The economics of e-waste recycling in India: the case for mobile handsets
Student name: Ms Sumati Sharma
Guide: Dr Debdatta Saha
Year of completion: 2013
Host Organisation: TERI University
Abstract: There has been a surge in the demand for electronic equipment worldwide in the past few
decades. In India, the demand for electronic hardware is projected to increase from USD 45
billion in 2009 to USD 400 billion in 2020 according to the Ministry of Communications and
Information Technology. This has led to the emerging problem of electronic waste and has
serious environmental implications due to its hazardous nature and scope for recycling. It is an
exacerbated problem in developing countries like India given the rise in demand of electronic
products and potential dangers of non-segregation of e-waste from ordinary waste. In the case of
mobile handsets, excess momentum in phone purchases magnifies the problem due to the
presence of demand externalities. This thesis seeks to establish through a theoretical model,
market failure in the segregation of e-waste from ordinary waste where market failure is
characterized by no provision for a take-back policy of phones by the manufacturer when it is
socially desirable and no recycling in the secondary market. In the absence of relevant data on ewaste
from mobile phones in the country, a primary level survey has been conducted to
understand the nature of the market study the existing mechanisms for e-waste management in
India. There is a high degree of consistency between the theoretical and empirical results.
KEYWORDS: E-waste, take-back policy, secondary market, market failure, network
externalities
