The challenge is not to push the informal sector aside, but to make it safer, more organised and environmentally responsible. Continuing from last week’s article, the informal sector cannot simply be viewed as part of the problem. It also plays a major role in collecting and recovering discarded electronics. Repair shops, used-product dealers and vendors operating through e-commerce platforms channel significant amounts of discarded electronics back into the economy. Devices

In the absence of enough authorised recycling facilities, even unauthorised units are filling a vital gap. Seelampur, on the outskirts of Delhi, is almost like a huge marketplace for discarded technology. Old laptops, broken mobile phones, outdated computers and damaged monitors are piled up everywhere. The narrow, crowded lanes are filled with the constant sounds of hammers hitting metal, tools scraping against machines and workers shouting instructions. But behind this chao

India is now the fifth-largest generator of e-waste in the world, after the USA, China, Japan and Germany. Yet, less than two per cent of the e-waste generated in the country is formally recycled. Since 2018, India has been generating more than two million tonnes of e-waste every year. The country also receives substantial quantities of e-waste from other parts of the world, adding further pressure to an already overburdened waste-management system. For many Indian cities, th

The discarded device may no longer be useful to its owner, but many of the materials inside it still have value. The scale of the e-waste problem is enormous. A United Nations study estimated that 62 million tonnes of e-waste were generated worldwide during 2024-25. Yet only a fraction was disposed of or recycled through proper systems. An electronic device may look like a single object, but it is actually a complex combination of many components and materials. Each of these

What makes e-waste unique is that it is both a challenge and an opportunity. Many people imagine that only large industries or IT companies generate electronic waste. The reality is very different. Every one of us contributes to it. Think about the number of electronic devices you use every day—a mobile phone, laptop, television, refrigerator, washing machine, mixer, microwave oven, electric toothbrush, smartwatch, or even children’s electronic toys. Every home today is fille