Attero Co-founder and COO Rohan Gupta discusses India’s e-waste challenge, informal recycling, battery feedstock, lifecycle emissions and whether recycled lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earths can compete with newly mined materials.
India’s critical mineral import dependence remains a strategic vulnerability. How much can urban mining realistically change this equation?
Urban mining can reduce India’s dependence on imported critical minerals, although it cannot replace primary mining entirely. Discarded electronics, lithium-ion batteries and industrial scrap contain valuable materials that can be recovered and returned to manufacturing.
Recycling creates a domestic source of secondary raw materials, reducing exposure to global supply disruptions and retaining more economic value within India. The impact will depend on collection efficiency, processing capacity and the ability to recover materials at competitive costs. With the right infrastructure, urban mining can become an important pillar of India’s critical mineral security, complementing domestic mining and international sourcing.
What proportion of India’s domestic demand for lithium, cobalt, nickel and rare earth elements can recycled materials realistically meet by 2030?
Recycling could eventually meet around 55% of India’s lithium carbonate and cobalt demand and up to 70% of rare earth demand in the long run. Actual contributions will depend on feedstock availability, collection efficiency, processing capacity and demand growth.
There is an inherent time lag because products entering the market today become tomorrow’s feedstock. India must therefore build collection, processing and refining capacity now to capture this opportunity. Recycling will complement primary mining and international sourcing, while helping establish a more reliable domestic supply of critical materials.
How much of the e-waste reaching Attero comes through formal collection channels, and how much of the material generated in India remains outside the organised recycling system?
India’s e-waste generation is rising rapidly. According to NITI Aayog, e-waste in India has grown from approximately 2.76 million metric tonnes in 2020 to 6.19 million metric tonnes in 2024, with generation projected to reach 14 million metric tonnes by 2030. A significant challenge is ensuring that this growing volume reaches authorised recycling facilities rather than remaining unused in households or entering informal processing channels.
At Attero, we source material through multiple channels, including MetalMandi, our digital marketplace connecting scrap suppliers with buyers; Selsmart, our consumer take-back platform; and direct relationships with OEMs. Our focus is on improving collection and traceability so that more discarded electronics enter organised recycling, where valuable critical materials can be recovered safely and efficiently.
Informal scrap dealers and dismantlers remain deeply embedded in India’s e-waste economy. What is Attero doing to bring them into the formal value chain without threatening their livelihoods?
India’s informal collection network plays an important role in aggregating discarded electronics. Formalisation should build on this network rather than displace its participants. At Attero, MetalMandi connects scrap suppliers with buyers, offering greater price transparency and more organised transactions. We also provide training to help collection partners understand material handling requirements and safer practices. Selsmart complements this by making consumer collection more accessible.
For formalisation to work, collectors and aggregators must benefit commercially. Transparent pricing, reliable payments, training and access to organised buyers can help them participate in the formal value chain while preserving their livelihoods. Hazardous dismantling and complex critical materials recovery should take place in facilities equipped to manage these processes safely.
Recycling is often presented as a climate solution, but it also requires energy, chemicals, transportation and industrial infrastructure. How does Attero demonstrate that its processes deliver a genuine net environmental benefit?
Recycling is not just a climate solution; it is also a resource-security strategy. Recovering critical materials domestically can reduce the need for imported virgin materials, lower exposure to supply disruptions and retain more value within India’s manufacturing economy.
Our Roorkee plant has been powered entirely by hydroelectric energy since 2024 and operates on a zero-liquid-discharge basis. We also use automated recovery systems, robotic battery dismantling and black mass processing and refining capabilities.
We assess environmental performance through an independently verified Life Cycle Assessment and an ISO 14064-verified greenhouse gas inventory, rather than relying on recovery rates alone. Quantified emissions reductions may also support carbon-credit generation where an applicable methodology, baseline and independent verification requirements are met. Our objective is to demonstrate environmental benefits through measurable evidence while strengthening India’s domestic supply of critical materials.
Has Attero commissioned independently verified lifecycle assessments comparing its recycling processes with primary mining and refining for individual metals?
Yes. We have completed an independently verified Life Cycle Assessment covering our critical materials processing operations, following ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards.
Our objective is to give manufacturers credible environmental information to support sourcing decisions. We assess impacts metal by metal rather than applying a single emissions-reduction figure across all recovered materials. Comparisons with primary production must account for the specific metal, processing route and assessment boundaries to establish the environmental benefit accurately.
Attero plans a major expansion of its recycling and refining capacity. What are the biggest commercial barriers to making recycled critical minerals competitive with newly mined materials?
The main barriers are reliable feedstock availability, commodity-price volatility, capital investment and the need to consistently meet manufacturers’ quality specifications. Recyclers also face competition from the informal sector, which often operates without the same compliance, environmental and worker-safety costs as authorised facilities. This can create an uneven playing field.
At Attero, our proprietary technologies recover more than 22 critical minerals, with recovery efficiencies above 98% and purity levels exceeding 99.9% across battery materials. Our technology portfolio is backed by more than 50 granted global patents and over 200 patent filings. However, technology must be supported by reliable feedstock, efficient operations and consistent demand.
The sector needs stronger policy support, effective enforcement and incentives that help compliant recyclers compete fairly. Government measures, including the ₹1,500 crore critical mineral recycling incentive scheme, are an important step. Ultimately, recycled materials must compete on cost, quality and reliability while strengthening India’s domestic supply chain.
How resilient is Attero’s business model when global prices of virgin minerals fall and recycled materials face stronger price competition?
Commodity-price fluctuations affect the entire critical materials industry. At Attero, our proprietary technology helps keep operating costs competitive through efficient recovery, while our ability to recover multiple metals from the same feedstock reduces dependence on any single commodity.
There is also a natural hedge in our business model because selling prices are linked to the value of the incoming feedstock. When commodity prices move, both input costs and output realisations adjust, helping manage exposure, although margins can still fluctuate. Diversified sourcing through MetalMandi, Selsmart and OEM relationships further supports material availability.
India is rapidly expanding its EV, battery storage and renewable energy sectors, but many batteries installed today will remain in service for years. Where will the feedstock come from to sustain the recycling industry at scale in the near term?
Near-term feedstock will come from both manufacturing and end-of-life returns. Battery manufacturing scrap, rejected cells and production residues are available before large volumes of EV batteries reach retirement. Batteries also have different service lives depending on their application, usage and condition, so returns from some segments, including two- and three-wheelers, can emerge sooner than from passenger cars.
At Attero, Selsmart helps collect discarded electronics from consumers, while MetalMandi connects us with scrap suppliers and aggregators. These channels, along with OEM relationships, help us access existing waste streams while preparing for growing volumes of retired EV and energy-storage batteries.
Attero’s company profile cites current lithium-ion battery recycling capacity of 15,00 metric tonnes and a long-term ambition to build 300,000 metric tonnes of lithium refining capacity globally. How will the company secure enough suitable feedstock to support this expansion, particularly as many EV batteries remain in service?
Our feedstock strategy combines battery manufacturing scrap, rejected cells, production residues and spent batteries from consumer electronics and other applications. We are also building relationships with OEMs and other players across the battery value chain to secure reliable material supplies.
At Attero, MetalMandi facilitates the procurement of around 15,000 tonnes of scrap every month, while Selsmart handles over 30,000 monthly orders across more than 25 cities. These platforms strengthen our access to fragmented waste streams. As EV adoption grows, retired vehicle batteries will become a larger feedstock source. Our expansion will be guided by long-term sourcing partnerships, diversified supply channels and actual material availability to ensure commercially viable growth.