"India's E-waste Recovery Jumps Past 70%: A Compliance Turnaround," says Foxx Compliance's Shashi Shekhar Shahi

SMPL
New Delhi [India], August 19: India's e-waste ecosystem has posted its strongest year yet under the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) regime, with national recovery climbing from 61.94% in FY 2023-24 to 70.71% in FY 2024-25. The surge, Shashi Shekhar Shahi--Founder of Foxx Compliance Services Pvt. Ltd. (FCSPL)--argues, reflects a decisive shift from fragmented, informal flows to accountable, trackable recycling at scale. "What we're seeing is a compliance turnaround," Shahi said. "Targets are clearer, the portal is doing the heavy lifting on traceability, and serious players are investing in capacity."
Fresh data tabled to Parliament shows India generated 1,254,286.55 tonnes of e-waste in FY 2023-24, rising to 1,397,955.59 tonnes in FY 2024-25--an 11.5% uptick that mirrors the country's relentless electronics consumption. Yet the more consequential headline is the processing leap to nearly one million tonnes handled through the formal chain in FY 2024-25. "An 8.8-percentage-point jump in a single year is rare in environmental compliance," Shahi noted. "It tells you producers are planning their EPR procurement earlier, and recyclers are scaling smarter."

According to CPCB, registered e-waste recyclers now operate across 19 states, with sharp gains in high-throughput regions such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Telangana. State-wise filings indicate north India's recycler belts are pulling in material from neighbouring markets, while southern hubs continue to expand disassembly and pre-processing. "Inter-state balancing is visible in the data," Shahi explained. "Material often travels to wherever specialized lines, purity thresholds, and downstream buyers are best matched. That fluidity is a sign the market is maturing, not a problem in itself--so long as documentation and mass-balance add up on the EPR portal."
The regulatory scaffolding for this momentum is the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, which took effect on 1 April 2023 and shifted the system to a single national EPR portal for registration, quarterly/annual returns, and certificate generation/transfer. CPCB has coupled the rollout with periodic clarifications and deadline management--most recently extending the FY 2024-25 annual-return filing date to August 15, 2025. "The extension gives industry breathing room," Shahi said. "But it's not a holiday. If your invoices, put-on-market numbers, and recycler certificates don't reconcile, an extra six weeks won't save you from Environmental Compensation."
For producers, the new normal is data hygiene and early action. Shahi recommends locking in EPR certificates well before Q4 to avoid last-minute scarcity. "Prices and availability tighten as the year closes," he said. "Diversify counterparties--by state and by material stream. Don't rely on one recycler, and don't push your procurement desk to the brink." He also urges brands to expand refurbishment channels, which can legitimately reduce obligations for certain categories under the rules while extending product life. "Refurb is circularity's low-hanging fruit," he added. "It preserves value, reduces waste, and sends a strong sustainability signal at the same time."
Recyclers, meanwhile, are investing in verification-ready operations--mass-balance accounting, quality sampling, and auditable dispatch trails for fractions like PCBs, precious-metal concentrates, plastics, and glass. FCSPL, an authorised recycler and compliance partner, says it is seeing more insistence on downstream traceability to final smelters and polymer re-processors. "The portal has made greenwashing much harder," Shahi observed. "If a recycler claims recovery, the certificate trail must line up with physical flows. That's good for serious operators and it protects producers who are doing the right thing."

Challenges remain. Logistics costs have escalated, especially for low-value, bulky categories; informal sector leakage continues in pockets; and smaller producers still struggle with portal literacy. But Shahi believes enforcement plus market learning are closing the gaps. "Spot checks, audits, and better awareness are steadily compressing the grey zone," he said. "My advice to MSME producers is simple: map your SKUs to Schedule-I, clean up your vendor master, and submit returns on time. For recyclers: invest in de-pollution lines and documentation--both pay back."
The larger prize is strategic: securing domestic access to critical materials via "urban mining." With national generation still rising, India's circular economy hinges on extracting metals and polymers efficiently and safely. "Every tonne we recycle here is import substitution," Shahi stressed. "Copper, aluminium, precious metals--these are industrial lifelines. The EPR push isn't just about compliance; it's about competitiveness."
Looking ahead to FY 2025-26, Shahi expects incremental gains, not another double-digit leap. "Crossing 72-75% recovery is feasible if certificate liquidity and collection keep pace," he said. "But the system is entering a quality phase--better materials accounting, better yields, fewer disputes. That's what will anchor long-term credibility."
For now, the numbers tell a clear story: stronger rules, a functional portal, and rising professional capacity are converging. "India is proving that scale and accountability can coexist," Shahi concluded. "If we stay the course, e-waste won't just be a problem we manage--it'll be a resource we bank on."
Key sources: CPCB/MoEF&CC submissions to Parliament on FY 2023-24 and FY 2024-25 generation and recovery; CPCB notices on EPR portal deadlines; E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022
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