WE The Recycling Company

Addressing an overlooked, concerning trend

The seed for WE was planted during the COVID-19 pandemic — a time when the world became more reliant on digital technology than ever before. As remote work, online education, and virtual communication rose, so did the use of electronic devices. This rapid digital adoption, however, led to a growing, often overlooked problem: a sharp increase in electronic waste. Dr. Payal Nandurkar, Founder and CEO of WE, noticed this concerning trend. She witnessed large, unmanaged discarded electronics in cities, dumped carelessly, with no awareness of the health or environmental hazards they posed. This observation quickly turned into deep concern, but also sparked Payal´s curiosity as to why this type of waste was handled in that manner or whether it had to be this way.

That moment became a turning point for Payal. She started researching e-waste and discovered alarming data: that by 2030, global e-waste is expected to increase by over 30% and that e-waste increases five times faster than documented e-waste recycling. That realization made it clear to her that India urgently needed to address this growing problem. India, being one of the largest consumers of electronics and third largest contributor to e-waste, lacked a strong, community-driven solution.

“I realized that if no one was addressing it at the grassroots level, someone had to step up"

Dr. Payal Nandurkar, the founder of WE The Recycling Company, is a distinguished chemistry expert and social entrepreneur with a profound commitment to sustainability and innovation. She holds a Ph. D. in Chemistry from Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai and Postdoc from Center for Applied Energy Research, University of Kentucky, USA. She has a total of 20 years national and international industry experience in all types of waste management and recycling. Her technical expertise encompasses green chemistry, catalysis, polymerization, and CO₂ capture and utilization. The company's team is composed of local community people who are trained for day-to-day activity of inventory management, material pickups, safe dismantling and machine handling for recycling. All people work collaboratively to achieve the company's sustainability goals.

The biggest hurdle the young company had to face was the lack of awareness about electronic waste and its environmental and health hazards. Most people simply do not know what qualifies as e-waste, and how to dispose of it responsibly. Many individuals and organizations still consider waste disposal a low priority and are reluctant to adopt sustainable practices unless incentivized or legally required.

The name “WE” carries deep significance. It stands for Women Entrepreneur, reflecting the leadership and vision of a woman-led organization. It also stands for Waste Electronics, the core focus of their mission. But most importantly, “WE” symbolizes collaboration — because solving the growing crisis of electronic waste isn’t the job of one person or one company. It’s a collective responsibility.

"Only when WE, as a society united in action, come together — citizens, corporates, students, and the government — we can create meaningful change"

Including all stages of the life cycle

The company´s core innovation lies in providing services connecting environmental science, community awareness, and sustainable technology to address one of India’s fastest-growing problems: e-waste. WE The Recycling Company offers a variety of services concerning e-waste in every stage of the product life cycle:

WE promotes and offers repair, refurbishment, and reuse of electronic devices to extend their functional lifespan. Through these programmes, they provide affordable electronics to low-income families, bridging the digital gap. Socially, their initiative creates jobs in local communities. WE establishes accessible collection points and community programs to ensure e-waste is gathered safely and responsibly, preventing hazardous waste from entering landfills or the informal recycling sector. The informal sector refers to unregulated, often unsafe recycling activities carried out by individuals or small-scale operators without formal oversight or protective measures. WE educates informal workers on proper and safe handling and dismantling. Furthermore, the company continues to amplify awareness campaigns in educational institutions, companies and NGOs, with special emphasis on youth and women, to build a culture of environmental responsibility and inclusion at the grassroots level.

"I truly believe that even small, consistent efforts can lead to significant change. By raising awareness and gradually shifting people’s attitudes toward responsible e-waste disposal, we can transform our cities into cleaner, more sustainable places to live"

WE not only offers end-to-end e-waste recycling solution, but also offers management of diverse bulk waste streams, such as plastics, metal scrap, waste oil, glass, cardboard, and other dry wastes. Certain components, like lithium-ion batteries or rare earth magnets, require specialized technologies for safe and effective recycling. Some of these solutions are still a challenge to universal e-waste processing. Further R&D innovations are required to make them viable.

"The idea was not just to collect waste but to create a movement where everyone — individuals, businesses, governments — works together to tackle this growing challenge"

Next up at WE The Recycling Company

WE has conducted over 800 awareness and engagement activities across educational institutions, hospitals, banks, corporates, and NGOs, reaching more than 2 million people. These initiatives have been carried out in 45+ cities across India, and their collection drives have resulted in the responsible collection of more than 500 metric tonnes of e-waste. Currently, their focus is on scaling their impact and deepening their infrastructure to build a robust and replicable model for responsible e-waste management. This includes actively working on expanding their collection network across urban and semi-urban areas to ensure participation from government organizations and corporates. In parallel, we are investing in refining our green chemistry-based recycling processes to make them more cost-effective, scalable, and environmentally safe. A key focus will be on building inclusive value chains where communities, especially youth and women, play an active role in collection, processing, and innovation.

While a concerning observation triggered this journey, the initial aim of the company has become a much larger mission: to create a cleaner, more aware, and sustainable India, where technology and environmental responsibility go hand in hand.

With their innovative approach, WE The Recycling Company, who joined the ISC3 Global Start-up Service October 2022, actively contributes to SDG3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG4 (Quality Education), SDG8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG13 (Climate Action), SDG17 (Partnerships for the Goals).