Our Innovation Analysts recently looked into emerging technologies and up-and-coming startups working on innovative solutions for the smart cities sector. As there is a large number of startups working on a wide variety of solutions, we want to share our insights with you. This time, you will discover 5 promising e-waste management startups.
Heat Map: 5 Top E-Waste Management Startups
Using our StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering 1.379.000+ startups & scaleups globally, we looked at innovation for smart cities. For this research, we identified 78 relevant solutions and picked 5 to showcase below. These companies were chosen based on a data-driven startup scouting approach, taking into account factors such as location, founding year, and relevance of technology, among others. Depending on your specific criteria, the top picks might look entirely different.
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights 5 startups & scaleups developing solutions for e-waste management. Moreover, the Heat Map reveals regions that observe a high startup activity and illustrates the geographic distribution of all 78 companies we analyzed for this specific topic.
EnviroLeach Technologies – Electrochemical Processing
Increasing demand for the latest electronic gadgets leaves a trail of e-waste that is fast becoming an environmental concern in many countries. Traditional disposal methods, such as landfills, are harmful due to the non-biodegradable nature of the plastics and metals that constitute printed circuit boards. Advancements in waste processing methods enable startups to segregate and repurpose e-waste into useful products in a safe and environmentally-friendly way.
Canadian startup EnviroLeach Technologies develops EnviroLeach, an eco-friendly recycling process for used printed circuit boards (PCBs). The startup’s technology enables the effective extraction of target metals from PCBs such as copper, lead, and aluminum. EnviroLeach utilizes a hydrometallurgical extraction process that also reduces carbon dioxide emissions. The startup’s electrochemical processing technology operates at ambient pressure and temperature.
Recy-Call – End-of-Life Electronics
Mining for precious metals, gold, and silver from used electronics is one of the methods of recycling e-waste that also reduces the pressure on virgin mining at the same time. The urban mining potential in electronic waste from underdeveloped regions provides immense benefits for the community as a whole. Startups take on social projects to help struggling communities by converting e-waste into recycled products.
Belgian startup Recy-Call provides e-waste recycling solutions for emerging countries in Africa. The startup collects end-of-life electronics, such as smartphones, and recycles them to create value while retaining positive long-term social and environmental impact. Recy-Call’s urban mining strategies also enable green and safe job creation for waste collectors in low-income nations.
Adatte – Metal Recovery
The collection and dismantling of e-waste plays a vital role in the process of recycling Additionally, the processes act as an enabler for easier processing of e-waste. Rare earth elements (REE) such as lanthanum, precious metals like gold and silver, along with other metals like tin, copper, and lead, hold significant market value. Startups develop innovative solutions to dismantle and segregate these metals from e-waste. This establishes circular systems for metal recovery and recycling.
Indian startup Adatte uses hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy to recycle PCBs. The startup’s process automates the whole operation except for material movement. With the help of specialized machinery for metal recovery, the startup extracts various metals from plastic and epoxy powder. The fumes from the processing of e-waste are treated with ultraviolet systems and scrubbers. Lastly, the effluent treatment plant processes the effluents with the zero liquid discharge (ZLD) process.
RECONO.ME – e-Waste Refurbishing
Refurbishing involves the identification of the various components that are in working condition in order to use them in new products. There is significant potential for reusing electronic components, in working condition, of any discarded electronic product. Refurbished electronics are comparatively cheaper to new products and reduce the carbon footprint of consumer electronics manufacturing. Startups provide sustainable refurbishing services that contribute towards a greener planet.
British startup RECONO.ME collects, refurbishes, and recycles unwanted electronic devices and information technology (IT) equipment. The startup uses sanitization software to wipe all data from the devices at the time of collection. RECONO.ME sells these refurbished products to consumers at a lower price thereby contributes to the reduction of e-waste in circulation.
eRecyc – Data Center Decommissioning
Companies are increasingly moving their data storage to the cloud due to the high costs of hardware required for maintaining on-site data centers. Decommissioned data centers involve complexities in terms of the physical shutdown of electrical systems and systematic destruction of data. Startups provide data center decommissioning services, including IT asset disposition, recycling, and reuse of electronic hardware.
The US-based startup eRecyc offers secure data destruction and decommissioning services for on-site data centers. The startup systematically disconnects IT hardware assets from power and network. Then, they sanitize and shred the hard drives in line with industry standards. Additionally, eRecyc offers remarketing and re-deployment services for recovered assets.
What About The Other 73 Solutions?
While we believe data is key to creating insights it can be easy to be overwhelmed by it. Our ambition is to create a comprehensive overview and provide actionable innovation intelligence and enable you to achieve your goals faster. The 5 e-waste management startups showcased above are promising examples out of 78 we analyzed for this article. To identify the most relevant solutions based on your specific criteria, get in touch.
