The Troubling Rise of Electronic Waste
At Namo E-Waste, we’ve been tracking India’s electronic waste situation closely, and the numbers are honestly shocking. According to recent data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, India produced about 1.75 million metric tonnes of e-waste last year (2023-24). When you compare that to what was happening five years ago, that’s a 72% jump!
India now ranks third globally in e-waste generation, just behind China and the US. What’s particularly concerning to us is that only around 30% of this waste gets properly recycled through official channels. The rest? It’s either handled
informally (which often means unsafely) or simply left untreated.
If nothing changes, experts believe India could be generating 5 million tonnes annually by 2030. That spells trouble for the environment, public health, and the economy – issues we at Namo E-Waste are committed to addressing.
How Bad Has It Gotten?
Looking at the yearly breakdown:
| Financial Year | E-Waste Generated (Metric Tonnes) |
| 2019-20 | 1,014,961 |
| 2020-21 | 1,346,496 |
| 2021-22 | 1,601,155 |
| 2022-23 | 1,609,117 |
| 2023-24 | 1,751,236 |
The trend is clear and worrying. While India has become a digital powerhouse with over a billion smartphone users (making it the second-biggest smartphone market worldwide), it’s struggling with one of the lowest formal recycling rates among major economies – a gap our company is working to bridge.
