Lok Sabha Question No. 5185 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-04-02
Subject: Scientific Technology for e-Waste Management
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Smt. Bharti Pardhi, Shri Bajrang Manohar Sonwane, Shri Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

## DEPARTMENT OF SCIENTIFIC AND INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5185

## (ANSWERED ON 02.04.2025)

## SCIENTIFIC TECHNOLOGY FOR E-WASTE MANAGEMENT

5185.  Shri Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne:

Smt. Bharti Pardhi: Shri Bajrang Manohar Sonwane:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Council  of  Scientific  and  Industrial  Research  (CSIR)  has developed  any  specific  technologies  or  processes  for  the  safe  and efficient management of e-waste;
- (b) if  so,  the  key  technological  solutions  developed  by  CSIR  for  e-waste recycling, dismantling and material recovery;
- (c)   the current stage of development for these technologies;
- (d)      the  manner  in  which  the  CSIR  is  collaborating  with  international research institutions to advance e-waste management technologies;
- (e)   whether the CSIR has partnered with any industries and Government agencies or NGOs to implement its e-waste management technologies;
- (f)    if so, the details thereof; and
- (g)      the  safety  measures  incorporated  into  the  CSIR's  technologies  to protect the   workers and the surrounding environment?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND EARTH SCIENCES

(DR. JITENDRA SINGH)

(a)&(b) Yes, Sir. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) has developed  a  few  technologies/processes  for  the  safe  and  efficient management of e-waste through its constituent laboratories,  namely

CSIR-National  Metallurgical  Laboratory  (CSIR-NML),  Jamshedpur  and CSIR-Institute  of  Minerals  and  Materials  Technology  (CSIR-IMMT), Bhubaneswar.

CSIR-NML efforts are majorly focused on the recovery of metals from various parts of e-waste i.e. Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), Li-ion (LIBs), Hard disk,  Optical  fibres  to  recover  non-ferrous,  rare,  rare  earth  and precious metals. The technologies/processes have been developed for:

- Recovery  of  Gold  from  Waste  Mobile  Phones  and  Scraps  of various Equipment: A process has been developed for the dissolution of metal from the PCBs of waste mobile phones, small parts of various equipment  containing  gold  on  the  outer  layer.  Chemical  leaching followed by adsorption/ cementation with subsequent heat treatment was used to recover 99% gold.
- Recovery  of  Cobalt  from  Discarded  Li-ion  Batteries  of  Mobile Phones: A process has been developed for the dissolution of metals from discarded lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) of mobile phones. Diluted sulfuric acid in the presence of an oxidant was used to leach out ~70-80% cobalt along with other metals in 60 min at elevated temperature. The leach liquor  generated  was  further  processed  through  solvent  extraction, precipitation,  crystallization/  electro-winning  techniques  to  recover cobalt as salt/ metal.
- Recovery of Neodymium as a Value Added Product from Waste Hard Disk of Personal Computers: A process has been developed for the recovery  of  neodymium  as  value  added  product  from  magnets  of discarded hard disk. Under optimized condition, sulfuric acid leaches 98% Neodymium (Nd), 97% Iron (Fe), 60% Nickel (Ni) and 7.5% Boric Acid  leaching  was  followed  by  selective  precipitation  of  Nd  and leaching of the precipitate with 5-20% HF solution.
- Recycling of Spent/Used/Discarded Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) Batteries  for  recovery  of  Lithium,  Iron  and  Phosphorus:  With  acid leaching  using  10-20%  solids,  98-100%  Lithium  (Li),  Iron  (Fe)  and Phosphorus (P) could be extracted. The leach liquor was subjected to selective sequential precipitation route to extract 90-95%% pure lithium as lithium carbonate/lithium hydroxide and 98% pure iron phosphate. Purified  graphite  was  a  derivative  in  the  process.  The  developed process recovers lithium in most desired marketable form, apart from

iron phosphate. The derived values can be used for multiple applications apart from new battery manufacturing.

- Recovery  of  Lithium,  Nickel,  Cobalt,  Manganese  and  Graphite from Spent/Used/Discarded Lithium-ion Batteries of mixed chemistries: With acid leaching using 20-30% solids, 94-96% Lithium (Li), Cobalt (Co), Nickel (Ni) and Manganese (Mn), was extracted. The leach liquor was subjected  to  selective  sequential  multistage  solvent  extraction  and precipitation route to extract >96-99.9% multiple variant pure salts of lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese. High pure graphite is a derivative product  of  the  process.  The  process  enables  recovery  of  acid  and reagents. The developed technology can extract critical elements like Lithium,  Cobalt  and  Nickel  apart  from  manganese  as  salts  in  most desired marketable form, with holistic recycling to result in reusable graphite. For generic value, an estimate of 100kg of spent laptop LIBs gives 25kg electrode material, from which 5.7 kg Cobalt sulfate, 0.69 kg Lithium  Hydroxide,  0.51  kg  Nickel  Carbonate,  5.4  kg  Manganese Carbonate, 0.5 kg Alumina Powder and 12 kg graphite powder can be separated.  CSIR-NML  has  also  developed  a  pilot-scale  facility  to dismantle and recycle LIBs at 1TPD scale. This facility is capable of processing all LIBs to synthesise metal salts suitable for new battery making.

