Electronic Waste (Commonly termed as “E-waste”) is waste obtained from electronic products which have reached the end of their useful life.
Common types of electronic products include:
• Televisions and Desktops
• Computers
• Computer Peripherals
• Audio/Stereo Equipment
• Cellular Phones
• Wireless Devices
• Video Game Consoles
E Waste Composition includes:
Iron & Steel - 50%
Plastics - 21%
Non-ferrous metal - 13%
Mercury, Arsenic, Lead etc. constitute remaining 16%.
E-Waste Management Startups:
India has witnessed E-Waste Management based Start-ups during the recent past. Some of the renowned startups are Namo E-Waste, Attero, etc. The need to enter into this cash-rich business went unnoticed by many startups.
Need to Setup an E-Waste Management Startup:
1. Electronic waste, e-waste, is a generally disassembled package of electronic components.
2. Electronic waste usually contains substances like lead, cadmium; mercury, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which has major potential to cause an immense effect on human health and environment, if not properly disposed of as the exact prescriptions for its disposal and safeguard were inadequate. Thus, several plants established for this particular purpose where a large amount of electronic waste is recycled using the best technologies. Apart from that, most of the electronic devices manufacturing companies look to use the age-old electronic waste to produce recycled products as they could lessen production cost and safeguard the environment.
3. The electronic waste processing systems have witnessed major improvement in recent years with significant improvement of awareness among the general public apart from budding entrepreneurs passion to enter this market segment. This trend has led to diversifying electronic waste from energy-intensive down cycling processes, where equipment is reverted to a raw material form. This diversification is achieved through refurbishing and reuse.
4. The social and environmental merits of reuse include diminished demand for new products and 100% virgin raw materials, major chunks of pure water and electricity associated with manufacturing, reduce in packaging cost per unit, availability of technology to various sections of public due to increasing in affordability for products; and diminished use of landfills. Audiovisual components, televisions, VCRs, stereo equipment, mobile phones, other handheld devices, and computer components contain valuable elements and substances suitable for recycling, including lead, copper, and gold. This recycling process refers to converting all the fractions of e-waste into reusable components.
5. Secondary raw materials are also extracted from these waste components.
General Process in E-Waste Management Startup:
• Manual dismantling electronic items are done in a sequential manner.
• Once dismantling is done, manual sorting of different e-waste is completed in separate categories like metals, batteries, printed wiring boards, plastics, woods, cathode ray tubes, condensers, LCDs and cables, etc.
• These disassembled components are then processed through refining and conditioning steps.
• After refining and inspecting the quality of components, they are graded into various categories which mainly depend on the expected future life of components.
• After grading the components, they are stored at Warehousing facilities.
• From the warehouse, they will be directly sent to concerned manufacturer/client for recycling of new electronic components.
In India, there is an estimate that the total obsolete computers originating from government offices, business houses, industries, and household is of the order of 2 million. As per the research conducted, India produced approximately 3.3 Million Tons of E-Waste (as per records by ASSOCHAM) by the end of the year 2018.
The scope for e-waste recycling project is on the positive side. Hence, new entrepreneurs who venture into this field will be often successful. During the recent past, the Indian Electronic Industry has witnessed rapid growth, which in turn leads to the massive growth of E-Waste also. Therefore, it’s time for young entrepreneurs to focus on setting startups based on E-Waste Management.
– Satya Jagadesh
Common types of electronic products include:
• Televisions and Desktops
• Computers
• Computer Peripherals
• Audio/Stereo Equipment
• Cellular Phones
• Wireless Devices
• Video Game Consoles
E Waste Composition includes:
Iron & Steel - 50%
Plastics - 21%
Non-ferrous metal - 13%
Mercury, Arsenic, Lead etc. constitute remaining 16%.
E-Waste Management Startups:
India has witnessed E-Waste Management based Start-ups during the recent past. Some of the renowned startups are Namo E-Waste, Attero, etc. The need to enter into this cash-rich business went unnoticed by many startups.
Need to Setup an E-Waste Management Startup:
1. Electronic waste, e-waste, is a generally disassembled package of electronic components.
2. Electronic waste usually contains substances like lead, cadmium; mercury, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which has major potential to cause an immense effect on human health and environment, if not properly disposed of as the exact prescriptions for its disposal and safeguard were inadequate. Thus, several plants established for this particular purpose where a large amount of electronic waste is recycled using the best technologies. Apart from that, most of the electronic devices manufacturing companies look to use the age-old electronic waste to produce recycled products as they could lessen production cost and safeguard the environment.
3. The electronic waste processing systems have witnessed major improvement in recent years with significant improvement of awareness among the general public apart from budding entrepreneurs passion to enter this market segment. This trend has led to diversifying electronic waste from energy-intensive down cycling processes, where equipment is reverted to a raw material form. This diversification is achieved through refurbishing and reuse.
4. The social and environmental merits of reuse include diminished demand for new products and 100% virgin raw materials, major chunks of pure water and electricity associated with manufacturing, reduce in packaging cost per unit, availability of technology to various sections of public due to increasing in affordability for products; and diminished use of landfills. Audiovisual components, televisions, VCRs, stereo equipment, mobile phones, other handheld devices, and computer components contain valuable elements and substances suitable for recycling, including lead, copper, and gold. This recycling process refers to converting all the fractions of e-waste into reusable components.
5. Secondary raw materials are also extracted from these waste components.
General Process in E-Waste Management Startup:
• Manual dismantling electronic items are done in a sequential manner.
• Once dismantling is done, manual sorting of different e-waste is completed in separate categories like metals, batteries, printed wiring boards, plastics, woods, cathode ray tubes, condensers, LCDs and cables, etc.
• These disassembled components are then processed through refining and conditioning steps.
• After refining and inspecting the quality of components, they are graded into various categories which mainly depend on the expected future life of components.
• After grading the components, they are stored at Warehousing facilities.
• From the warehouse, they will be directly sent to concerned manufacturer/client for recycling of new electronic components.
In India, there is an estimate that the total obsolete computers originating from government offices, business houses, industries, and household is of the order of 2 million. As per the research conducted, India produced approximately 3.3 Million Tons of E-Waste (as per records by ASSOCHAM) by the end of the year 2018.
The scope for e-waste recycling project is on the positive side. Hence, new entrepreneurs who venture into this field will be often successful. During the recent past, the Indian Electronic Industry has witnessed rapid growth, which in turn leads to the massive growth of E-Waste also. Therefore, it’s time for young entrepreneurs to focus on setting startups based on E-Waste Management.
– Satya Jagadesh