India's billion-dollar e-waste empire(restofworld.org)
restofworld.org
India's billion-dollar e-waste empire
https://restofworld.org/2025/india-e-waste-recycling-electronics/
54 コメント
This is absolutely true and I am referring to Bangalore - the so-called IT capital of India. Here the Internet access is completely controlled by the mafia. But in a lot of cities, this is not the case.
what ... I am also a resident of bangalore ... Internet access etc is not controlled by any mafia
Then you should take a better look. Each local ISP has their own self-designated territory or "area". They don't let any other ISPs establish themselves in their areas, beating them up or cutting their wires if they try - you can talk to any ISP technician and they'll tell you about it. 90% of the fluctuations in network are from a cable cut, often by competing agencies.
It's also one of the big reasons why AirFibre is becoming more prominent - can't cut cables if there are no cables.
The above commentor uses "mafia" not in the literal sense but he's talking about the mafia-like system where each ISP has territories they fight over.
Tbh, it's manageable in Bangalore, since the territories are already established and there's not much interference but much more horrible in other areas - we had to suffer with a shitty ISP in my hometown for years bc they kept cutting cables & bullying any other ISP that tried to come in.
It's also one of the big reasons why AirFibre is becoming more prominent - can't cut cables if there are no cables.
The above commentor uses "mafia" not in the literal sense but he's talking about the mafia-like system where each ISP has territories they fight over.
Tbh, it's manageable in Bangalore, since the territories are already established and there's not much interference but much more horrible in other areas - we had to suffer with a shitty ISP in my hometown for years bc they kept cutting cables & bullying any other ISP that tried to come in.
Actually, I am talking about a literal mafia. In my area there is just one "official" internet provider (Airwire) which is partly owned / controlled by a politician who was recently accused of killing a property owner who refused to sell the property for peanuts to him.
If any other internet provider enters this area, their people get beaten and their lines get cut. They cause problems for even BSNL which is a government-owned provider. They periodically cut their lines.
So yes, this is an actual mafia. I have been warned by them that I don't any choice but take their lines. They even threaten you if you take products like Jio airfiber.
If any other internet provider enters this area, their people get beaten and their lines get cut. They cause problems for even BSNL which is a government-owned provider. They periodically cut their lines.
So yes, this is an actual mafia. I have been warned by them that I don't any choice but take their lines. They even threaten you if you take products like Jio airfiber.
I have access to airtel, act broadband, jio fiber, bsnl and earlier hathway and I have switched between them and no one cut my cable and gave me grief ... no mafia present in our and the surrounding areas. Ofc the kinda ppl you talk abt may be there, but we shld not generalize.
This is India. If people are informally reporting corruption in some institution, you'll be on the right track if you believe it to be true. There will never be any formal studies of such cartels. Journalists who attempt to report on such things are regularly murdered. Most people are simply oblivious. You saw in the main e-waste story how the journalist seemed oblivious to the cartel in front of his eyes. If you stay in an independent house, not a flat, you might want to look into cartels of water tankers too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukesh_Chandrakar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mukesh_Chandrakar
Do you live in an apartment complex? Many apartment complexes have already negotiated with the mafia to get these connections
My buddy owned a small motorcycle repair shop in the middle of Saigon. He was on a street full of other similar shops.
The guy next door to him had a small battery recycling shop. They'd sit out on the street in the hot sun, all day long, banging open the batteries with hammers, dust and toxic stuff flying everywhere. Nasty shit, zero concern for health.
I can only imagine this happening on a global scale, with far more toxic substances.
The guy next door to him had a small battery recycling shop. They'd sit out on the street in the hot sun, all day long, banging open the batteries with hammers, dust and toxic stuff flying everywhere. Nasty shit, zero concern for health.
I can only imagine this happening on a global scale, with far more toxic substances.
Yep. Sadly, this is how manufacturing "actually" works.
Everyone on HN loves to daydream about automated assembly and additive manufacturing, but almost all manufacturing is dependent on dirty industries like oil (fertilizers, textiles, plastics), rare earth elements, coal (steel), and others.
