Attero to set up e-waste unit in Bangalore

CHENNAI, INDIA: To cut down its freight cost and carbon footprint, Noida-based Attero Recycling - India's first integrated electronic waste (e-waste) recycling company -- has decided to set up a facility in Bangalore, a top official of the company said Monday.

E-waste includes old electronic goods like computers, mobile phones, televisions and also consumer durables like washing machines and others.

"We have decided to operate on hub and spoke model in order to reduce our freight cost. In Bangalore, we will soon inaugurate a 3,000 TPA (tonnes per annum) recycling facility where the e-waste will be segregated and dismantled," Attero Recycling CEO Nitin Gupta told IANS.

"The components that need further processing and recovery of precious metals -- gold, silver, copper and others -- will be taken to our Roorkee facility. The investment will be done in two phases and the total outlay will be around $1 million," he added.

Attero expects to touch 10,000 tonnes this year

According to him, Attero processed around 1,000 TPA last year and the volume is expected to touch around 10,000 tonnes in the current year.

Attero's $9 million Roorkee facility in Uttarakhand has a capacity to process 36,000 TPA of e-waste.

The recycling process consists of disassembly, mechanical separation of materials and metallurgical treatment.

Attero retrieves precious metals present in mobile phones, laptops, computers and other items.

"We refurbish items if required by clients and also sell refurbished computers at lower rates," Gupta said.

Attero gets its raw material - e-waste - free or for a price mainly from corporates-original equipment manufacturers and end users.

"In some cases, we get paid by the corporates to clear their premises of their e-waste. Not all e-waste are profitable for us to process," Gupta said.

Mobile Phones are most profitable for recyclers

According to him, mobile phones are the most profitable for recyclers as the precious metal content is high.

One tonne of cell phone contains around 100 kg of metals like gold and copper.

Though it has a licence to import e-waste, Gupta said the company is not looking at that option now.

E-waste accumulation to be 1mn tonnes by 2015

"Our current focus is on building awareness about the problems of e-waste and the benefits of efficient recycling," said Llyod Sanford, president of supply chain.

According to him e-waste is growing in India, and it will be around one million tonnes by 2015.

"Extracting metals from old items is 70 times less energy intensive then mining for fresh metals," Sanford said.