Electronic Waste Management

India is amidst a silent crisis. Homegrown, toxic, and completely avoidable one. India generates a lot of electronic waste, courtesy our technological boom. Take a look at your house - we have old mobile phones, TVs, accessories lying in drawers and rarely recycled responsibly. And a lesser known fact? These discarded electronics also contain rare earth elements (REEs) whose mining is largely dominated by China and the US. And with the recent ban of REE export by China, India finds itself in a fix with limited mining capabilities. But not everything is gloomy. Attero, India's largest recycling company, has built proprietary clean-tech to recycle materials (including REEs) and develop circular supply chains. They have recycled 1M+ metrics tons of waste - already offsetting 1M+ tons of CO₂ equivalent emissions. They deliver 98%+ metal recovery efficiency, recovering 22+ critical and rare earth metals from complex waste streams. So why does all of this matter? Because such world-class facilities help India reach its Net Zero goal faster. If we recycle materials like lithium, aluminum, and REEs - we reduce our carbon footprint significantly and emerge as a viable alternative to China's dominance in REE mining. While we all talk about air, water, and noise pollution. India's e-waste pollution has been looming since a decade and thankfully, companies like Attero are innovating for a cleaner, better future! #india #recycling

Did you know electronic manufacturers are legally required to recycle a part of what they sell later? I have been researching on this topic for sometime now and found that if a company sold, say, 100 tonnes of ACs or phones 6–7 years ago, they’re asked to collect 60 tonnes (60%) of that back and recycle it responsibly (𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘌-𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 (𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵) 𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴, 2022) This target will further increase to 70% and 80% in subsequent years. Sounds fair, right? But imagine the headache for the manufacturers: ❓ How do they track lakhs of old electronic items sitting in homes and offices? ❓ How do they convince people to give them up? ❓ How do they build a pan-India logistics + recycling infra for this? For most brands, this is a compliance nightmare. I was recently deep-diving into Attero for their rare-earth recycling work, and that’s when I came across Selsmart's model, which is their own D2C platform. And it is exactly solving this gap. Selsmart helps brands: 🟢 Run exchange programs where consumers trade old electronic items for value. 🟢 Handle the entire pickup-to-recycling process via their tech platform. 🟢 Turn what was once just a legal burden into an actual sales funnel, because when customers get good value for old products, they’re far more likely to buy a new one. For consumers, it’s a win too. Instead of dumping an old fridge or phone with a random scrap dealer, you can hand it over into a responsible channel and get cash, vouchers, or discounts back. Honestly, it’s a smart way of making compliance fuel business growth, while fixing one of the biggest waste problems we have. Not everything “green” has to come at a cost. Sometimes it just takes rethinking the system.

The Union Budget’s announcement to develop dedicated rare earth and #criticalmineral corridors across #TamilNadu, #Kerala, #Odisha, and #AndhraPradesh comes at a decisive moment for India and the global economy. This initiative is not merely about mining - it is about strategic autonomy, clean industrial growth, and long-term economic resilience. Today, China controls over 60% of global rare earth mining and nearly 85% of processing capacity, creating significant supply-chain vulnerabilities for clean energy, electric mobility, electronics, defence systems, and advanced manufacturing. In contrast, countries such as the United States, Australia, and the European Union are aggressively building domestic capabilities, strategic reserves, and recycling ecosystems to reduce dependence on concentrated supply sources. Rare earth elements are essential inputs for EV motors, wind turbines, solar technologies, semiconductors, batteries, defence electronics, and medical equipment. As India targets large-scale EV adoption, renewable energy expansion, and domestic semiconductor manufacturing, secure access to critical minerals becomes non-negotiable. The proposed corridors—spanning mining, processing, R&D, and manufacturing create an integrated ecosystem rather than fragmented interventions. Equally important is the opportunity to supplement primary mining with secondary sources. Estimates indicate that India’s e-waste alone could yield nearly 1,300 tonnes of rare earth elements, while mine tailings and industrial waste offer additional recovery potential. Last year’s ₹1,500 crore allocation for extracting critical minerals from waste streams was an important start, but scale, coordination, and regulatory clarity are now essential to unlock meaningful impact. The regulatory framework must evolve accordingly. E-waste Management Rules should clearly classify critical minerals as high-value strategic resources, not residual waste. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) frameworks must go beyond compliance and actively incentivise recovery, recycling, and reuse. At the same time, India’s large informal recycling sector—currently operating without safety nets must be formalised through technology transfer, skilling, access to finance, and transition incentives, ensuring both environmental protection and dignified livelihoods. From an economic and urban governance perspective, the implications are significant. Rare earth corridors can catalyse clean manufacturing clusters, generate high-skill employment, and reduce import dependence. Cities and industrial regions will benefit from value-added manufacturing, innovation ecosystems, and circular-economy models that align growth. If executed with coordination and clarity, this initiative can deliver multiple dividends: lower emissions, reduced waste, enhanced competitiveness, skilled job creation, and greater self-reliance.

