E-waste recycling in India is less than 5 p.c.

Present generation of start-ups are (in majority) looking at business from the Internet (web 3.0), mobiles or products space. But Attero Recycling looked into all of these and still seeded a very unique idea. This was of setting up its own e-waste recycling facility, perhaps the first of its kind.

Speaking to Akanksha Prasad of CIOL, Rohan Gupta, COO, Attero Recycling, shared about the e-waste recycling, the processes, challenges and the future.

Could you tell us something about the company? What inspired you to start up a company on e-waste management, and what are the plans forward?

Attero Recycling was founded by me and my brother in the year 2007. Attero Recycling is an integrated end-to-end electronic waste (e-waste) recycling company. We are registered with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India. We not only handle the complete processing of waste but also provide client friendly solutions like pickup of e-waste from the premises and complete data security.

The idea was to provide an environmentally friendly solution to the problem of e-waste. E-waste is not just a waste, but an important resource that can be made useful instead of shunning it as a social and environmental burden. We have built an automated facility for e-waste recycling at Roorkee, a first-of-its-kind metallurgical process and a close technical collaboration with a leading US company. Former President of India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and Union Minister Sachin Pilot inaugurated it.

We plan to expand the existing capacity to process most of the mixed metal e-waste generated in India and extend out the existing technology to recycle other metals bearing hazardous waste for which there is currently no technology or process available in India.

How difficult it was to start up Attero Recycling? Could you share the financials involved in the set-up of the company? What is your business model like?

It was difficult to start off with, but given the importance and need of such recycling unit in the country, we received support from the government. Attero Recycling is backed by two of the leading Venture Capital firms, NEA-IUV and DFJ.

NEA-Indo-US Ventures is a leading venture capital firm which provides early and mid-stage funding to new or growing businesses in India and Draper Fisher Jurvetson is an eminent venture capital firm with global presence.

We recently received second round of funding (around Rs. 15 crore) from Granite Hill. Granite Hill Capital Ventures LLC, an investment and advisory partnership, led this round with the fund promoted by Dr. Shailesh J. Mehta, managing general partner. Right now we generate revenue by selling of the extract metals in the market.

What is end-to-end e-waste recycling? What are the various processes involved? Also it would be great if you could talk about your plant in Roorkee.

We recycle each and every part of a PC or electronic product. An end-to-end recycling starts with dismantling, metal extraction and final refining.

We collect the e-waste from our centers in Bangalore, Mumbai Chennai and Kolkata. We also have indirect logistics operations in all tier-I and tier-II cities. From the collection to final refining, a PC would take 15 to 30 days in the complete process.

The first stage is to separate the monitors, then put them through mechanical separation, where everything is crushed automatically and small pieces separated. In metal extraction, the first metal that comes out is the separation of iron through magnets. Next we separate a few chemicals through the process of eddy current, where we separate plastic, aluminum and non-ferrous materials based on the density. All these processes take place in a closed flask.

The third and the final stage is refining, where, through metallurgical process, smelting and electro-refining takes place. It is the heart of technology and this facility is not available anywhere in the domestic market. We make a base mixture with the existing remains and expose to electro refining flask. After this process, all the metals like copper, lead and other materials are separated.

What is the e-waste industry in India? Also what is the global scenario?

In India, very few products come back for recycling. In the 8 million computers and 35 million cellphones used today, the number would be less than 5 per cent.

Not all product companies take the initiative of spreading awareness of e-waste disposal and provide the facility. A few forward-looking companies that work in this direction are Wipro, HCL, Tata Teleservices, HP and Nokia.

This is an entirely new initiative. I can claim that we are the only one to do end-to-end recycling in India. Worldwide, there are 7-8 facilities including in the US and Europe. Though there are around 17 registered e-waste recyclers with the government, all of them, excluding us, involve in dismantling process, while the rest of the residue is exported for final recycling.

What are the challenges in e-waste collection and what are the initiatives to collect domestic e-waste?

Two major challenges in this business are low awareness level among the companies and individuals about the recycling and the collection of the waste products. Because of low infrastructure, collection of electronics for recycling becomes much more costly affair.

However, the government is showing some movements in this regard. In September 2008, the government came up with a regulation stating that every electronic waste is part of hazardous waste and has be given to authorized waste recyclers only. Now it is said to be working on a draft rule under which the producer of the electronics will be responsible for the proper disposal and recycling of the product.

The need of the hour is collaboration between government, various NGOs, enterprises and recyclers like us, to build up a unified collection system. The pooled in responsibility for the collection mechanism will help in spreading awareness about e-waste recycling, ensure smooth collection and proper recycling of the products.

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