ELECTRONIC SCARP RECYCLING MARKET ANALYSIS

Electronic Scarp Recycling Market Size and Trends

The electronic scrap recycling market is estimated to be valued at USD 32.56 Bn in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 52.62 Bn by 2031, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.1% from 2024 to 2031.

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The increasing electronic waste generation across the globe due to shorter life cycles and higher obsolescence of electronic devices is driving the need for the proper recycling and reuse of materials. The electronic scrap recycling market is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period. Environmental regulations regarding proper e-waste disposal and rising awareness about the toxic hazards of improper e-waste recycling are compelling key players to adopt sustainable recycling practices. Increased investments in improving recycling technology and expanding collection infrastructure will further boost the recycling of electronic waste.

Drivers of the Market:

Environmental concerns and e-waste management policies

With rising environmental pollution and limited space in landfills, improper e-waste disposal has become a significant issue worldwide. Electronic products contain various toxic elements like lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, etc. that severely contaminate the environment if not handled properly. When these products are thrown in landfills or incinerated, the toxic elements seep into the soil and water bodies causing immense harm to public health and biodiversity. Cities are grappling with the challenge of limited landfill area getting filled up rapidly as e-waste volumes continue to mount. This brings the need for scientific e-waste recycling and reuse practices to the forefront.

Most nations have formulated stringent regulations in recent years around e-waste management and extended producer responsibility. Manufacturers and brand owners are now accountable for ensuring their products are recycled in an environment-friendly manner at the end of life through take-back programs. Non-compliance can attract hefty fines. This legal push has led companies to tie up with certified recyclers to channelize e-waste properly. Individual consumers are also more aware now about responsible e-waste disposal and the hazards of improper handling. Grassroot advocacy campaigns have enlightened people about protecting the environment from toxic pollutants. It has made recycling a way of life for many.

Market Concentration and Competitive Landscape

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The growing adoption of renewable energy technologies

With depleting fossil fuel reserves and urgent climate action, renewable energy is gaining global prominence. Solar panels and wind turbines are proliferating worldwide to transition to cleaner sources of electricity. These new age technologies contain electronic components and circuits that will also eventually retire from use after 10-15 years. As installations increase exponentially, a huge volume of retired panels and other generation equipment will need processing and material extraction. The materials inside like silicon, glass, copper, and aluminum have high recycle potential if handled by experienced recyclers. This offers a secondary source of such critical minerals and reduces mining pressure.

However, when these manufacturing units upgrade their machinery and fabrication lines, the retired tools and equipment will enter the recycling channel. Many nations have formulated programs supporting renewable manufacturing to boost local jobs and economic activities. This will inevitably spur the recycling demand for these industries too to follow sustainable practices. Individual prosumers actively adopting rooftop solar are also growing steadily.

Key Takeaways from Analyst:

Rapid advancements in technology are driving more frequent consumer upgrades of electronics like smartphones, laptops, and tablets. This steady flow of e-waste provides a regular supply of raw materials for the recycling industry. Strict regulations around proper e-waste disposal in developed economies like the European Union and North America are also driving more volume towards certified recycling facilities. Rising environmental consciousness among both businesses and consumers has boosted the demand for recycled materials.

One challenge faced by the industry is the declining reuse of parts from older electronics. With each new generation of devices, components become more integrated, complex to disassemble, and difficult to refurbish for resale. This lessens the economic viability of some recycling streams. Geography can pose another hurdle, as consolidating collection volumes across vast regions involves higher logistics costs. Compliance issues may arise if e-waste leaves regulated markets through illegal export routes. However, technology innovations in sorting and recovery techniques can help boost yields and margins.

South Asia and Africa are witnessing sharp growth, benefitting from proximity to both waste exports and low-cost labor. Investments to formalize collection infrastructure and enforce safety practices could maximize sustainable gains.

Market Challenges: Contamination of E-waste

One of the major challenges faced by the electronic scrap recycling market is the contamination of e-waste. A lot of undifferentiated waste containing toxic materials including lead, mercury, cadmium, brominated flame retardants, and other chemicals are dumped and processed together without proper classification and sorting. This leads to the contamination of recyclable materials making further processing and recovery of valuable materials difficult and costly. The unsorted nature of the garbage collection system in many countries mixes up household, commercial, and industrial wastes together. This mixed waste usually ends up in scrapyards where crude dismantling and shredding processes spread the contamination further. Proper handling and processing of such contaminated scrap becomes a health, safety and environmental hazard necessitating advanced treatment procedures before any meaningful resource recovery can be carried out. This challenges the cost effectiveness of the whole recycling process.

Market Opportunities: Growth of urban mining

One of the major opportunities for the electronic scrap recycling market is the growing concept of urban mining. With electronics and e-waste containing valuable materials like gold, silver, copper, palladium, and other rare earth elements, there is a huge potential to extract these resources from scrap. As urbanization increases worldwide, cities are accumulating massive amounts of electronic waste in landfills and dump yards representing an urban ore body or mine above the ground. Advancements in automated sorting and processing technologies now allow for highly efficient material separation and recovery rates from complex composite products. The growing resource scarcity and price volatility of virgin ores is making urban mining commercially competitive. It provides an opportunity for cities to establish modern waste recycling infrastructure and turn e-waste management into a local business and jobs creation program. Many see urban mining as integral to the emerging circular economy and closing material life cycles in sustainable cities of the future.