CSIR-IMMT has developed the following technologies/processes for the management of e-waste:

- Utilising discarded desktop PCBs (e-waste) to form metal objects (artefacts)  and  construction  materials:  A  process  flowsheet  for  the recycling of the e-waste was developed following mechanical separation  and  hydrometallurgical  route.  The  flotation  technique  (a physico-chemical separation method) was used to separate hydrophilic metallic  and  hydrophobic  non-metallic  particles.  The  fine  metallic particles subjected for copper leaching. The residue obtained from the copper  leaching  circuit  was  subjected  for  tin  and  precious  metal recovery circuit.
- Process flowsheet for the recovery of Nd and Pr and other Rare Earth Elements (REEs): The process flowsheet was developed for the recovery  of  Neodymium  (Nd)  and  Praseodymium  (Pr)  and  other  Rare Earth  Elements  (REEs)  from  waste  Neodymium  Magnets  (NdFeB) magnet, scrap, etc. present in the electronics.
- (c) The  processes/technologies  developed  by  CSIR-NML  are  at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) -6 and above. Further, technologies/processes developed by CSIR-IMMT are at TRL - 4.
- (d) CSIR has partnered with research and technology institutions in Germany, Australia, France and Bulgaria in the recent past on research projects related to e-waste management covering the following areas, among others:
- o  Advanced  recovery  of  the  battery  materials  and  rare  earth elements from ores and wastes;
- o  To develop an effective extraction and separation technology to selectively  extract  rare  earth  elements  -  Erbium  (Er),  Terbium  (Tb), Europium (Eu), Praseodymium (Pr) Neodymium (Nd) and Dysprosium (Dy) from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE); and
- o  International Clean Innovation Researcher Networks -Integrating End of Life (EoL) solar panel waste in a circular economy model
- CSIR-NML has partnered with the Korea Institute of Geoscience and  Mineral  Resources  (KIGAM),  Korea,  for  carrying  out  General Research in the domain.

(e)&(f)  Yes, Sir. Technologies/processes developed by CSIR for e-waste management have been transferred to several industries for recovery of metals from various parts of e-waste i.e. Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), Li-ion (LIBs), Hard disk, Optical fibres to recover non-ferrous, rare, rare earth and precious metals. The details are at Annexure-I.

- (g) The provisions and standard regulations of the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) have been followed for the treatment of solid, liquid, and gases during the development.  Licensee(s)  Industries  are  advised  and  instructed  to follow the same to protect the workers and the surrounding environment.
- ******

## Annexure-I

|   S.No. | Name of the Technology /Process                                                                                                                      | Licensee(s)                                             |
|---------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------|
|       1 | Know-How for Recovery of gold from the waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) of used and discarded mobile phones                                       | M/s. ADV Metal Combine Pvt. Ltd., Delhi                 |
|       2 | Know-How (Laboratory Scale) for extraction of precious metals (Au, Pt, Pd) from the metallic concentrate of PC-PCBs                                  | M/s. Evergreen Recyclekaro Pvt. Ltd., Navi Mumbai       |
|       3 | Know-How for extraction of cobalt and gold from the black cathode material of Li- Co batteries and gold coated surface of e- waste, respectively     | M/s. EXIGO Recycling Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi               |
|       4 | Know-How for extraction of cobalt metal/salt from Black Powder of Lithium Batteries                                                                  | M/s. UNQ Ind Pvt. Ltd. Firozabad                        |
|       5 | Know-How (Lab scale) for extraction of valuable and precious metals (Cu, Au, Ag & Co, Mn) from scrap of electronic waste & waste Li-Cobalt Batteries | M/s. Walle Infotech, Ranchi                             |
|       6 | Know-How for extraction of cobalt metal/salt from the black powder of Li- cobalt batteries                                                           | M/s. Evergreen Recyclekaro India Pvt. Ltd., Navi Mumbai |
|       7 | Know-How (Laboratory Scale) for extraction of Cobalt and Manganese from the Black cathodic material of Li-cobalt batteries                           | M/s. SBCON Recycling Private Limited, Ahmedabad         |
|       8 | Technological Know-How for the extraction of Cu, Al and Au from waste PCBs                                                                           | M/s. Metaore Recycler Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata                |
|       9 | Closed loop holistic recycling process for recovery of critical metals from any/mixed chemistries of lithium based batteries                         | M/s Recy Energy, Pune                                   |
|      10 | Know-How for the recovery of Co, Li, and Mn form Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs)                                                                        | M/s. MetaOre, Kolkata                                   |
|      11 | Closed-loop Know-How to recycle spent Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs) to produce                                                                        | M/s. NILE Li-Cycle India Pvt. Ltd, Hyderabad            |

|    | value-added products of Li, Co, Mn, Cu, Ni, saleable plastics and graphite                                                                   |                                            |
|----|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| 12 | Recycling Lithium Ion Batteries (LIBs) to recover sellable metal/salts of Li, Co, Mn, Ni, Cu, Al, graphite and plastics                      | M/s. Recyclib Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi         |
| 13 | Technological Know-How for the extraction of Cu, Al and Au as Metals/ salts from waste PCBs                                                  | M/s. Novasensa,New Delhi                   |
| 14 | Technological Know-How to recycle spent Lithium-Ion Batteries (LIBs) to produce value-added products of Li, Co, Mn, Cu, Ni, as metals/ salts | M/s. Novasensa,New Delhi                   |
| 15 | Know-How to recover saleable products of Cu, Al and Au as Metals/ salts from waste PCBs                                                      | M/s. Waste Management Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore |

## Chemical Symbols used:

| (i) Au- Gold        | (vi) Co- Cobalt    |
|---------------------|--------------------|
| (ii) Pt- Platinum   | (vii) Ag- Silver   |
| (iii) Pd- Palladium | (viii)Cu- Copper   |
| (iv)Li- Lithium     | (ix) Mn- Manganese |
| (v) Ni- Nickel      | (x) Al- Aluminum   |