Electronic Waste Management

📌Turning Waste into Warmth: A Smarter Way Forward 🔁🔥 Finland is transforming how cities use energy by integrating sustainability directly into digital infrastructure. New underground data centers in Helsinki are designed not only to host servers but also to recycle the immense heat they generate. Instead of venting this waste energy, it’s captured and redirected into district heating systems that warm nearby homes and buildings. This closed-loop approach allows the same energy that powers cloud computing to heat thousands of apartments, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and cutting urban carbon emissions dramatically. Data centers, once known for their high energy consumption, are becoming key players in renewable urban ecosystems. This is the kind of circular solution modern facilities must aspire to. By integrating technology, engineering, and smart planning, even high-energy systems like data centres can become contributors to a greener city. For facilities and estates professionals, the message is clear: Sustainability isn’t always about new resources — it’s about using what we already have, better. The project underscores Finland’s leadership in green innovation — turning what was once environmental waste into community benefit. As cities worldwide search for climate solutions, this model shows how technology and sustainability can work hand in hand to reshape the future of energy. A powerful reminder of what’s possible when we rethink infrastructure with efficiency and environmental responsibility at the core. Sources: ✍️TechTimes #GreenEnergy #FinlandInnovation #SustainableCities #DataCenters #CleanTechnology #Infrastructure #Environmental #Technology

Deepdive: For my investing thesis, I was diving deep into how Indian electronics manufacturers are facing a big e-waste recycling crisis. And there, I learned something crazy. But, given 99.999% people would not get any of this, let’s understand it all with basics. - Imagine you're the head of a major AC company - The Govt looks at the total weight of all the ACs you sold, say, 7yrs ago, and says that for 2025, you must collect & recycle e-waste equivalent to 60% of that weight And that’s how the law works - in a simple sense. .. But, for electronics companies - This is a NIGHTMARE. Every year, you need to find & retrieve thousands of tonnes of old, discarded electronics from millions of homes and offices across hundreds of cities. - How do you find them? - How do you convince customers to give them up? - How do you build a nationwide logistics network to pick up electronics from a flat in Noida and another from an office in Coimbatore? - How do you recycle it all given that e-waste is only growing by the day and 70% accrues from consumer homes?  .. And diving into that led me to multiple companies that help brands take care of it all - one of which I was already familiar with.  Having analysed and published multiple deepdives into e-waste handler+recycler, Attero in the past, I was aware of its subsidiary called Selsmart. And turns out, Selsmart has already partnered with a host of brands - turning the compliance burden into a sales channel. Let me explain them one by one. Solving the puzzle: 1 - Selsmart provides the complete infra for brands to run Exchange Programs 2 - They handle the entire process - from picking up the old appliance to ensuring it is responsibly recycled at Attero’s facilities through its proprietary tech platform that manages exchanges both offline and online. Turning Compliance into a Sales Channel: These exchange programs are an incentive for customers to upgrade - By getting a good value for their old product, they are far more likely to buy a new one. In effect, the very mechanism designed for compliance becomes an effective sales funnel to drive new sales to partner brands online webstore and offline retail. .. And the model is already operating at an incredible scale. - Based on media reports, Selsmart's platform sees ~7 lakh monthly visitors looking to exchange used electronics - This is driving ~30k monthly orders, helping build a Rs 100cr revenue run rate business, likelihood of hitting a Rs 500 crore run rate next year Thus, studying all of this turned out to be a massive learning for me. What do you think? Did you know something of this sort exists in India? .. PS: I share several biz/economy deepdives daily, with 33k+ people on WhatsApp. Do check out here: https://lnkd.in/dfWQgxKd Best, Jayant Mundhra

