Non-biodegradable and e-waste have become part of the circular economy because they cannot be easily decomposed by the earth’s natural processes. Even if we leave them, like biodegradable products, they release toxins and chemicals into the environment, which can pose high risks to human health, animals, and nature at best.
Electronic waste recycling, or e-waste, refers to unused or damaged smartphones, laptops, televisions, and other portable electronic devices. The components in these devices contain lead, mercury, and cadmium, which can lead to health problems like poisoning, nerve problems, and developmental issues. Therefore, it is essential to ensure that these components are disposed of properly and do not leach into the soil. Besides, e-waste also contains gold, copper, and silver, which can be repurposed.
According to a recent Accenture study, many CEOs prioritize enhanced sustainability data across their supply chains. However, nine out of ten are unable to achieve their sustainability goals due to inadequate technology resources. This is where sustainability startups and startup accelerators in India can bridge the gap between industries, people, and the environment. Accelerators and Incubators in India also play a key role in helping startups scale up and expand their impact on sustainable practices.
The circular economy follows a systematic approach to recycling electronic devices with industry experts. However, due to a lack of awareness of the circular economy, electronic products are often recycled unethically or by untrained individuals in many parts of the world.
Many households throw away their old laptops and phones in the garbage or store them somewhere in their homes because they do not know what to do with them. Several startups, including accelerators and incubators in India, are working towards incorporating a circular economy to minimize e-waste and encourage proper device recycling.
Sustainability startups have become a medium for e-waste collection from industries, businesses, and residents and disposing of it easily in their centers. GreenCarbonHub is one example of a sustainability startup that offers all the Net-Zero solutions under one roof. The startup partners with a network of certified electronic waste disposal companies that dispose of electronic waste responsibly and ethically.
This is a new business model where startups can handle the recycling of e-waste products on behalf of companies, corporations, and businesses. Companies can outsource their recycling processes to these startups, who will handle every step of the recycling journey, from collection and sorting to processing and material recovery. This effective business model encourages companies to become part of a circular economy and makes recycling easy without setting up an in-house team for such initiatives.
This innovative idea can help consumers and companies step forward and become a part of the circular economy. Startup accelerators in India can offer repair and refurbishment services where professionals can repair damaged items at affordable prices and encourage resource consumption rather than increasing e-waste.
Startups can also set up a platform to buy devices in almost good condition, repair them, and resell them at affordable rates. This helps extend the life of electronic products and reduce the demand for new resources.
Startups can collaborate with manufacturers to build a closed-loop system where the materials from old products can be reintegrated into developing new products. This fosters a cradle-to-cradle lifecycle for materials. Environmental impact of e-waste is also mitigated as startups set up networks in different regions where they collect old products from companies, businesses, and citizens. They extract resources that can be reused in developing new products and send them to the manufacturers.
There are different circular economy business models that emerging startups focused on e-waste management can implement:
The sharing economy model provides a platform for connecting people who own products with people who need them. It shifts the concept of products to services and provides an on-demand supply of services instead of selling products.
To ensure maximum benefit, the product is constantly utilized through a sharing model approach. After the product reaches its maximum lifespan, the producer can recycle, repair, or refurbish the device. Businesses may invest in modular and durable product designs that are simple to dismantle, easy to recycle, and quick to recover. The shared circular economy model enables companies to use recyclable and compact designs. It helps retrieve products efficiently and increases their lifespan.
The PAAS model is also an effective strategy that businesses can consider. In this approach, the company provides its products on demand, and the customer does not own them. Companies may offer their products based on a subscription period, and the customer can pay for the time he uses the device. This promotes the refurbishment of products at the time of return and helps reduce e-waste at large.
Businesses can manufacture products based on product life extension (PLE) designs to control and manage e-waste issues. This helps to synchronize the entire product cycle, from manufacturing and usage to disassembly and recovery. Companies can also incorporate AI robotics technology to handle dismantling and properly reduce product disposal risks.
A product purchase model is a traditional approach where the customer will purchase the electronic product and get entire control of its lifecycle. In this model, the manufacturers lose their authority over the product. However, device manufacturing companies can identify stages of improvement and utilize recyclable materials that extend the product lifecycle. Businesses can also encourage customers to return their electronic gadgets for resale or refurbishment. This helps save a lot of e-waste and promotes recycling methods.
The circular economy can contribute to decreasing the environmental impacts of e-waste disposal and generate new business ideas. Startups can utilize technology to create solutions for the safe disposal of e-waste. Accelerators and incubators, like AIC T-Hub, form part of Telangana’s thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem and help startups focused on sustainability scale their businesses rapidly and easily.
AIC T-Hub provides the necessary infrastructure, funding, and industry experts to nurture startups’ innovative ideas and increase the adoption of the circular economy concept. Climate Tech Startups in the early stage, possess an MVP, or have conducted a PoC (Proof of Concept) study can register in Cohort 3 and get access to resources for their growth.
The world’s largest incubation center, AIC T-Hub, selected 23 startups in the second cohort from a pool of 400 applications based on their strong prototypes, bespoke strategy to commercialization, and minimum monthly revenue of Rs. 1 lakh.