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Insights by Product Type: Growing adoption of digital technology

In terms of product type, computers & laptops is expected to contribute 34.2% share of the market in 2024, owing to the growing adoption of digital technology across industries and households. As more companies are embracing remote working and digital transformation, the sales of computers and laptops have increased substantially over the years. Additionally, individuals too are increasingly relying on personal computers for work, education, entertainment, and other daily tasks. This has led to higher obsolescence rates of existing computer devices. As a result, a large quantity of used and end-of-life computers are added to the recycling stream each year. Electronic scrap recyclers are able to extract several valuable materials such as plastics, metals, and rare earth elements from discarded computers and laptops. The recovery of these materials plays a crucial role in fueling the development of new computing devices, thereby creating a circular economy. If managed properly, the product type segment is expected to remain a major driver of growth for the electronic scrap recycling market in the coming years.

Insights by Source: Commercial Segment Leads the Sourcing of Electronic Scrap

In terms of source, the commercial segment is expected to contribute 38.8% share to the electronic scrap recycling market in 2024, owing to the large quantity of e-waste generated from corporate offices, retail stores, warehouses, and other commercial establishments. Modern commercial operations rely heavily on technology for carrying out day-to-day activities and maintain large inventories of electronic assets like computers, printers, copiers, televisions and other gadgets. With technological advancements occurring at a rapid pace, companies replace their existing inventory quite frequently to improve productivity and efficiency. This planned obsolescence from the commercial sector results in a steady inflow of scrap into the recycling system. Furthermore, commercial clients place a high priority on responsible recycling practices to comply with environmental regulations. They also find it cost-effective to outsource e-waste handling to reputed recyclers. As more businesses globally digitize their operations, the commercial sector is poised to remain the primary sourcing segment for electronic scrap in the foreseeable future.

Regional Insights

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North America has established itself as the dominant region in the global electronic scrap recycling market. The region is expected to account for 38.7% of the market share in 2024. The region is home to several large electronics manufacturers as well as consumers, resulting in large volumes of e-waste being generated annually. Stringent regulations surrounding the proper handling and recycling of e-waste have also encouraged investment in recycling infrastructure and facilities. Key players from the region have vast experience and continuous focus on developing innovative recycling processes to recover higher quantities of valuable materials from obsolete electronics. This allows them to efficiently cater to domestic recyclers as well as customers from other high-income regions looking to meet sustainability targets through importing recycled materials.

The Asia Pacific region, led by China and India, has emerged as the fastest growing market for electronic scrap recycling. Rapid economic growth, increasing disposable incomes, and urbanization have boosted the sales of electronic devices over the past decade in countries like China, resulting in a surge in e-waste volumes. Although local regulations still lag behind developed markets, rising environmental awareness and strong government support for the development of a circular economy are directing more focus to e-waste management. Several domestic and international companies have set up large-scale recycling operations by importing e-waste from North America and Europe to meet strong demand for secondary raw materials from Asia Pacific's manufacturing industries. Established recycling clusters near ports also give the region a competitive edge in terms of pricing and turnaround times for material supplies.

Market Report Scope

Electronic Scarp Recycling Industry News

• In March 2024, Recyclekaro is set to launch India's first plasma furnace, elevating e-waste recycling to 75,000 MT annually
• In March 2024, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) launched the Electronics Scrap Recycling Advancement Prize (E-SCRAP), which will award up to US$4 million to competitors to substantially increase the production and use of critical materials recovered from electronic scrap
• In 2022, DOWA HOLDINGS CO., LTD. signed a collaboration agreement with Tohoku University to develop and expand research efforts for resource recycling and the provision of superior technology and materials. The purpose of this collaborative effort is to develop advanced technology that will contribute to delivering resource recycling and superior materials and technologies, while also responding to sustainability challenges such as carbon neutrality and population decreases.
• In 2021, Umicore, a multinational materials technology company headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, announced equity investment in Solid Power, a leading developer of next-generation solid state batteries.

*Definition: The electronic scrap recycling market involves the recycling of discarded electronics such as computers, televisions, mobile phones, and other electronic devices that are reaching the end of their useful life. The e-scrap recycling process aims to recover components and materials from old electronics, including metals like copper, gold and palladium as well as plastics, glass and other materials that can be reprocessed and used to manufacture new electronic products in an environmentally-sound manner. E-scrap recycling helps reduce toxicity in landfills and extends the life cycle of valuable commodities that would otherwise be lost.

Market Segmentation

• Product Type Insights (Revenue, USD Bn, 2019 - 2031)
  • Computers & Laptops
  • Mobile Phones
  • Televisions
  • Refrigerators
  • Others
•  Source  Insights (Revenue, USD Bn, 2019 - 2031)
  • Residential
  • Commercial
  • Industrial
• Regional Insights (Revenue, USD Bn, 2019 - 2031)
  • North America
    • U.S.
    • Canada
  • Latin America
    • Brazil
    • Argentina
    • Mexico
    • Rest of Latin America
  • Europe
    • Germany
    • U.K.
    • Spain
    • France
    • Italy
    • Russia
    • Rest of Europe
  • Asia Pacific
    • China
    • India
    • Japan
    • Australia
    • South Korea
    • ASEAN
    • Rest of Asia Pacific
  • Middle East & Africa
    • GCC Countries
    • Israel
    • Rest of Middle East & Africa
• Key Players Insights
  • Umicore N.V.
  • Dowa Holdings Co. Ltd.
  • Ultromex Ltd.
  • LS-Nikko Copper Inc.
  • Glencore Xstrata PLC.
  • Enviro-Hub Holdings Ltd.
  • Outotec Oyj
  • JX Holdings Inc.
  • Mitsui & Co. Ltd.
  • Boliden Group
  • Quantum Lifecycle Partners
  • Stena Technoworld AB
  • Tetronics International Limited
  • Electronics Recyclers International Inc.
  • Sims Limited
  • Aurubis AG
  • Attero Recycling Pvt. Ltd (India)
  • Great Lakes Electronics Corporation
  • E-Parisaraa Private Limited
  • Veolia Environment SA