India is likely to be in a municipal waste mine if we consider a report that says the e-waste generated in Europe will lead to the extraction of 1 million tonnes of critical raw minerals (CRMs) if mined annually.
The report in question was released today, which is also International E-Waste Day, by the FutuRAM consortium, a European Union-funded institution.
The report provides comprehensive data on how electronic and electrical equipment (EEE) moves from sale to end of life in the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Iceland and Norway.
A look at the numbers in figures:
In 2022, Europe generated 10.7 million tons of electronic waste, of which 54 percent was managed according to required compliance. Approximately 400,000 tons of CRMs were recovered from this e-waste. These include copper, aluminum, silicon, tungsten and palladium.
The report also states that the total amount of EEE waste in Europe could rise to around 12.5 to 19 million tonnes per year by 2050.
CRMs are expected to grow at a similar pace to 1.2 to 1.9 million tonnes per year.
“Europe's electronic waste is not waste, it is a resource costing billions of euros and waiting to be unlocked.” Interesting technology quoted a senior scientific specialist at UNITAR SCYCLE as saying further: “Every kilo we recover and every device we repair strengthens our economy, reduces our dependency and creates new jobs.”
How can India benefit from this?
While Europe currently produces 10.7 million tonnes of e-waste, India produced 1.751 million tonnes of e-waste in 2023-24, according to data presented by Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Tokhan Sahu in the Rajya Sabha on December 16, 2024.
This means that India alone produced more than 16% of the e-waste of all of Europe.
According to the data provided, e-waste in India has increased by 72.54 percent between 2019-20 and 2023-24.
India is thus sitting on a huge 'mine' of electrical waste, which could supply its industries with significant amounts of crucial raw materials.
How much e-waste does India process?
The government has introduced the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, with effect from April 1, 2023, to streamline the collection and recycling of e-waste. This is done by holding producers/manufacturers of electronic or electrical goods liable under the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
Based on the amount of electronic waste generated or products sold, manufacturers of electronic and electrical equipment are given annual recycling targets.
Government data presented in the August 2024 Rajya Sabha shows that e-waste recycling in the country has increased significantly over the past five years, but much remains to be done.
E-waste recycling in India has increased from 22 percent in 2019-2020 to 43 percent in 2023-2024.
However, the remaining 57 percent of electronic waste that remains unprocessed amounts to approximately 990,000 tons per year.
So, the numbers show that India's e-waste may seem like a burden on the government in the form of an environmental challenge, but if harnessed with the right systems, it can unlock a stable domestic supply of CRMs and create green jobs at the same time.
