Description: India employs ±2 million informal waste pickers in its informal e-waste sector. They are highly skilled, professional dismantlers, able to extract any value they might find. This often comes at the cost of their own health, and the environment. Since the safe disposal of hazardous waste is not guaranteed, and plastics are often discarded to landfill, we see opportunities for improvements to the circular economy.

Minimise have partnered with Landbell GreenForest Solutions India and Ecowork to research the impact of these activities. In total 18 tons of e-waste will be collected. 9 tons from which valuable components were already harvested by the informal sector, and 9 tons of unharvested e-waste.

By dismantling and weighing each fraction, we can compare difference in material found in each share. The expectation is we find a higher share of plastics, toxins and hazardous components. Based on our findings, the teams will issue a series of recommendations in the form of a white paper, to be released on the 14th of October.

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