India is amidst a silent crisis. Homegrown, toxic, and completely avoidable one. India generates a lot of electronic waste, courtesy our technological boom. Take a look at your house - we have old mobile phones, TVs, accessories lying in drawers and rarely recycled responsibly. And a lesser known fact? These discarded electronics also contain rare earth elements (REEs) whose mining is largely dominated by China and the US. And with the recent ban of REE export by China, India finds itself in a fix with limited mining capabilities. But not everything is gloomy. Attero, India's largest recycling company, has built proprietary clean-tech to recycle materials (including REEs) and develop circular supply chains. They have recycled 1M+ metrics tons of waste - already offsetting 1M+ tons of CO₂ equivalent emissions. They deliver 98%+ metal recovery efficiency, recovering 22+ critical and rare earth metals from complex waste streams. So why does all of this matter? Because such world-class facilities help India reach its Net Zero goal faster. If we recycle materials like lithium, aluminum, and REEs - we reduce our carbon footprint significantly and emerge as a viable alternative to China's dominance in REE mining. While we all talk about air, water, and noise pollution. India's e-waste pollution has been looming since a decade and thankfully, companies like Attero are innovating for a cleaner, better future! #india #recycling

Did you know electronic manufacturers are legally required to recycle a part of what they sell later? I have been researching on this topic for sometime now and found that if a company sold, say, 100 tonnes of ACs or phones 6–7 years ago, they’re asked to collect 60 tonnes (60%) of that back and recycle it responsibly (𝘜𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘌-𝘞𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 (𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵) 𝘙𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴, 2022) This target will further increase to 70% and 80% in subsequent years. Sounds fair, right? But imagine the headache for the manufacturers: ❓ How do they track lakhs of old electronic items sitting in homes and offices? ❓ How do they convince people to give them up? ❓ How do they build a pan-India logistics + recycling infra for this? For most brands, this is a compliance nightmare. I was recently deep-diving into Attero for their rare-earth recycling work, and that’s when I came across Selsmart's model, which is their own D2C platform. And it is exactly solving this gap. Selsmart helps brands: 🟢 Run exchange programs where consumers trade old electronic items for value. 🟢 Handle the entire pickup-to-recycling process via their tech platform. 🟢 Turn what was once just a legal burden into an actual sales funnel, because when customers get good value for old products, they’re far more likely to buy a new one. For consumers, it’s a win too. Instead of dumping an old fridge or phone with a random scrap dealer, you can hand it over into a responsible channel and get cash, vouchers, or discounts back. Honestly, it’s a smart way of making compliance fuel business growth, while fixing one of the biggest waste problems we have. Not everything “green” has to come at a cost. Sometimes it just takes rethinking the system.

Battery recycling using orange peels - pioneered by Prof Madhavi Srinivasan from the Energy Research Institute @ NTU. "One day, while she was at an orange juice vending machine, she thought why not just use one type of fruit peel for their project. She and her team then proceeded to make use of only orange peel, collected from the same canteen stall, to recover precious metals from spent batteries. Orange peel is rich in sugars and natural acids that boost the dissolution of metals, They have partnered with battery recycling and processing company Se-cure Waste Management (SWM) since 2023 to dissolve metals found in lithium-ion batteries being recycled by SWM with chemical solvents derived from fruit peel waste. The battery recycling facility can process up to 2,000 litres of spent shredded battery mixed with fruit-peel-derived solvents to extract electrode materials such as cobalt, lithium, nickel, and manganese. NTU and SWM plan to commercialise this process in 2024 and sell the recycled materials to battery makers around the world. “We have collected data that the cost reduction (of) using our technology is 20 to 40 per cent,” said Prof Madhavi, referring to the cost of the extraction process." https://lnkd.in/ghJnr4GR

