THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY OF E-WASTE
USERS
Ideally, individuals/ households should discard old devices at specific collection centres. Bulk consumers, like offices and companies, account for almost 70% of e-waste generated in the country
INDUSTRIES
The recycled materials go to various industries as raw material for manufacturing various goods
RECYCLERS
Steel and plastics from white goods and precious metals from mobile phones are stripped and sorted. From a recycling unit, the metals and glass go to smelters. Printed circuit boards are typically sorted, shredded and exported to specialised extractors. The nonrecyclable hazardous waste is sent to treatment, storage and disposal facilities or TSDFs
KABADIWALA
Often the starting point in the recycling chain, the local kabadiwala collects e-waste directly from homes
RE-USE
Discarded electronics that can be re-used are refurbished and go back into the consumer market
AGGREGATOR
Deals in larger volumes. In turn, he supplies to producer responsibility organisations (PROs) and recyclers
PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY ORGANISATIONS
Large generators of e-waste, like companies, work with aggregators or have collection tie-ups with PROs
COLLECTION CENTRES
The PROs set up collection centres and direct the e-waste to recyclers. Manufacturers have to route a specified quantity of end-of-life products into recycling every year based on their annual sales. It is part of their extended producer responsibility or EPR
DISMANTLERS
Informal recycling is prevalent all along the chain when e-waste changes hands. These recyclers cherry-pick and extract valuable material such as gold and copper using crude processes that are hazardous and pollute the environment. There are approved dismantlers as well, who follow due process
DISPOSAL
Toxic material from e-waste, crude leaching processes, etc. is discarded in landfills or municipal drains, often contaminating soil and groundwater