When I'd visit my SO's family back in VN or my extended family back in India, it's easy to see why manufacturing is so cost effective in those countries - the only lever low margins industries have is manpower, and that requires you to devalue life to a certain extent.
This is why my parents and my SO immigrated to America.
Everyone on HN loves to daydream about automated assembly and additive manufacturing, but almost all manufacturing is dependent on dirty industries like oil (fertilizers, textiles, plastics), rare earth elements, coal (steel), and others.
When I'd visit my SO's family back in VN or my extended family back in India, it's easy to see why manufacturing is so cost effective in those countries - the only lever low margins industries have is manpower, and that requires you to devalue life to a certain extent.
This is why my parents and my SO immigrated to America.
This was the USA and Britian in their early industrial periods.
Now, oil and gas field work, mining, iron and steel processing, and other raw materials extraction is either automated or high-paying unionized manual labor. The same will happen in other developing economies.
Now, oil and gas field work, mining, iron and steel processing, and other raw materials extraction is either automated or high-paying unionized manual labor. The same will happen in other developing economies.
> in their early industrial periods.
> The same will happen in other developing economies
Most western countries developed in an era where trade was nowhere near as globalized and instantaneous as it is today.
A steel mill in 1920s Pittsburg wasn't directly competing or face disruption from a steel mill in Essen, compared to today when you are competing with public-private steel mills in China, India, Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia, etc which while also unionized and (relatively) well paid jobs, are fine working 6 day workweeks and 10-12 hour shifts for a $6,000-9,000 a year salary with a pension and free or subsidized housing, and can export finished products globally in days instead of months.
Heck, even the oil industry is now outsourcing critical geological and petroleum/chemical/mechanical engineering jobs to India [0]
And this is the crux of the issue - a major reason the US and Western Europe had manufacturing dominance throughout much of the 20th century was because it had the right mix of human capital, financial capital, and technology concentrated within their borders.
This isn't true in the 2020s anymore - a lot of technologies are fairly democratized now, a lot of alternative domestic capital markets have formed, and research output and human capital has expanded massively across countries.
Heck, China, India, and ASEAN today share developmental indicators comparable to or significantly higher than the European portion of the Warsaw Bloc during the 1990s.
And even in newly industrialized countries like South Korea and Turkiye, the same abusive working standards in manufacturing industries remains, but now being powered by migrants from Vietnam/Indonesia/China or Syria/Iraq/Afghanistan/Pakistan respectively.
[0] - https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/big-oil-is-offshorin...
> The same will happen in other developing economies
Most western countries developed in an era where trade was nowhere near as globalized and instantaneous as it is today.
A steel mill in 1920s Pittsburg wasn't directly competing or face disruption from a steel mill in Essen, compared to today when you are competing with public-private steel mills in China, India, Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia, etc which while also unionized and (relatively) well paid jobs, are fine working 6 day workweeks and 10-12 hour shifts for a $6,000-9,000 a year salary with a pension and free or subsidized housing, and can export finished products globally in days instead of months.
Heck, even the oil industry is now outsourcing critical geological and petroleum/chemical/mechanical engineering jobs to India [0]
And this is the crux of the issue - a major reason the US and Western Europe had manufacturing dominance throughout much of the 20th century was because it had the right mix of human capital, financial capital, and technology concentrated within their borders.
This isn't true in the 2020s anymore - a lot of technologies are fairly democratized now, a lot of alternative domestic capital markets have formed, and research output and human capital has expanded massively across countries.
Heck, China, India, and ASEAN today share developmental indicators comparable to or significantly higher than the European portion of the Warsaw Bloc during the 1990s.
And even in newly industrialized countries like South Korea and Turkiye, the same abusive working standards in manufacturing industries remains, but now being powered by migrants from Vietnam/Indonesia/China or Syria/Iraq/Afghanistan/Pakistan respectively.
[0] - https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/big-oil-is-offshorin...
It doesn’t have to be dirty, proper rules have to be made to incentivize solutions that leverage economies of scale.
