Business Model for creating an organized & formalized ecosystem for E$-$Waste recycling in India

India is currently $3$rd largest E$-$Waste generator in the world. Still the per capita EWaste generation in India is dismally low $(1\mathrm{.}5$ Kg$/$Capita$/$Yr$)$ when compared to other large markets such as China $(5\mathrm{.}2$Kg$/$Capita$/$ Yr$),$ USA $(19\mathrm{.}4$ Kg$/$Capita$/$Yr$),$ Japan $(16\mathrm{.}9$ Kg$/$Capita$/$Yr$).$ This is primarily due to lower diffusion of technology products in Indian market. With the rising urbanization, growing middle class, higher diffusion of technology & lower obsolesce rate the E$-$waste market in India is projected to grow by over $15\%$ CAGR over the next decade.

Following this phenomenal growth in the E$-$Waste sector in the last decade, the issues pertaining to end$-$of$-$life management of EEE goods have gained a central position in debates around environment, material efficiency and labor and social dimensions of circular economy. The absence of legislative and regulatory policies for this sector has resulted in large informal and unorganized sector with lack of standard operating procedures, lack of proper licensing system and unregulated and unsafe business practices.

This has prompted the government to consider various policy interventions such as EPR $($Extended Producer Responsibility$),$ E$-$Waste Management Rules, $2016.$ This also presents a lucrative opportunity for private partners to enter the E$-$Waste Recycling space.

With ABC Ltd$$s core commitment towards sustainability & circular economy, it is evaluating foray into E$-$Waste recycling space.

ABC LTD INVITES YOU TO PROPOSE A BUSINESS CASE & DESIGN A SUITABLE BUSINESS MODEL FOR SET UP OF AN EWASTE RECYCLING BUSINESS.

Background

E$-$Waste is heterogeneous in nature with the broad classification of waste is as given under:

Further, when we analyze the build$-$up value from E$-$Waste, we observe that different types of E$-$Waste have different value drivers in terms of revenue generation from recycling:

$*$Images have been attached for both broad classification of waste and different types of E$-$waste$*$

We estimate that $25\%$ IT E$-$waste have re$-$usable spare parts, while only $10\%$ non$-$IT have re$-$usable spare parts.

Problem Statement$/$Challenges Faced

$$ Map the current supply chain of E$-$waste management from generation point to end$-$uses of various components in India, through different channels: individual disposers, small corporates, bulk disposers

$($large industries, service industries etc.$)$

$$ Identify number of players, value addition, margins, and pain points at each level of supply chain for different segments of E$-$Waste. Also map the scrap and reusable parts generated from each segment, tradeoff between selling a reusable part for reuse vs considering it as scrap and downstream market for different types of scraps, reusable parts, etc.

$$ Abc ltd invites you to propose a business case & design a suitable business model for set up of an ewaste recycling business.

Critical Case Questions

$$ Analyze E$-$Waste management in India and benchmark it with global best practices and nations similar to India from socio$-$economic standpoint $($esp$.$ BRICS$).$ Identify and incorporate good practices suitable for India.

$$ Propose game$-$changing innovative solutions across the value chain from sourcing to dismantling to selling resultant materials.

$$ Create a business case to enter this industry with financial projections for next five years

Assumptions and Suggestions

$$ To make the analysis sharper, participants can focus on any metro$/$tier $1$ city by assuming that ABC Ltd is setting up a E$-$Waste precious metal recovery facility in the city that will require scrap arising from PCBs

which will be procured only from dismantling units set up by partners.

Focus only on collection of E$-$Waste and downstream applications of various materials generated from the dismantling $($as scrap or otherwise$).$