Designing a smarter retirement for batteries: The Digital Battery Passport In ABC Australia’s TV show Utopia, actor Rob Sitch quips: “Every element in the process is intelligent, but as a whole it is ridiculous.” That could describe today’s lithium-ion battery recycling system. It is a patchwork of innovation trapped in systems that forget the big picture. The challenge is not innovation but integration. Across mining, refining, manufacturing, regulation, and recycling, progress happens in isolation. The result is a technically brilliant but disconnected ecosystem. The fix is digitisation and collaboration, connecting engineers, data scientists, policymakers, and industry through digital tools such as the Digital Battery Passport. At RMIT University, we are developing Australia’s first Digital Battery Passport, a secure blockchain based record that traces each cell’s chemistry, performance, ownership, and event history. Our work is funded by the Australian Government’s AEA Ignite initiative and has more recently received further support through its Quad Clean Energy Supply Chain Diversification Program. Think of the passport as a digital birth certificate and retirement plan for batteries, dynamically adapting to supply chain changes, national priorities, and sustainability targets. Now, I might not speak fluent Python, but I do speak battery. I understand how cells are built, how they age, and why they fail. I also understand what the shift from nickel and cobalt rich chemistries toward the good old lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells means for the recycling world: safer, cheaper batteries with far fewer high value metals, challenging traditional recycling economics. Our AI models interpret unstructured multi modal battery data, from factory test sheets to in-field performance logs, automating workflows to reduce human intervention. They predict health, classify materials, and flag optimal pathways for reuse or recovery. In the rapidly growing second hand Electric Vehicle market, this capability is invaluable: a digital battery certificate generated from passport data verifies the health and history of a used vehicle’s battery, giving both buyers and regulators confidence in its safety and remaining life. Looking ahead, we are extending these capabilities to recycling plants, where AI will fine-tune process parameters in real time and optimise material recovery with minimal waste. By giving every cell a digital identity, we can turn what would be waste into a data-rich asset, making the global battery supply chain cleaner, fairer, and more resilient. As Rob Sitch might say, it’s about making the whole as intelligent as its parts. Giving batteries a second life and a digital identity, isn’t just recycling. It’s reimagining responsibility in the age of electrification. Interested in collaboration? Get in touch: https://lnkd.in/gM-tktFV

From paper tickets to real-time material tracking, Brandwells Construction Co Ltd goes digital with SoilFLO Inc. To find out more, I caught up with Environmental Manager, Luke Harwood, on a site in Weston-super-Mare. Luke: “When I started, we were on the old paper ticketing system. Loads weren’t always accounted for, and it was difficult to work out quantities. “So over two years ago, I went out into the market to find a digital solution that could help us, whilst also providing the compliance data we need. “Today, we have no paper, and our processes look very different, as we use SoilFLO to capture data and monitor every load moving in or out of our numerous sites at any one time. “For example, as a lorry comes in, the supervisor records the details on the app using a tablet, which includes its vehicle registration and what material it’s loaded with. They also record where it’s going and when it leaves. That information goes straight into the cloud, and I can download it instantly.” “This is particularly important when we are reusing material, as you need to prove it’s clean and know exactly where it came from. So through digital tracking, we can add another layer of compliance, showing clients we’re really fulfilling our duty of care.” “From a workload perspective, the time saved is unbelievable. What used to take hours of manual input is now a 30 second click of a button. The audits I prepare are much faster and simpler, which clients really appreciate. “Personally, the time saved has allowed me to focus on more important work like developing our circular economy and being more creative with what we can do with our soils.” Look out for my interview with Michelle Down MCIWM at GRS Stone Supplies LTD, coming soon.... #digitalconstruction #earthworks #housebuilding #constructiontech #soiltracking #digitalwastetracking #soilFLO

𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 A ₹1,500-crore scheme by the Ministry of Mines to boost domestic recycling of 𝟮𝟳 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝘀 (incl. Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel) and reduce import dependence. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀: • 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀: o 20% Capex subsidy for new/expanded recycling units. o Opex subsidy linked to incremental sales for 6 years (FY 2025-26 to 2030-31). • 𝗧𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽𝘀: o Group A: GMR ≥ ₹200 cr → Incentive cap ₹50 cr o Group B: GMR < ₹200 cr → Incentive cap ₹25 cr • 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: o Only actual mineral extraction processes eligible (L3/R3/R4). o Must meet ≥80% yield + ≥99% purity. o Collection/shredding only (L1/L2) is not eligible. • 𝗚𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲: o Implemented through a Project Management Agency (PMA) under an Executive Committee and Governing Council. • 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀: o Recovery from spent LIBs, e-waste, catalytic converters, permanent magnets, etc. o Ensures high-purity, high-efficiency recovery to strengthen strategic mineral supply chains. 𝙄𝙣 𝘽𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙛: The scheme prioritizes the extraction of critical minerals from spent Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), e-waste, and other secondary sources such as catalytic converters and permanent magnets. To qualify for incentives, recyclers must achieve a minimum product purity of 99% and a yield efficiency of at least 80% in the recovered materials. [Scheme Notified: 8 Sept 2025]