Politicians gave up and assumed manufacturing can’t be clean so they let good jobs leave while those left behind tended to die of fentanyl shipped in from China.
Politicians gave up and assumed manufacturing can’t be clean so they let good jobs leave while those left behind tended to die of fentanyl shipped in from China.
It depends. China has impressive automation and vertical integration.
You cannot decouple labor and environmental abuse from low margins industries that are upstream of high value manufacturing, even in China.
Every one of those automotive robots uses chips that contain REEs that is heavily sourced from Myanmar (a country in a state of civil war) and processed in poorer Chinese provinces like Yunnan and Guangxi. The steel used to build the casing for those robots will have been forged using metallurgical grade coal that (best case) was sourced from Australia's Carmichael coal mine who's operator has evaded paying taxes and overriden Australia's labor unions with the full backing of both parties.
Even today, the median household disposable income in China is in the $300-400/mo range [0], and labor abuse remains a problem in much of industrial China [1]
But that's the only way you can build stuff. Commodities are inherently commodified (it's in the name) - you cannot manufacture without commodities upstream. You will always need plastics, steel, coal, rare earth minerals, etc so someone will always be commodified (or synonym - exploited).
[0] - https://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202504/t202504...
[1] - https://www.somo.nl/the-hidden-human-costs-linked-to-global-...
Every one of those automotive robots uses chips that contain REEs that is heavily sourced from Myanmar (a country in a state of civil war) and processed in poorer Chinese provinces like Yunnan and Guangxi. The steel used to build the casing for those robots will have been forged using metallurgical grade coal that (best case) was sourced from Australia's Carmichael coal mine who's operator has evaded paying taxes and overriden Australia's labor unions with the full backing of both parties.
Even today, the median household disposable income in China is in the $300-400/mo range [0], and labor abuse remains a problem in much of industrial China [1]
But that's the only way you can build stuff. Commodities are inherently commodified (it's in the name) - you cannot manufacture without commodities upstream. You will always need plastics, steel, coal, rare earth minerals, etc so someone will always be commodified (or synonym - exploited).
[0] - https://www.stats.gov.cn/english/PressRelease/202504/t202504...
[1] - https://www.somo.nl/the-hidden-human-costs-linked-to-global-...
RE: metallurgical grade coal
A tiny fraction of mined coal is used for metallurgy. If consumption of metallurgical grade coal tripled, and consumption of coal for producing power went to zero, this would be a gigantic environmental win.
The only major producers of metallurgical grade coal are Australia, Canada, and the US. So I'm not sure the mine you mention is in fact "best case".
A tiny fraction of mined coal is used for metallurgy. If consumption of metallurgical grade coal tripled, and consumption of coal for producing power went to zero, this would be a gigantic environmental win.
The only major producers of metallurgical grade coal are Australia, Canada, and the US. So I'm not sure the mine you mention is in fact "best case".
Don't forget Indonesia and Russia.
Ukraine used to mine its own coking coal before the war, but now, with mines ruined or captured, it imports coal from the US.
Things like nickel and REEs also heavily depend on mining in war-torn countries like Congo or Myanmar.
Ukraine used to mine its own coking coal before the war, but now, with mines ruined or captured, it imports coal from the US.
Things like nickel and REEs also heavily depend on mining in war-torn countries like Congo or Myanmar.
As a foreigner there are certain places in China they won't let you travel through and even certain cities you cannot stay in overnight. This often coincides with where mining and industrial production are.
China has an impressive ability to cover up the truth.
China has an impressive ability to cover up the truth.
Last I went to China (mid-late 2010s), you could visit the less well off areas and off beaten paths in much of China as a tourist without too much hassle.
The issue is most people don't. China is hard enough without Mandarin fluency, but going to urban villages where migrant workers live or Tier 3/4 cities where the majority of manufacting happens is an added level of difficult for "soft" people.
Most tourists perfer to stay in their tourist bubbles, which tend to be a monoculture globally.
The issue is most people don't. China is hard enough without Mandarin fluency, but going to urban villages where migrant workers live or Tier 3/4 cities where the majority of manufacting happens is an added level of difficult for "soft" people.