₹2,000 Crore Opportunity: How India’s E-Waste Crisis Is Becoming a Circular Economy Business India doesn’t have a tech waste problem. It has a waste monetisation problem. 1. Old model: Dump electronics, informal scrap handling, zero accountability. 2. New model: Formal recycling, data-secure disposal, material recovery at scale. This is being led by Eco Recycling Ltd., from compliance → profit engine ✅ NUMBERS 1. India e-waste generated: 3.8 million tonnes/year 2. Informal handling: 90% 3. Market size: ₹16,500+ Cr (2026) 4,. 2031 projection: ₹23,000+ Cr 5. Growth rate: 7%+ CAGR Massive supply. Low formal capture ✅ Real Trigger: Data Centre Explosion India is building a ₹10+ lakh crore digital infrastructure. But every server, Every laptop & battery eventually becomes waste. More digital growth = more toxic output. This is the hidden cost of Digital India. ✅ The Business Model: Data > Scrap Traditional recyclers sell metal. Ecoreco sells trust. Certified data destruction, secure asset disposal & corporate compliance because for companies: Data risk > scrap value. That’s where margins come from. ✅ Operating Engine 1. Recycling capacity: 25,200 MTPA 2. Lithium-ion capacity: 6,000 MTPA 3. Global reach: 120+ countries 4. Listed on: Bombay Stock Exchange. 5. The biggest problem in recycling is collection. Ecoreco solved it with mobile shredding units, on-site collection, corporate pickups & waste doesn’t come to them. They go to the waste. ✅ Policy Advantage: EPR Economics Under India’s e-waste rules, Companies must recycle 60% of output. Non-compliance = penalties. Enter Ecoreco. Acts as an EPR partner, generates compliance certificates & monetises regulation. This is revenue visibility. ✅ Hidden Goldmine: Urban Mining Inside every device: Gold, silver, cobalt & rare earth metals. India imports these at scale. Ecoreco extracts them locally. This reduces dependency & creates margin. ✅ Future Bet: EV + Battery Recycling With EV adoption rising, battery waste will explode. Ecoreco is already positioned with Lithium-ion recycling capacity & early-mover advantage. ✅ Let me share the #Rajspectives 1. The Informal sector still dominates due to cash payments, no compliance costs & faster transactions. 2. Waste is the next raw material economy. 3. Compliance-driven industries create predictable revenue. 4. Data security is a premium layer in recycling. 5. Logistics is the real bottleneck. Circular economy is not sustainability; it’s profitability. The biggest shift of 2026: India is not just producing more tech. It’s producing more recoverable value. And the companies that win won’t just build products. They’ll build systems to recover what’s already been used. Hosted by RECOMMERCE, I will be key speaker at their coming event, decoding Circular Economy, and will be launching an analysis on Circular Economy Outlook in India and globally, along with the Ministry of Karnataka. See you there! #india #economy #business #sustainability #strategy

62 billion kg of e-waste in 2022. Only 22% was recycled. That’s 48 BILLION KGs.. ...either dumped, burned, or forgotten in storerooms. The real issue? Most firms don’t track what they own. Discarded switches, laptops, and servers become invisible liabilities. E-waste isn’t just an environmental issue. It’s a failure in governance, process, and accountability. The solution isn’t new technology. It’s: Better records Smarter workflows Certified partners... ...who show up with trucks and certificates You can automate IT asset disposition inside ServiceNow or OTRS Group. ▸Set end-of-life triggers. ▸Attach recycling certificates. ▸Report WEEE compliance directly. Enviroserve UAE and Sims Limited India are certified ITAD partners. Dell Technologies, Lenovo, and Huawei run take-back schemes with secure data wipes. Do this ↬ Catalogue every IT asset. ↬ Assign an owner and disposal date. ↬ Automate disposition in your ITSM tool. ↬ Partner only with certified e-waste recyclers. ↬ Refurbish and reissue internally where possible. ↬ Use OEM programs to close the loop securely. E-waste is not someone else’s problem. It’s your hardware lifecycle. And ESG recovers real asset value. Track it. Reuse it. Prove it. Save this if you manage infrastructure.

