E-waste Recycling

Seelampur's e-waste economy moves to shadows but carries on silently

In the winding, congested alleyways of New Seelampur, a 500-foot stretch tucked deep inside east Delhi, life hums with the quiet rustle of wires, metal scraps, and fraying hopes. Every household here seems tied to the business of e-waste -- a world where old computers, phones, fridges, and their innards are torn down, stripped, sorted, and sold. But the story is no longer what it once was. As India's e-waste policy evolves and the gaze of enforcement agencies intensifies, the epicentre of one of the world's largest informal e-waste markets has quietly dispersed, not collapsed, but fragmented and slipped into the shadows. The business hasn't ended, it has just moved -- to Loni, Muradabad, Meerut and smaller towns where it thrives away from the eyes of the regulators, the media, and digital scrutiny. The volumes have not really reduced. The business is still alive, but just not visible in Delhi anymore, says Vinod, programme officer at Toxics Link, an environmental NGO. Two things

China's EV battery waste boom sparks gold rush in recycling sector

Battery recycling of electric vehicles (EV) is essential for sustainability, cost-efficiency, and resource security

LG, Samsung join legal fight against India's e-waste pricing policy

Research firm Redseer said India's recycling rates were still low compared with the U.S., where they are up to five times higher, and China, where they at least 1.5 times higher

From Daikin to Samsung, companies fight Indian govt over e-waste policy

Daikin, Hitachi and Samsung are among manufacturers raising concerns over new Indian government rules mandating significantly higher payments for recycling appliances like ACs, refrigerators and TVs

Volkswagen, Stellantis, others fined $495 mn over EU recycling cartel

Other penalised members of the cartel included Toyota , Mitsubishi, Honda, Hyundai, Jaguar Land Rover, Mazda, GM, Suzuki and Volvo

LICO Materials opens 'zero-liquid-discharge' battery recycling facility

Lithium-ion battery recycling and refurbishing firm LICO Materials on Friday announced the inauguration of a battery recycling facility in Bengaluru and said it will invest Rs 250 crore in its downstream hydrometallurgy plant in next two-three years. The 4 GWh per annum in-feed capacity plant in Bengaluru will address the challenges of securing a stable supply of critical materials and contribute to India's ambition of achieving 30 per cent electric vehicle (EV) adoption by 2030, LICO said. The company said it aims to scale up capacity at the facility to 10 GWh in the next 3-4 years. With India's EV industry expected to grow by 250 per cent and energy storage sector to reach 42GW by 2032, recycling of used batteries will play a crucial role in recovering critical minerals to support the battery circular economy, according to the company. "The new facility marks a significant milestone in our journey to redefine lithium-ion battery recycling and repurposing in India. As we scale up

Total recycling units in India reach 295; highest in UP, followed by K'taka

These recycling facilities aim not just to manage the vast quantities of electronic waste generated annually but also to foster a circular economy

From Trash to Treasure: Why Recycling is Big Business!

Recycling: The Next Big Money-Maker! Catch the founder and director of Recyclekaro, Rajesh Gupta, on Manager’s Mantra with Shweta Shukla—Why Going Green is the Future of Profits!

Ship recycling industry likely to grow to 3.8-4.2 mn GT in 2025: Report

India's ship recycling industry is expected to grow to 3.8-4.2-million GT (gross tonnage) in 2025, as against an estimated 2.3-2.6-million GT in 2024, according to a report. According to CareEdge, India accounts for 33 per cent of the global gross tonnage dismantled in 2023, second only to Bangladesh, which handled 46 per cent. "India's ship recycling Industry is poised for major growth in CY25 and is expected to witness similar recycling level in CY24 with an estimate of 2.3 to 2.6 million GT, thereafter a jump to over 3.8 to 4.2 million GT in CY25," said Sajani Shah, Assistant Director at CareEdge. The ship recycling industry in India is expected to grow at compound annual growth rate of around 10 per cent in CY26-CY28, she said, adding cooling-off of Baltic Dry Index, stabilisation of heavy melting scrap prices, and increase in obsolete ships in operations, suggest that more ships will enter the recycling market from CY25 onwards. According to Shah, countries having better ...

