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India’s E-Waste Recycling Rules Face Pushback Over Rising Costs

Recycling and Waste Management

Business Honor
19 April, 2025

Industry urges fair costs, collaboration in India’s push for greener e-waste recycling.

India's newly notified E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022, focus on enhanced recycling and lesser damage to the environment through enhanced pay to recycle bulk devices such as televisions, air conditioners, and refrigerators. As much as the initiative is seen in good spirits, the precipitate hike in the cost of recycling has set industry majors such as Samsung, Hitachi, and Daikin worrying.

Shashi Shekhar, director of Foxx Compliance Services, an approved e-waste recycler, contributed his view about the problem. He said stronger recycling systems were needed, yet the new cost structure might set a heavy tax on manufacturers. Recycling big appliances is complicated. It requires skilled laborers, safe disassembling, unique equipment, and proper disposal channels for toxic materials such as refrigerants.

Manufacturers are concerned that the steep hike in costs will upset their budgets and pricing strategies. Shekhar further stated that although the recyclers welcome formal recycling and ecological objectives, the methodology of arriving at these new costs was unclear and non-transparent. He feels that the government did not involve sufficient industry professionals who deal with recycling on a daily basis.

Shekhar underlined that increasing the cost of recycling should not be perceived as a penalty but rather as an indication of a joint responsibility among producers and recyclers. He demanded cost structures based on actual figures and differences in region. Recycling an air conditioner, for example, is much more expensive than recycling a fan, and the price should be indicated as such.

He concluded by requesting policymakers to coordinate with producers and recyclers in order to devise a fair, flexible cost system. He expressed that successful compliance relies on the presence of clean timelines, pragmatic expectations, and collective efforts by all parties involved. Only after that, he further added, can India develop a sustainable, efficient recycling regime.