• Regulations:

  • EPR Responsibilities:
    • Collection of E-Waste, Processing it, and disposable/recycle
    • Awareness around the proper ways to discard products

• Recycled materials can be used for Laptops, smartphones, electric car batteries and are MORE efficient than virgin ore ( 2 to 10 times)

• Rare Earth Metals can be recovered, geo-political tensions should move us on this path sooner than later.

• Globally It’s a $62.5 Billion annually, three times the output of world’s silver mines - Forecast by Weforum

• A 2018 documentary Welcome to Sodom explores the almost dystopian, shocking world of the Agbogbloshie dump in Ghana, where life revolves around toxic waste, versus a hope of a healthier life. The site says, “Every year about 2,50,000 tons of sorted out computers, smartphones, air conditions tanks and other devices from a far away electrified and digitalised world end up here, shipped to Ghana illegally.”

• E-waste is known to be a potential source of several precious and strategic metals, some of which such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, find overlap with the metals that are part of EEE waste. Many of these metals are imported.

• Stats:

  • According to a 2019 United Nations report, titled ‘A New Circular Vision For Electronics, Time for a Global Reboot’ consumers discard 44 million tonnes worth of electronics each year; only 20% is recycled sustainably.
  • Third largest producer of Ewaste - India - 3.2 Million Tonnes of E-waste, 5 Millions tonnes by 2021
  • Yet e-waste is worth at least $62.5 billion10 annually, which is more than the gross domestic product (GDP) of most countries. In fact, if e-waste was a single nation, it’s GDP would be on a par with that of Kenya. Furthermore, 123 countries have less GDP than the global pile of electronic waste.11 In the right hands, however, it could be worth considerably more.
  • 90-95% of the market is unregulated

• Implications:

  Soil Issues, Metals Lost, Hazardous, Can make land barren around it

• Current Status Quo with E-waste

• Seelampur Story

• Global Companies:

  • EnviroMetal - $5.3 Million - EnviroLeach  offers the only domestic, cost-effective and sustainable solution for the recovery of the valuable metals contained in these products.
  • Reconome - https://recono.me/rehome-your-it/
  • Adatte - 2 Cr
  • EcoReco

  Opportunities:

  • Develop Technology
  • Small Setups near waste collection

Links

https://science.thewire.in/environment/explainer-the-why-and-how-of-disposing-electronic-waste/

https://science.thewire.in/environment/e-waste-india-must-take-a-closer-look-at-extended-producer-responsibility/

https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_A_New_Circular_Vision_for_Electronics.pdf

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/waste/recycling-of-e-waste-in-india-and-its-potential-64034#:~:text=Laws to manage e-waste,the purview of the rule.