Smartphones to be major contributor to e-waste, says Croma CEO Mitra

NEW DELHI: Not many people exchange their old phones while buying a new one, said Avijit Mitra, CEO & executive director of Croma, one of India’s largest electronic goods retailers. At Croma, only 5% of the e-waste collected is mobiles or smartphones.

Refusing to part with the old phone not only robs consumers of a good deal on the new one, the aging device is likely to end up in India’s fastest-growing trash stream, e-waste.

India generates about two million tonnes of e-waste annually, around 5% of which is recycled. The poor record in ewaste collection coupled with 15% annual growth in consumer electronics sales has the industry worried and thinking. “Smartphones will be a major contributor to e-waste in future, as this is the category where upgrade cycles are much shorter than other categories,” said Mitra.