E-waste conundrum: Draft guidelines point to impractical over-regulation

India is one of the world's largest producers of e-waste in South Asia, generating 1.6 million tonnes of discarded material, almost 67 per cent of this is unprocessed

Attero to invest over Rs 8,000 cr to ramp up e-waste recycling capacity

Electronic waste and battery recycling company Attero plans to invest around Rs 8,300 crore in the next five years to ramp up its capacity, the company's CEO and Co-Founder Nitin Gupta said. At present, the company has the capacity to recycle up to 1,44,000 tonnes of electronic waste (e-waste) and 15,000 tonnes of lithium-ion battery annually. "In the next five years, we will obviously be investing roughly around USD 1 billion overall, including all forms of capital -- debt, equity and sort of other non-diluted forms of capital," Gupta told PTI. He said that the company is growing 100 per cent year-on-year and gradually increasing capacity. "A greenfield facility in Europe will come up in Poland. Work has already started there. In India, we are building another greenfield facility. We are finalizing the space in Andhra Pradesh/Jharkhand. Our e-waste (recycling) capacity will get to roughly around 4,15,000 tonnes per annum. Our battery (recycling) capacity will broadly reach around

EU parl approves rules requiring companies to repair worn-out products

Consumers will gain the right to choose either a repair - or a replacement - for faulty products while the product is still under guarantee

Global e-waste generation rising 5 times faster than recycling, says UN

The world's electronic waste generation is increasing five times faster than documented e-waste recycling, according to the United Nation's fourth Global E-waste Monitor (GEM) report released on Wednesday. According to the report from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the 62 million tonnes of e-waste produced in 2022 would fill around 1.55 million 40-tonne trucks, equivalent to encircling the equator with trucks bumper-to-bumper. However, a mere 22.3 per cent of the year's e-waste mass was properly collected and recycled in 2022, leaving USD 62 billion worth of recoverable natural resources unaccounted for and heightening pollution risks globally. E-waste recycling currently meets just 1 per cent of rare earth element demand, the report said, highlighting a significant gap in resource recovery. It projected a steady increase in annual e-waste generation, rising by 2.6 million tonnes each year and expect

Govt earns Rs 117 crore from scrap disposal during cleanliness campaign

An impressive revenue of over Rs 117 crore has been earned by the Centre from scrap disposal during the ongoing cleanliness campaign, Union Minister Jitendra Singh said on Tuesday. In addition, office space measuring 32.54 lakh square feet have been cleared and made available for use after clearing the junk, he said. Singh, the Minister of State for Personnel, commended the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), being the nodal agency, while reviewing the progress at the end of the first two weeks of special campaign 3.0 here. He appreciated the progress achieved in minimising pendency and institutionalising swachhata in the period of October 2-14, 2023, during the campaign that is being implemented in all government offices across the country. "The government has earned an impressive revenue of more than Rs 117 crore in the first two weeks of the ongoing swachhata special campaign 3.0, just by disposing of scrap," the minister said. He said massive ..

Hindalco to invest Rs 2,000 crore in copper, e-waste recycling facility

Birla also expressed optimism about India's economic prospects, calling the country the 'only bright spot' among global economies

India needs a tech platform for e-waste recycling

A collaborative effort between government, the regulator, producers and recyclers is required to ensure that the electronic waste is recycled

Attero Recycling plans to spend $1 billion to expand as EVs take off

Attero at present recycles 3,500 MT of Li-ion waste in India and is expanding the capacity to 11,000 MT by October 2022

Attero to invest Rs 300 crore to ramp up battery recycling capacity

E-waste recycling firm Attero is planning to invest Rs 300 crore in a bid to increase its existing lithium-ion battery recycling capacity by 11 times to 11,000 tons

MERPL to process over 200,000 tonnes of e-waste annually; to invest $25 mn

MTC Group and Exigo Recycling Pvt Ltd (MERPL) is targeting to process over two lakh tonnes of e-waste annually and said it plans to invest USD 25 million (around Rs 183.7 crore) in a phased manner.

Veena Sahajwalla, the crusader from India who recycles electronic waste

The Mumbai-born Indo-Australian scientist is waging a war against electronic waste with her novel invention of the world's first microfactory