Most tourists perfer to stay in their tourist bubbles, which tend to be a monoculture globally.
I'm sure there's a lot of land in US, you'd get promptly kicked out of by various security forces of corporations doing nasty stuff there.
Tell it to the guy above[0] who is avoiding work travel to the US because “safety, health and freedom”
0 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45097234
0 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45097234
> They'd sit out on the street in the hot sun, all day long, banging open the batteries with hammers, dust and toxic stuff flying everywhere. Nasty shit, zero concern for health.
I noped out of a job offer recently where there was mention of occasional travel to India. Out of curiosity I pulled up Google Street View on the conpany's India office and this is basically what I saw. Not for me.
I noped out of a job offer recently where there was mention of occasional travel to India. Out of curiosity I pulled up Google Street View on the conpany's India office and this is basically what I saw. Not for me.
You noped out because you might have to travel to India?
It just occurred to me that perhaps the world isn't deglobalizing, it's just that America/Americans are deglobalizing. Globalization is here to stay, even increase, with or without American. Unfortunately it seems America is writing itself out of that future.
A bit ironic when we consider that not long ago America forced countries open, to increase trade and globalization. American companies relied on these new markets to sell their goods.
But maybe we no longer have anything to sell to the world.
It just occurred to me that perhaps the world isn't deglobalizing, it's just that America/Americans are deglobalizing. Globalization is here to stay, even increase, with or without American. Unfortunately it seems America is writing itself out of that future.
A bit ironic when we consider that not long ago America forced countries open, to increase trade and globalization. American companies relied on these new markets to sell their goods.
But maybe we no longer have anything to sell to the world.
Yes.
I have a disability and traipsing around the developing world just isn't something I care to do anymore.
My personal situation aside, I was aghast that a company would move its operations to an unregulated slum just to eek out a few extra dollars of profit (under the guise of 'globalization'). Whatever facility they closed in the US or UK suffered for this and I didn't want to be a part of that.
I have a disability and traipsing around the developing world just isn't something I care to do anymore.
My personal situation aside, I was aghast that a company would move its operations to an unregulated slum just to eek out a few extra dollars of profit (under the guise of 'globalization'). Whatever facility they closed in the US or UK suffered for this and I didn't want to be a part of that.
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I'd nope out of any job that would require me to occasionally travel to US. I value my safety, health and freedom too much to ever visit this country. India as well. Turkey also. There are just few countries that make alarm bells in my head ring.
What's the concern with Turkey, out of curiosity?
I'd like to not risk food poisoning, insect borne diseases, accidentally landing in Turkish prison because of some random misunderstanding and I have general reluctance of entering boundaries of semi-theocratic semi-dictatorship. I'm sure it's all silly, but as long as I don't have to I'd happily avoid any risks, even minuscule.
I don't think you risk significantly more insect carried diseases and food poisoning than say, living in any other part of europe.
Yeah, probably but I know exactly the environment I'm living in. And changing it for more southern and warmer, possibly wetter doesn't sound like a healthy move.
To be honest all southern countries have this risk. When I lived to Italy I was suddenly introduced to domestic scorpions. So while all of Europe is roughly similar there are some things you might be not aware of and those are more abundant in the south.
Politics mostly is why I'm singling Turkey out though.
To be honest all southern countries have this risk. When I lived to Italy I was suddenly introduced to domestic scorpions. So while all of Europe is roughly similar there are some things you might be not aware of and those are more abundant in the south.
Politics mostly is why I'm singling Turkey out though.
Can confirm this, and as such EV aren’t environmentally friendly at all.
Still better than continuing using fossil fuels and facing unmitigated climate change.
Moreso than regular car batteries?
Can confirm, the Deepwater Horizon was actually good for humans and the environment. /s
E-Waste recycling is a major pillar of India's Critical Minerals Strategy [0][1]
The Indian government explicitly exempted specific types of e-waste from import fees and provided additional subsidies such that such waste would come to India in order to be reprocessed [2]. Additionally, the Indian government is allocating around $200M in subsidies explicitly for companies to import, recycle, and process E-Waste within India [3][4] plus additional funding to add capacity.
