Abstract:

The report examines the growing challenge of managing rapidly increasing electronic waste and end-of-life lithium-ion batteries in India. Prepared by TERI with the support of NITI Aayog, it highlights the continued dominance of the informal recycling sector, weak collection systems, inadequate enforcement, limited advanced recycling technologies and gaps in skills and financing. The report identifies significant opportunities to recover critical and valuable materials, strengthen domestic resource security and reduce dependence on imported minerals. It recommends expanding and strengthening Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), improving traceability and compliance, developing chemistry-specific standards for lithium-ion batteries, enhancing formal collection and recycling infrastructure, and integrating informal workers into safer and regulated value chains. The report also emphasises skilling, consumer awareness, Common Facility Centres, technological innovation and stronger markets for secondary materials. Overall, it presents a pathway for transforming e-waste and battery waste into strategic resource reservoirs supporting India’s circular economy, clean-energy transition and sustainable industrial development.