India’s attero turns e-waste into a $1 billion opportunity with recycling tech, digital scrap platforms

India’s attero turns e-waste into a $1 billion opportunity with recycling tech, digital scrap platforms

  By Faridat Salifu

India’s fast-growing e-waste problem is becoming a billion-dollar opportunity for Attero, a homegrown startup that has transformed old gadgets into valuable resources like gold, lithium, cobalt, and silver while reshaping the global conversation on circular economy and clean technology.

Founded in 2008 by brothers Nitin and Rohan Gupta, Attero was born out of a simple problem: they couldn’t find a responsible way to discard an old laptop. Today, it operates India’s most advanced e-waste and lithium-ion battery recycling plant, with a recovery rate of 98% among the highest in the world and is active in over six countries including the United States, South Korea, and several parts of Europe.

The scale of India’s e-waste issue is staggering. With over 1.4 billion mobile users, the country generates massive amounts of discarded electronics. A typical smartphone contains 100–200 mg of silver, while computers hold up to 350 mg, alongside trace amounts of gold, copper, cobalt, and lithium. Attero has tapped into this untapped urban mine, recycling over 1.44 lakh tonnes of e-waste and nearly 10,000 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries to date.

But Attero isn’t just recycling—it’s innovating, with over 46 global patents to its name and proprietary technology that enables eco-friendly recovery of metals from batteries, solar panels, and magnets. It’s also the only company globally earning carbon credits for recycling e-waste and lithium-ion batteries, proving that its impact extends beyond material recovery to tangible climate action.

In January 2025, Attero launched MetalMandi, a B2B digital marketplace aimed at formalising India’s $100 billion unorganised scrap market. Using AI-driven pricing and traceable logistics, the platform allows scrap dealers from places like Kolhapur to Delhi to sell metal waste transparently and equitably—cutting out middlemen and ensuring fair value.

Today, 70% of Attero’s e-waste supply flows through MetalMandi. The platform is on track to reach 1,000 tonnes of daily scrap transactions by mid-2025, offering scrap workers access to bank accounts, insurance, government schemes, and improved monthly incomes—from ₹10,000 to ₹15,000 or more.

“Any material sold through the app is traceable—we know who bought it, who sold it, when it was picked up, and where it went,” says CEO Nitin Gupta. “It’s not just about efficiency. It’s about equity.”

To handle the consumer side of e-waste, Attero rolled out Selsmart in 2024—a direct-to-consumer platform that allows people to schedule doorstep pickups for old electronics like phones, ACs, and laptops. The platform guarantees fair market value and Department of Defence-standard data wiping to ensure user privacy.

In less than a year, Selsmart now contributes 10% of Attero’s input volume, and partnerships with electronics brands offer customers incentives for responsible disposal. For users like Roshan, a 23-year-old from Delhi, “it’s efficient, transparent, and makes you want to learn more about e-waste.”

Attero’s Roorkee plant and international expansion have made it a key player in global cleantech, with ISO certifications for greenhouse gas tracking (ISO 14064), environmental life cycle impact (ISO 14044), and material authenticity (Global Recycled Standard). The company has grown 30x in revenue since 2021 and now works with over 400 electronics manufacturers.

Attero’s work highlights how circular economy models can deliver economic, environmental, and social returns—redefining waste not as a liability, but as a resource.

Most Indian households have a drawer filled with unused gadgets. Attero is building the infrastructure physical and digital to ensure those items don’t end up in landfills or informal recycling sites, but instead re-enter the economy as critical raw materials.

By using Selsmart, informing kabadiwalas about MetalMandi, and choosing responsible brands, consumers play an active role in India’s transition to a sustainable e-waste economy.

As Nitin Gupta puts it: “It’s not waste until it’s wasted.”