These are the exact same steps China took in the 2000s as well with almost the exact same word-for-word criticism [5][6], yet it helped them solidify their REE and Green economy to what it is today.
And this is why rare earth processing left America - it is a VERY VERY VERY dirty industry with very low margins. There is no way to get around treating unskilled workers in this industry as expendables - even safety gear can destroy the margins in this industry.
You need to choose between whether you want sub-$10K EVs and low cost solar panels like in China and India OR strong worker protections in their upstream industries like REE processing. You can only choose one.
That said, for every abusive processor, you have less abusive one's as well [7][8]
[0] - https://mines.gov.in/admin/download/649d4212cceb01688027666....
[1] - https://primuspartners.in/docs/documents/Final%2020%20Aug_Ra...
[2] - https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2112...
[3] - https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/land-use-biodiversity...
[4] - https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulat...
[5] - https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/docum...
[6] - https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/world/asia/18iht-waste.1....
[7] - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oesZJxrVgeU&pp=0gcJCRsBo7VqN5t...
[8] - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xtj6yy4LIvQ
The Indian government explicitly exempted specific types of e-waste from import fees and provided additional subsidies such that such waste would come to India in order to be reprocessed [2]. Additionally, the Indian government is allocating around $200M in subsidies explicitly for companies to import, recycle, and process E-Waste within India [3][4] plus additional funding to add capacity.
These are the exact same steps China took in the 2000s as well with almost the exact same word-for-word criticism [5][6], yet it helped them solidify their REE and Green economy to what it is today.
And this is why rare earth processing left America - it is a VERY VERY VERY dirty industry with very low margins. There is no way to get around treating unskilled workers in this industry as expendables - even safety gear can destroy the margins in this industry.
You need to choose between whether you want sub-$10K EVs and low cost solar panels like in China and India OR strong worker protections in their upstream industries like REE processing. You can only choose one.
That said, for every abusive processor, you have less abusive one's as well [7][8]
[0] - https://mines.gov.in/admin/download/649d4212cceb01688027666....
[1] - https://primuspartners.in/docs/documents/Final%2020%20Aug_Ra...
[2] - https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2112...
[3] - https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/land-use-biodiversity...
[4] - https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulat...
[5] - https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/media/docum...
[6] - https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/world/asia/18iht-waste.1....
[7] - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oesZJxrVgeU&pp=0gcJCRsBo7VqN5t...
[8] - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=xtj6yy4LIvQ
>You need to choose between whether you want sub-$10K EVs and low cost solar panels like in China and India OR strong worker protections in their upstream industries like REE processing. You can only choose one.
With globalism, we got cheap goods and didn't worry about [domestic] worker safety. But, i don't doubt that innovation will happen if we bring stuff back on-shore. There's no motivation to improve processes and innovate if you can just cheaply externalize everything.
With globalism, we got cheap goods and didn't worry about [domestic] worker safety. But, i don't doubt that innovation will happen if we bring stuff back on-shore. There's no motivation to improve processes and innovate if you can just cheaply externalize everything.
I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy of HN.
Commenters here both want dirt cheap green tech AND workers rights, but it's a choice between one or the other becuase low margins industries are inherently exploitative, because there are no other levers.
Saying improving processes and innovation is just a "deus ex machina", because any sort of automation depends on these upstream components as well.
I agree that bringing industries back on-shore can help spark innovation, but we also need to be realistic. Most REEs (ignore lithium) just don't exist in large quantities in the US, Canada, or the EU, and we simply cannot onshore EVERY industry, because margins are so low that tariffs don't alleviate them either.
You can't compete when manufacturing in China and India are themselves in the midst of transitioning to automation as well, further driving down margins.
We need to be strategic about the industries we target with tariffs AND incentives, but also recognize that vast swathes of low margins low skill manufacturing and resource processing is never returning to the US unless we adopt the same kind of labor whitewashing practices Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea does [0][1]
[0] - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/25/world/asia/south-korea-li...