Both Apple and Microsoft are touting progress in their efforts to mine rare earth and precious metals from old tech gadgets and keep them in circulation. For Apple, there's a demonstrable emissions reduction impact. Microsoft isn't talking that up yet but believe me, there's a link. What you should know about Apple ... Apple’s push to source 15 priority materials entirely from recycled or renewable sources — including aluminum, rare earths and lithium — helped the company avoid 6.2 million metric tons of emissions in 2024. Avoided emissions are calculated by estimating the amount of greenhouse gases that weren’t emitted because of production changes or other measures and subtracting them from historical emissions trends.  Recycled content from sources certified to ISO 14021 specifications accounted for 24 percent of the materials in Apple products in 2024. The product containing the most recycled materials was the MacBook Air, at 55 percent. A close second is the latest Mac mini: 50 percent of its components come from recycled sources and it is manufactured using renewable energy, making its footprint 80 percent smaller than a mini created using a business-as-usual scenario. Here's my complete analysis, pulled from Apple's environmental report released on April 16: https://lnkd.in/emXpccV7 Meanwhile, over in Microsoft land ... The giant cloud services company is expanding electronic waste collection from its data centers with a new initiative to recover rare earth elements and precious metals from hard drives without using acids. So far, the pilot has processed 50,000 pounds of obsolete drives collected at Microsoft data centers, extracting rare earth elements including neodymium, praseodymium and dysprosium — crucial components for magnets used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. The initiative has also recovered gold, copper, aluminum and steel. More on what's ahead: https://lnkd.in/eMr2T8Zh

This is not Silicon Valley. This is innovation from Muzaffarpur, Bihar. What do you see when you look at corn husk (bhutte ka chilka)? Garbage? Waste? Nazir Ozair saw gold. Innovation doesn’t always smell like coffee in a boardroom. Sometimes, it smells like burnt corn in a village. 🌽 Meet Nazir Ozair— a software engineer who was living a comfortable life in an MNC. Everything was going well… until tragedy struck. He lost his nephew to cancer. That moment changed everything. 💔♻️ Nazir quit his job, booked a flight, and returned to his roots in Bihar — not to escape life, but to fix a broken system. While speaking to doctors, he learned something disturbing: when hot food is packed in plastic, it releases carcinogenic chemicals. That realization shook him deeply. Instead of ignoring it, he chose action. In Bihar, maize (corn) is grown in abundance. Farmers remove the grains and usually burn or throw away the husk, treating it as waste. Nazir looked at this “waste” and saw potential. This engineer from Bihar cracked the “waste to wealth” code in the most meaningful way. He started making biodegradable plates, cups, and even toffee wrappers from corn husk. What makes it special? Completely natural Plastic-free Safe enough that even animals can eat it The journey was far from easy. From a Business Analyst’s lens, the operational challenges were massive: There was no machine in the world designed to process corn husk into plates. Existing machines were meant for leaves or paper. Nazir used his engineering skills to design and build his own machine from scratch. Convincing farmers not to throw away the husk was another challenge — but today, it has become an additional income source for them. This is the new face of Bihar. Innovative. Resilient. Solution-driven. Sometimes, everything we need is already around us — we just label it as weak, useless, or waste. And then one day, time turns that very thing into something special. That’s the magic of perspective. Today, his startup “Think Raw India” has secured a ₹30 lakh order from Indian Railways. East Central Railway (Samastipur Division and others) has placed large B2B orders for eco-friendly plates and kulhads to be used at railway stations, canteens, and eco-stores. What was once burnt as waste is now serving millions of passengers safely. Nazir Ozair proves that you don’t need a fancy lab to change the world. You just need empathy and engineering. This is how innovation becomes history. And this… is already history in the making. 🌱 #Innovation #entrepreneur #technology #inspiration #startup #makeinindia