New Delhi [India], June 19 (ANI): Recycling of end-of-life e-waste and printed circuit boards can support India’s efforts to recover critical minerals and rare earth elements, as the company expands its circular economy initiatives and recycling capabilities, said Vaishali Surawar, Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) at Hindalco Industries.
“This end-of-life e-waste or printed circuit board recycling is going to help us in recovering some of the rare earths, and Hindalco will be using it for the benefit of the country," Surawar told ANI on the sidelines of the CII GreenCo 15th National Summit.
Surawar said the company has commissioned an e-waste recycling facility at Pakhajan near Dahej, which will focus on processing printed circuit boards and recovering valuable materials from electronic waste.
“Here we are going to collect all the e-waste, focus on printed circuit boards, and we are going to process it with a seven-stage detoxification process and recovery. Mainly copper, along with that rare earth and special metals," she said.
According to Surawar, the initiative is part of Hindalco’s broader sustainability strategy and aligns with efforts to promote resource efficiency, recycling and circular economy practices.
She said the CII GreenCo framework brings together companies committed to sustainability and provides a platform for sharing best practices across areas such as water management, waste reduction and emissions control.
Highlighting the company’s recycling initiatives, Surawar said Hindalco commissioned two major recycling-focused capital expenditure projects during the last financial year. One of the projects is aimed at collecting end-of-life aluminium scrap and integrating it back into the manufacturing value chain.
She said Hindalco has also introduced recycled aluminium products that utilise end-of-life aluminium scrap as a raw material.
Surawar noted that Novelis, Hindalco’s wholly owned subsidiary, is the world’s largest aluminium recycler and currently recycles around 64 per cent of end-of-life aluminium scrap.
Speaking about mining operations, she said Hindalco follows a sustainable mining charter built around seven thematic areas, including waste recycling and reuse, water positivity, emissions management, fuel efficiency and community development.
“Our mining is going to be absolutely sustainable mining," she said.
Surawar added that Hindalco’s Baflimali bauxite mine in Odisha has received Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) certification, which recognises performance across environmental, social and governance parameters.
On the importance of metals for India’s long-term development, she said aluminium and copper would remain critical for sectors such as infrastructure, railways, aerospace and other strategic industries.
“These are the metals which are driving the growth, and they are infinitely recyclable. India is going to grow up to 2047 to become part of the developed nations league. That is where exploration has to continuously go hand in hand with these initiatives of recycling," Surawar said.
She added that Hindalco’s standalone aluminium production currently stands at about 1.36 million metric tonnes annually. (ANI)
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