[1] - https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/29/national/probe-...
Commenters here both want dirt cheap green tech AND workers rights, but it's a choice between one or the other becuase low margins industries are inherently exploitative, because there are no other levers.
Saying improving processes and innovation is just a "deus ex machina", because any sort of automation depends on these upstream components as well.
I agree that bringing industries back on-shore can help spark innovation, but we also need to be realistic. Most REEs (ignore lithium) just don't exist in large quantities in the US, Canada, or the EU, and we simply cannot onshore EVERY industry, because margins are so low that tariffs don't alleviate them either.
You can't compete when manufacturing in China and India are themselves in the midst of transitioning to automation as well, further driving down margins.
We need to be strategic about the industries we target with tariffs AND incentives, but also recognize that vast swathes of low margins low skill manufacturing and resource processing is never returning to the US unless we adopt the same kind of labor whitewashing practices Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea does [0][1]
[0] - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/25/world/asia/south-korea-li...
[1] - https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/03/29/national/probe-...
We can't on-shore manufacturing because labor is expensive and automation is a pipedream. But also China and India are automating their manufacturing?
What I'm saying is the strategy needed to develop manufacturing capacity is heavily industry dependent. There also needs to be an acceptance that we may need to regress certain environmental and labor requirements.
The market dynamics and strategy needed to build e-waste processing capacity is different from that of assembling ICE cars which is different from that to develop fighter jets.
Does it makes sense to spend money rebuilding our capacity to sow clothes again, or does it make more sense to invest in semiconductor packaging? Should we invest in plastics mould injection capacity or plastic fiber manufacturing?
These are very complex questions that require domain experts working with policymakers to define requirements. Aside from the CHIPS and IRA, we haven't actually attempted industrial policy in recent years.
We also need to accept that certain industries will never return to American shores no matter what.
The market dynamics and strategy needed to build e-waste processing capacity is different from that of assembling ICE cars which is different from that to develop fighter jets.
Does it makes sense to spend money rebuilding our capacity to sow clothes again, or does it make more sense to invest in semiconductor packaging? Should we invest in plastics mould injection capacity or plastic fiber manufacturing?
These are very complex questions that require domain experts working with policymakers to define requirements. Aside from the CHIPS and IRA, we haven't actually attempted industrial policy in recent years.
We also need to accept that certain industries will never return to American shores no matter what.
> And this is why rare earth processing left Americ
Not to mention that it can take 10-30 years to open a new mine, between all the environmental reviews and court challenges.
I'm always amazed that people will prevent mines from opening in the US on environmental grounds, then continue to happily buy 99% of everything from overseas, where the environmental and labor regulations are significantly weaker, and governments even more prone to covering up wrongdoing.
Not to mention that it can take 10-30 years to open a new mine, between all the environmental reviews and court challenges.
I'm always amazed that people will prevent mines from opening in the US on environmental grounds, then continue to happily buy 99% of everything from overseas, where the environmental and labor regulations are significantly weaker, and governments even more prone to covering up wrongdoing.
You’re surprised by NIMBYism?? It’s everywhere. Find a county where both developers and the populace are welcoming a new factory or other industrial facility — hard to find! Look at housing policy in certain big cities and where rents are skyrocketing while housing unit creation stagnates.
Developers would love to develop factories, they’re not the NIMBYs in this equation
> There is no way to get around treating unskilled workers in this industry as expendables - even safety gear can destroy the margins in this industry.
Actually, there is. The way is called tariffs - an instrument to offset externalities like environment and labor protection dumping.
Actually, there is. The way is called tariffs - an instrument to offset externalities like environment and labor protection dumping.
They will also make it so expensive to process e-waste that it would probably end up in a landfill.
It already does, and arguably should.
It currently does not. Most batteries (by mass) are recycled. Recovery rates for the minerals used to make them are often above 90%.
Recycling batteries is an indispensable part of making them. We can make the process safer, but we can't easily pull valuable resources out of a landfill.
Recycling batteries is an indispensable part of making them. We can make the process safer, but we can't easily pull valuable resources out of a landfill.
