What India needs is a reorientation—from post-consumption management to pre-consumption strategy.India’s technology growth story has a less visible but rapidly growing byproduct—electronic waste. In 2023-2024 alone, the country generated over 1.7 million tonnes of e-waste, a figure that is projected to double by the end of this decade. While this is often treated as an environmental challenge, it is, at its core, a strategic challenge.Despite existing regulations and recycling guidelines, only a third of this waste is processed through formal channels. The rest is either discarded unsafely or enters informal markets where dismantling is carried out with rudimentary and hazardous methods. The result is a set of interconnected problems: environmental degradation, health risks for informal workers, and a substantial loss of recoverable materials.If we continue to treat e-waste merely as a disposal issue, we risk missing the structural reform it actually demands. What India needs is a reorientation—from post-consumption management to pre-consumption strategy.A large portion of the e-waste crisis can be traced back to product design. Devices today are built for sleekness and speed, but not for longevity. Batteries are non-removable, parts are soldered in place, repair is often more expensive and less practical than replacement, and modular upgrades are virtually non- existent within modern product strategy and designs.This is not accidental. It is an outcome of business models that favour rapid sales cycles and immediate economic value over sustainable growth.Without regulatory or commercial incentives to design for circularity, most companies optimise only until the point of sale. What happens after a device becomes obsolete is treated as a separate, often outsourced, concern. This lack of lifecycle thinking is a strategic gap that has been ignored for too long.A striking example of the effects of a rampantly linear product strategy comes from the plastics sector: a study in 2024 found that half of global plastic pollution (across 84 countries) could be traced to just 56 companies, of which 24 per cent was linked to just five companies.India has made significant strides in logistics and supply chains for new products. However, the reverse supply chain, which includes collection, sorting, and recycling of used electronics, remains fragmented and poorly monitored.Today, a large share of collection and dismantling is handled by informal workers. While they serve a crucial function, their methods are unregulated, inefficient, and hazardous. In many cases, valuable materials like copper, cobalt, and rare earth metals are lost due to crude processing methods.While Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) guidelines exist, they require more stringent reporting and auditing mechanisms to effectively implement. Many brands continue to treat collection targets as a compliance obligation, rather than a chance to redesign their ecosystem.The absence of real-time tracking, third-party verification, and end-to-end accountability creates a trust deficit in the system. Without visibility into the second life of their products, brands are unable or unwilling to take ownership of the reverse flow of materials.What India urgently needs is an organised, digitally-enabled recycling module that integrates collection, sorting, material recovery, and safe disposal into a single accountable system. As an example from a related industry, the recently announced Battery Adhaar serves that role for batteries.Such a system should include mandatory device tagging at the point of disposal, real-time data on collection and processing volumes, certifications for recycling units with periodic audits, and recovery and reuse targets for critical raw materials.
Working models for such a system from other geographies include the Global Battery Alliance, the European Union’s ‘digital product passport’ for electronic products to track their lifecycle and materials. Companies like Apple, Dell, and Ford have invested in their own closed-loop systems.
A centralised, technology-driven platform can bring transparency, efficiency, and traceability to India’s e-waste management landscape. It can also reduce dependency on imported raw materials—a strategic advantage in a volatile global supply chain environment. For instance, by recovering over 90 per cent of Lithium from batteries, recycling could meet up to 40 per cent of India’s Lithium demand by 2035.India’s current policy framework focuses largely on setting collection targets and imposing penalties for non-compliance. However, to move from a reactive to a regenerative model, policy must begin to incentivise product circularity and reward formalisation of recycling and e-waste collection.This means introducing design standards for repairability, integrating lifecycle disclosures into product approvals, and co-investing in common recycling infrastructure. Policies that support material recovery hubs and reward take-back schemes can also accelerate adoption.States and urban bodies, too, have a role to play in building local collection networks, integrating the informal sector safely, and supporting capacity-building for recyclers.India’s e-waste should be seen not just as a burden, but as a reservoir of untapped value. Many of the metals used in smartphones and laptops are scarce, expensive to mine, and geopolitically sensitive.Moreover, with consumer awareness growing and global investors prioritising ESG metrics, brands that demonstrate responsibility in end-of-life product management will likely command greater loyalty and valuation premiums.India is at an inflection point. Its ambition to become a global electronics manufacturing hub must be matched with an equally robust post-consumption strategy. The current compliance-led approach is not completely applicable to a fragmented, informal ecosystem, and cannot sustain the scale of the challenge ahead.It is time to view e-waste through the lens of industrial strategy, as a source for critical materials of the future. The question is no longer whether we can afford to manage e-waste better. It is whether we can afford not to.
The author is Rajat Verma, Founder & CEO, LOUM. All views are personal.