Your phone dies. You discard it for a newer model. The planet doesn’t. Now imagine this: LG and Samsung are suing the Indian government. Why? Well, because they’re being asked to pay ₹22–₹34 per kilo to ensure dumped electronics are safely recycled. Yes, billion-dollar companies are fighting over the cost of a cup of chai per gadget while our old devices quietly leak toxins into landfills or into a child's lungs. Their argument? ~ "It’s unfair." ~ "It’s too expensive." ~ "The policy won’t fix the informal e-waste mess." But here’s where it gets real for us as consumers: ~ You upgrade your gadget. ~ It ends up in an unregulated scrapyard. ~ Toxic waste enters the air, water, and soil. ~ Someone, often a child, dismantles it without safety gear. India’s finally trying to clean this up. Not perfectly. Not painlessly. But formally. And here's what the government says: ~ Formal recycling needs money to work. ~ We need rules to attract real investment. ~ Someone's got to foot the bill, and it shouldn't be the environment. So, while tech giants and policymakers argue in court instead of building better systems, we’re stuck debating the price of doing the bare minimum. E-waste isn’t just a climate issue. It’s a health issue. A job issue. And it raises a bigger question: who owns the mess? The makers, the regulators, or the users? 💭 Ever actually tried recycling your old gadgets? How did it go? 🔗 The Economic Times coverage: https://lnkd.in/gU3qzdBk #Technology #Sustainability #India #PublicPolicy

𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 A ₹1,500-crore scheme by the Ministry of Mines to boost domestic recycling of 𝟮𝟳 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝘀 (incl. Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel) and reduce import dependence. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: • 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀: o 20% Capex subsidy for new/expanded recycling units. o Opex subsidy linked to incremental sales for 6 years (FY 2025-26 to 2030-31). • 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽𝘀: o Group A: GMR ≥ ₹200 cr → Incentive cap ₹50 cr o Group B: GMR < ₹200 cr → Incentive cap ₹25 cr • 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: o Only actual mineral extraction processes eligible (L3/R3/R4). o Must meet ≥80% yield + ≥99% purity. o Collection/shredding only (L1/L2) is not eligible. • 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: o Implemented through a Project Management Agency (PMA) under an Executive Committee and Governing Council. • 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀: o Recovery from spent LIBs, e-waste, catalytic converters, permanent magnets, etc. o Ensures high-purity, high-efficiency recovery to strengthen strategic mineral supply chains. 𝙄𝙣 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛: The scheme prioritizes the extraction of critical minerals from spent Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), e-waste, and other secondary sources such as catalytic converters and permanent magnets. To qualify for incentives, recyclers must achieve a minimum product purity of 99% and a yield efficiency of at least 80% in the recovered materials. [Scheme Notified: 8 Sept 2025]

Nature has been running a closed loop for 4 billion years. It’s time for India’s industrial strategy to follow the blueprint. As we mark #WorldEnvironmentDay under the theme "Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For Our Future," the most strategic opportunity for India’s clean energy transition isn't hidden underground. It is sitting right inside our waste bins. Consider this: India imports nearly 100% of its lithium, cobalt, and nickel. Every EV we build and every solar panel we install, relies heavily on global supply chains increasingly tightened by geopolitical shifts. But we are sitting on an above-ground goldmine: •  The Scale: India generates 1.5 to 1.8 million tonnes of e-waste annually •  The Value: A single printed circuit board contains up to 25% copper. Your discarded smartphone holds trace amounts of gold, platinum, and rare-earth magnets that are structurally worth more than conventional ores •  The Opportunity: Urban mining is rapidly scaling into a potential $5 to $6 billion domestic industry The groundwork is being laid. From the ₹16,300 crore National Critical Minerals Mission to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) rules, policy is quietly building the infrastructure runway. Grassroots innovators like Exigo Recycling are already proving that battery-grade materials can be successfully extracted from what was headed to landfills. The Next Leap: Circular Diplomacy This isn’t just about domestic recycling. By scaling a world-class urban mining ecosystem, India has the unique opportunity to export expertise, standards, and technology across the Global South. Co-investing in collection and processing infrastructure helps secure our own supply chains while strengthening South-South partnerships. We do not need to wait for new subterranean deposits to be discovered. The mine is already here, in our offices, our homes, and our scrapyards. What we do with it over the next decade will define the kind of industrial power India becomes. "The biggest hurdle to formal urban mining isn't technology, it's convenience. The formal sector must out-convenient the informal backyard dismantlers to unlock true volume. I’d love to hear how fellow manufacturing and automotive leaders are looking at joint ventures for end-of-life recycling infrastructure this year. #WorldEnvironmentDay #CircularEconomy #UrbanMining #CriticalMinerals #Sustainability #MakeInIndia #CleanEnergyTransition #Ewaste