Nitin Gupta, CEO and Co-founder of Attero, discusses the launch of Selsmart, a platform designed to address India’s e-waste crisis. Selsmart aims to streamline e-waste disposal for consumers, helping reduce the country’s growing e-waste footprint. Gupta outlines plans for expansion across Tier 1 cities, eventually reaching pan-India, and how it aligns with Attero’s broader mission of closing the circular economy loop.
Read the full interview here:
TimesTech: What inspired the launch of Selsmart, and how do you plan to expand it across India’s Tier 1 cities and eventually pan-India?
Nitin: The launch of Selsmart was inspired by the urgent need to address India’s growing e-waste crisis. With electronic goods consumption on the rise and product lifecycles becoming shorter, improper disposal of these items leads to significant environmental challenges, including soil and water contamination. We identified a substantial gap in household electronics disposal, where consumers needed more awareness and convenient options for responsible e-waste management. Selsmart was created to bridge this gap by providing a user-friendly platform that simplifies the recycling process for consumers.
Our expansion strategy is aggressive yet strategic. In the first year, we plan to roll out Selsmart in ten Tier 1 and metro cities, including Delhi NCR and Chennai. Over the next three years, we aim to establish a pan-India presence, ensuring responsible e-waste disposal is accessible to consumers nationwide. By leveraging our robust reverse logistics network and Attero’s pioneering recycling technology, we are confident that Selsmart will become India’s largest consumer take-back platform.
TimesTech: How will Selsmart contribute to reducing India’s e-waste footprint, especially about the informal sector’s role?
Nitin: Selsmart is poised to significantly reduce India’s e-waste footprint by providing a structured and formalized channel for the disposal of household electronics. The informal sector currently handles around 90% of e-waste in India, often leading to unsafe and environmentally damaging practices. Selsmart will mitigate this by offering consumers a reliable and responsible alternative, ensuring that e-waste is processed through Attero’s advanced recycling technology. This approach not only diverts e-waste from informal channels but also ensures that valuable materials are recovered efficiently, reducing the environmental impact and contributing to the circular economy.
TimesTech: How does Selsmart fit into Attero’s strategy to close the circular economy loop, and what challenges do you anticipate?
Nitin: Selsmart is a critical component of Attero’s strategy to close the circular economy loop. By facilitating the collection of e-waste directly from consumers, Selsmart ensures that end-of-life electronics are properly recycled and the valuable materials within them are reclaimed. It aligns with our broader mission to transform waste into sustainable resources and reduce the dependency on virgin materials.
One of the key challenges we anticipate is educating consumers about the importance of responsible e-waste disposal and encouraging them to utilize Selsmart over informal methods. Additionally, scaling our operations to meet our targets will require seamless logistics and strong partnerships with all stakeholders.
TimesTech: How does Selsmart enhance Attero’s existing partnerships with OEMs, and are there any new collaborations in the pipeline?
Nitin: Selsmart enhances our existing partnerships with OEMs by providing a direct consumer-facing platform that aligns with their sustainability goals. By integrating Selsmart into their business models, brands can offer customers a convenient and responsible way to dispose of old electronics, promoting circularity and reducing environmental impact. This collaboration strengthens our relationships with brands and helps them meet their extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations.
We are actively exploring new collaborations with leading brands to expand Selsmart’s reach and impact further. These partnerships will be crucial in scaling the platform and embedding sustainable practices across the industry.
TimesTech: How is Attero’s advanced recycling technology integrated into Selsmart, and what future innovations can we expect?
Nitin: Attero’s advanced recycling technology is at the heart of Selsmart. Once e-waste is collected through the platform, it is processed using our patented technology, which ensures over 98% recovery efficiency across various battery materials. This technology allows us to extract pure critical metals, such as Cobalt, Nickel, and Lithium, from e-waste, thereby closing the loop in the circular economy.
We plan to continue innovating in the field of e-waste recycling. Future developments may include further enhancements to our recycling processes and the expansion of our capabilities to handle new types of electronic waste. We are also exploring the integration of AI and machine learning to optimize our logistics and processing operations.
TimesTech: How does Selsmart align with Attero’s global expansion plans, and what are your long-term goals in e-waste and Li-ion battery recycling?
Nitin: Selsmart is a pivotal part of our domestic strategy and aligns with Attero’s global expansion plans. As we scale Selsmart across India, we are simultaneously building our capabilities to replicate this model in other markets where e-waste is a growing concern. We are expecting Selsmart to process 140,000 metric tonnes (MT) of e-waste in next 3 years.
Our long-term goal is to establish Attero as a global leader in e-waste and Li-ion battery recycling, providing sustainable solutions that contribute to a greener planet. We aim to expand our annual e-waste processing capacity to 415,000 MT and li-ion processing capacity to 300,000 tonnes over the next five years and continue to lead in innovation. By doing so, we aim to set new benchmarks in the industry and make a significant impact on reducing the global e-waste footprint.