I was speaking of eWaste. I find it highly unethical to offload america's waste onto somebody else. Being that entire shanty towns (people included) in India have disappeared as the landfill they were built on shifted due to rain.
As I pointed out - the Indian government WANTS other countries to dump e-waste in India, becuase it makes the economics of building an end-to-end REE processing supply chain much easier for Indian businesses.
Already, e-waste processors in India have startup to upskill into manufacturing NdFeB magnets [0] which are currently entirely monopolized by China.
Also, batteries are an example of E-Waste that India is incentivizing to come to India.
> Being that entire shanty towns (people included) in India have disappeared as the landfill they were built on shifted due to rain
India is in the midst of a shantytown razing program similar to what China did in the 2000s [1]
To become a developed country by 2047, India needs to make some sacrifices that the US did and China is currently doing.
[0] - https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/trafalgar-sets-sights-o...
[1] - https://scroll.in/article/1084230/why-the-judiciary-is-respo...
Already, e-waste processors in India have startup to upskill into manufacturing NdFeB magnets [0] which are currently entirely monopolized by China.
Also, batteries are an example of E-Waste that India is incentivizing to come to India.
> Being that entire shanty towns (people included) in India have disappeared as the landfill they were built on shifted due to rain
India is in the midst of a shantytown razing program similar to what China did in the 2000s [1]
To become a developed country by 2047, India needs to make some sacrifices that the US did and China is currently doing.
[0] - https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/trafalgar-sets-sights-o...
[1] - https://scroll.in/article/1084230/why-the-judiciary-is-respo...
India is a poor country, and the risk-reward calculus for individuals living there on the bottom rungs of the socioeconomic ladder is very different from even a poor American, who still has access to running water, AC, and a very high minimum wage.
It's even more unethical to prevent the global poor from building industry that might meaningfully improve their quality of life.
It's even more unethical to prevent the global poor from building industry that might meaningfully improve their quality of life.
That's less bad.
Hypothetically yes, but in 2025 it is impossible to do so on critical minerals/REEs.
The entire processing chain's IP and production capacity is in Asia. Even in South Korea and Japan, workers in these industries are given third world safety protections with temp workers imported from Vietnam, Indonesia, and poorer areas of China, as was seen with the Hwaseong battery factory fire a couple months ago [0][1]
Throwing environmental and workers rights tariffs on REEs and e-waste processing means the upstream supply chain for the entirety of electronics, automotive, aerospace, and every other manufacturing industry is ground to a halt, and you have to depend on foreign countries anyhow but with even less leverage.
[0] - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/24/world/asia/lithium-batter...
[1] - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/25/world/asia/south-korea-li...
The entire processing chain's IP and production capacity is in Asia. Even in South Korea and Japan, workers in these industries are given third world safety protections with temp workers imported from Vietnam, Indonesia, and poorer areas of China, as was seen with the Hwaseong battery factory fire a couple months ago [0][1]
Throwing environmental and workers rights tariffs on REEs and e-waste processing means the upstream supply chain for the entirety of electronics, automotive, aerospace, and every other manufacturing industry is ground to a halt, and you have to depend on foreign countries anyhow but with even less leverage.
[0] - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/24/world/asia/lithium-batter...
[1] - https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/25/world/asia/south-korea-li...
Andrew has a few videos about waste and the waste industry in countries such as India, Indonesia and Bangladesh.
For instance, in Delhi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fojw7yviYU
For instance, in Delhi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Fojw7yviYU
It's telling that the journalist did not investigate and elaborate on this. The ancient feudal structures that pervaded India for millennia continue to this day. There is a veneer of democracy, but those who live here know how thin the veneer is. For example, even the choice of ISPs available in some locality is controlled by cartels. If an ISP tries to serve a locality that already has a few ISPs, their cables will be severed and their workers will be beaten up. I am talking about a city with a relatively good police presence. In smaller cities, towns, and villages, many more aspects of business are controlled by feudal structures. Every political party has a hierarchy of feudal structures, and most of them have gang-lords at lower levels.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia_Raj