How do you dispose of single-use batteries used in your clocks or TV remote? What do you do with old phones that no longer work? Chances are you’ve left them lying in some corner to be forgotten or they are now in some landfill.

Technology has increasingly infiltrated our lives and while things have become more and more convenient, another beast has reared its head—electronic waste. Between the first iPad being launched in 2010 and the first foldable-screen laptop hitting the markets in 2022, the growth in volume of electronic waste in India has surpassed all other nations.

According to the UN Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) Digital Economy Report 2024, India’s e-waste—including all electronic devices such as phones, computers, household appliances, communication equipment, electric tools, battery-operated toys or electrical sports equipment—grew by a whopping 163%.

There is little in place by way of mechanisms to treat this e-waste. Of the 1.6 million tonnes of electronic waste in the 2021-22 fiscal, India processed less than a third. And each year, chances are that more and more untreated waste continues to pile up. Not to be taken lightly because e-waste is hazardous and requires special handling and recycling methods as it poses health and environmental risks.

More development, more waste: The report, which looked at data between 2010 and 2022, said that the volume of e-waste generated globally increased 30%, from 8.1 million tonnes to 10.5 million tonnes. Overall, developing economies which generated 4.146 million tonnes of e-waste in 2010, added 6.2 million tonnes in 2022. There was a 48% increase in waste from countries such as India, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa, China and Brazil, among others, which is significant compared to the 11% growth in developed countries.

Interestingly, the contribution of developing countries like India to the growth in generation of e-waste is much higher than developed nations. This also means that developing countries could be disproportionately hit by the negative environmental effects of more digitization and technological advancement.

India’s share in e-waste generated from screens, computers, small IT and telecommunications equipment in the world has doubled from 3.1% in 2010 to 6.4% in 2022.

A lower growth rate of such waste from developed countries could be owing to markets there being “close to maturity in relation to existing digital devices and equipment, while developing countries are still expanding their digital sectors and reducing digital divides to be able to benefit from rapid digitalization trends”.

That brings us to the question of how digital trends in India contribute to more e-waste.

India’s unique problem: Between the studied periods, India has witnessed a wave of technological developments. The biggest among these is the penetration of smartphones, which often require upgrading to better ones in the future. This happens because software and operating systems are frequently updated and, in time, phone hardware may not be able to support them. Soon, older devices become outdated or “waste”.

The growth and widespread installation of 5G networks has also contributed to the rise in e-waste in India. India is poised to be among the top drivers of growth in global 5G subscriptions, which means there will be an increased demand and manufacturing of 5G-compatible devices, which again means more new devices and more outdated ones.

Another issue is the popularity of electric vehicles. With the government pushing for adoption of EVs with subsidies and incentive plans such as the production-linked incentive scheme for manufacturers and the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid &) Electric Vehicles, there has been a surge in sales and overall interest. So much so that India has become one of the world’s fastest-growing EV markets. Indian EV sales, which nearly doubled in 2023 from the previous year, now account for 2% of overall passenger vehicle sales.

Now, while EVs are largely touted as greener alternatives to fuel-driven vehicles, their batteries seem to be an issue. Disposal of these end-of-life batteries is a challenge since they contain hazardous materials such as nickel, cobalt and manganese, apart from lithium. With India’s EV battery recycling ecosystem still at a nascent stage, and many EVs sold during the first phases of the FAME programme nearing their end-of-life, there are high chances that their contribution to e-waste in the coming years will be much larger. Recycling these batteries efficiently will not only prevent the rise in electronic waste but also help India, which imports much of its lithium, reduce its carbon footprint as lithium extraction is a very resource-exhaustive process, often resulting in large amounts of water wastage.

In 2022, the government recognized this and came up with Battery Waste Management Rules to recycle different types of batteries, including those used in EVs. The goal is to recycle at least 20% EV batteries by 2030. Last year, at least 59 EV makers like MG Motor, Ola Electric, Ather Energy, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra, which use lithium-ion batteries, registered on an online portal handled by India’s apex pollution control authority to recycle battery waste. Several startups that recycle e-waste have also come up. These include Attero Recycling, Namo E-waste, Zolopik and Eco Recycling. It remains to be seen how much of these lithium-based batteries we end up recycling.

Lack of awareness: Another issue with large amounts of e-waste in the country is the lack of updated guidelines by the government that focus on strict compliance and not enough awareness. The former requires a whole different explainer. Let’s take a look at the awareness bit.

The issue with India’s growing e-waste is not just that it might reach landfills, but that it remains piled up in homes. According to an Economic Times report, approximately 78% of e-waste is not even collected. This means it’s a huge opportunity lost in recycling metals and materials in these devices that the country has to otherwise import or buy. Overall and in time, it means that our pile of e-waste, visible or not, continues to grow.

A big reason behind this is that not many people in India know how to properly discard old electronic devices. A Delhi resident, Amit Ganguly, told The Morning Context that many of his old devices are just piling up at home. “I have three laptops, four iPhones, some five chargers and cables which I want to get rid of but don’t know a proper way to do so,” he said. And there are many like him who may not know where to dispose of such waste and why it’s so important to do it the right way.

An electronic item contains many elements apart from the electrical bit, such as glass, plastic and fibre. All of these need to be separated before recycling or repurposing. This means dedicated centres that do this need to be set up and more awareness about them created. Over 90% of the e-waste generated in India goes into the informal waste management sector, which does not follow scientific guidelines for the disposal and recycling of such waste.

Also, electronic waste has to be treated differently, it releases toxic fumes when burnt affecting the lungs, blood and kidneys. Data from the World Health Organization found that, globally, as many as 12.9 million women working in the informal waste sector are exposed to toxic e-waste, which puts them and their unborn babies at risk.

The government, along with many private enterprises, has established e-waste collection points and a few recycling facilities across the country. But will that be enough to tackle such a mammoth problem?

Cover illustration by Devyani M/ The Morning Context