India E-Waste Management Market Overview, 2028

In India, electronic waste is becoming a major public health and environmental concern. India is the "third largest electronic waste generator in the world," producing around 2 million tonnes of e-waste yearly, with an unspecified quantity imported from other nations. Consumers are critical to improving e-waste management in India. Extended Producer Responsibility; Design for Environment; (3Rs) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle technology platform for connecting the market facilitating the circular economy all aim to encourage consumers to properly dispose of e-waste, with increased reuse and recycling rates, as well as adopt sustainable consumer habits. India creates around 2 million tonnes (MT) of e-waste per year, ranking fifth among e-waste generating countries behind the United States, China, and Japan and Germany. Only 22.7% of the entire 10,14,961.21 tonnes of e-waste created in India in 2019-20 was collected, deconstructed, recycled, or disposed of. This e-waste consists of 21 different categories of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) as defined by the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016.

According to the research report “India E-Waste Management Market Overview, 2028," published by Bonafide Research, the market will add by USD 0.84 Billion in the upcoming period, 2023–2028. According to the source type, the market consists of Household Appliances such as air conditioners, dishwashers, and induction cookers, among others. Mobile devices, wearables, TVs, set-top boxes, monitors, laptops, tablets, computers, printers, scanners, and so on are all examples of consumer electronics. IT & Telecom Equipment, IT Accessories, PCBs, Digital Boards, Datacenters, Medical Equipment and Accessories are all examples of Industrial Electronics. Household sectors dominate the market since electronic gadgets are needed for almost all household tasks such as cleaning and cooking. Based on the material type such as Metal, Plastic, Glass, and others. Metal material is highly generated from e-waste in India. E-waste contains a high concentration of metals such as gold, silver, and copper, which may be recovered and recycled. The effective recovery of precious elements in e-waste has enormous economic potential and can create income-generating opportunities for both people and businesses. The government modified the E-Waste Management Rules, 2016, to facilitate and successfully execute ecologically sound e-waste management in India. With effect from October 1, 2017, the revised Rules change the collection objectives under EPR. Effective and enhanced e-waste management will be assured through updated objectives and monitoring under the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

E-waste recycling is mostly an informal sector activity in India. Thousands of disadvantaged households survive by scavenging stuff from garbage dumps. Common recycling procedures for middle-class urban families, especially for waste paper, plastic, clothes, or metal, are to sell to small-scale, informal sector purchasers known as 'kabadiwalas,' who then sort and sell them as an input material to artisanal or industrial processors. In India, e-waste management follows a similar approach. Thousands of urban families are employed in an informal e-waste recycling industry to collect, classify, repair, refurbish, and disassemble outdated electrical and electronic equipment. However, there is a different situation in advanced countries, and there is no concept in India of consumers voluntarily donating the useless electrical and electronic equipment at formal e-waste recycling centers. Also, there is not a concept of consumers paying for disposal of the e-waste they generate.

The Indian government has implemented a point-based reward system of E-waste Recycling Credits (ERCs) for formal organisations in order to encourage them to send their e-waste to government-approved recycling centres. E-waste, such as laptops, computers, and mobile phones, is already classified and coded under the E-Waste Rules. These categories must be connected at various ERC reward levels. Organizations must earn the necessary ERCs, which can be used to offset energy utility costs, depending on the type of e-waste delivered. An programme of this nature will also provide a significant incentive for informal sector e-waste enterprises to register their operations and create supply chain connections with certified recycling facilities. ERCs can be piloted for 3 to 5 years to measure efficacy and fine-tune for future deployment. More than 70% of e-waste in urban areas is generated by the government and industrial sectors. The ERCs may be tested in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore with a few significant enterprises and government agencies.

The Indian government may also increase formal e-waste recycling capacity by co-funding infrastructure modifications and processing systems at government-approved recycling sites that already exist. It can give governments with co-funding incentives for establishing additional recycling facilities through public-private partnerships with big e-waste corporations. State governments might also create incentive programmes to encourage small-scale, informal e-waste recycling centres to update their facilities to meet both environmental and occupational health and safety laws. States can apply for national urban development funding programmes to connect the well-established informal sector network of decentralised collection and small recycling units to large-scale industrial recycling hubs.



Seelampur near Delhi is India's largest e-waste dismantling centre. Adults and children alike spend 8-10 hours every day removing reusable components and valuable metals such as copper, gold, and different functioning pieces from electronics. Processes such as open incineration and acid leeching are used by e-waste recyclers. This issue might be remedied by raising awareness and strengthening recycling unit infrastructure, as well as enforcing existing rules. An unorganised sector manages the majority of the e-waste collected in India.

Some of the E-Waste management companies in India are Trishyiraya Recycling India Private Ltd, A2Z Group, Global e-Waste Management and Services, Ultrust Solutions ( I ) Pvt Ltd, e-Waste Recyclers India, Eco Recycling Ltd, Cerebra Integrated Technologies Ltd, Attero Recycling, Attero Recycling, Earth Sense Recycle Pvt.Ltd., Ash Recyclers, E-Parisara Pvt. Ltd,Hi-Tech Recycling India Pvt Ltd and many more.

Considered in this report
• Geography: India
• Historic year: 2017
• Base year: 2022
• Estimated year: 2023
• Forecast year: 2028

Aspects covered in this report
• India E-Waste market with its value and forecast along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By Application Type
• Trashed
• Recycled

By Material Type
• Metal
• Plastic
• Glass
• Others

By Source Type
• Household Appliances
• Consumer Electronic
• Industrial Electronic

The approach of the report:
This report consists of a combined approach of primary as well as secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and listing out the companies that are present in the market. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, annual report of companies, analysing the government generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources primary research was conducted by making telephonic interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducted trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. Post this we have started doing primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting consumers in regional aspects, tier aspects, age group, and gender. Once we have primary data with us we have started verifying the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended audience
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to E-Waste Management market, government bodies and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.