this project, CEERA, through an unprecedented and pioneering move, has collaborated with fi ve law universities to study the management and disposal of hazardous chemicals and waste in the Eastern, Western, Northern, Southern and Central regions of the country. The research undertaken by the regional partners in the project, which primarily highlights the awareness and compliance of waste management laws, implementation challenges, along with the recommendations, has been covered under Part C of this book. The fi nal part of the book, Part D attempts to apprise the readers with a holistic overview of six major chemical sectors in the country, the laws and regulatory framework governing them, ban orders passed by the Government and the specifi c international Conventions and Treaties that apply to them. The First Chapter, ‘Integrated Approach to Chemical and Hazardous Waste Handling’ gives an overview of the different approaches for effi cient waste management by broadly classifying the approaches under two heads - directive and non-directive