Page 38 from: November 2015
36 November 2015
Electronics recycler Attero seems to be well on track to become India’s largest and probably most innova-
tive e-scrap recycler, with a helping hand from the country’s rapidly expanding middle class. India is the
world’s second largest consumer of mobile phones with more than 950 million registered users. In 2015,
Indians are expected to buy more than 300 million new mobile handsets.
Attero claims to be the only company in India – and one of only seven globally – with
the capability to extract pure metals from e-scrap
‘in an environmentally responsible way’. The
company’s ‘disruptive technology’ allows it to set
up ‘low-cost, low-capacity, eco-friendly’ recycling
plants for processing e-scrap and extracting pre-
cious metals.
The company also operates a state-of-the-art
electronics refurbishing facility to extend the
useful life of old electronics and promote their
reuse, while also helping to ‘integrate’ the infor-
mal recycling sector and establish a take-back
programme.
It all began in 2008. Looking for an environmen-
tally safe way to dispose of his old laptop, entre-
preneur and chemical engineer Rohan Gupta
found there was no-one to turn to. This experi-
ence marked the starting point for Attero, India’s
first e-scrap recycling company and believed to
be the county’s largest in the field of handling
used electronics. The business is headed by
Rohan with his brother Nitin.
‘Even back in 2008, India had become one of
the biggest markets for electronic goods, wit-
nessing a dramatic rise in the number of
mobiles, television sets and computers sold,’
Rohan Gupta recalls. ‘As India’s economy grew
rapidly, rising incomes in a country with pop-
ulation resulted in a dramatic increase in the
numbers of electronic goods being bought by
people without really having a clue about
proper and safe disposal. This led to the piling-
up of a problem.’
Top e-scrap generator
India is the world’s second largest consumer of
mobile phones with over 950 million registered
users. In 2015, it is estimated that Indians will
be buying more than 300 million new mobile
phones. ‘Even at a 20% yearly replacement, that
would be some 200 million mobile handsets – of
Attero targets ever-growing mobile phone market
Dialling in to India’s e-scrap challenge
By Martijn Reintjes
Recent study has
estimated that India
is producing some
2.7 million tonnes of
e-scrap annually.
C O M P A N Y P R O F I L E
