1. science
2. ecology
3. waste management
4. recycling

E-GROVE
Accessible E-Waste Disposal:
Socially Minded, Environmentally Friendly
Claire Warren
Claire Warren
Final Business Plan
Aika MengiDecember 6, 2014
Aika Mengi
CE5571
Malcolm SmithJosh Auerbach
Joshua Auerbach
Malcolm Smith
Leah Fett
Executive Summary
E-Grove is an electronic waste management company that creates
opportunities for the people of Bengaluru, India to responsibly recycle ewaste through an accessible collection service. Currently in Bengaluru, 200
million kilograms of e-waste are generated each year and about 90% of this
waste is filtered through the informal sector and/or dumped in landfills due
to its convenience. 2 However, e-waste processed through these systems is
typically burned, releasing toxins into the air, or acid stripped by informal
street collectors to extract valuable precious metals. If the e-waste is taken to
an unlined landfill, it releases carcinogenic toxins into the groundwater and
pollutes the surrounding area. Current informal e-waste disposal practices
harm the environment, the people handling the e-waste, and the overall
public health of communities in Bengaluru. E-Grove will ensure proper
collection of consumer e-waste, like cell phones, computers, and cords, and
vett processors to guarantee safe and responsible disposal of e-waste.
E-Grove will provide an e-waste service that collects items via drop boxes
near public transit hubs such as bus stops, train stations, and supermarkets.
We will contract with large corporate campuses and residential buildings to
centrally manage and collect larger amounts of e-waste. To expand market
reach, E-Grove will also offer a premium pick up service using an online
scheduling platform for old e-waste. After collection, the e-waste will go
through basic sorting into bulk items like cell phones, computers, and cords
at our facility and then sold up to manufactures that use proper methods to
process and recycle materials in the e-waste. This will directly reduce the
amount of waste in landfills and increase the amount of e-waste recycled
properly through our service.
A preliminary survey conducted to test assumptions about our business
model indicated that eco-conscious professionals in Bengaluru prioritize the
responsible disposal of personal e-waste and are willing to pay a nominal fee
for a premium pick up service. These individuals, who care about social
responsibility and local environmental impact, represent E-Grove’s target
customer. To these individuals, we say ‘Join the Grove!’ Grovers are leaders
in the local community and advocate for the responsible collection of ewaste. A Grover shares their positive impact and encourages other
community members to join the movement and support environmental
health and responsibility through the safe collection of e-waste. From
collection to bulk sale, e-waste filtered through E-Grove transforms from a
potential environmental and health hazard into an opportunity for customers
to positively contribute to the wellbeing of their community.
Introduction
Waste management, and particularly electronic waste, has been and continues
to be a growing problem in India. The sheer amount of electronic waste
generated, as well as the loose oversight of its disposal, is having a detrimental
impact on both the natural environment and health of Indian citizens. As
result of rapidly advancing technology, device turnover is increasing and so is
the sheer volume of technology discarded annually. Unfortunately, electronic
waste regulations and enforcement have been unable to keep up with the
rapidly growing issue. In addition to domestic generation, India receives
imported electronic waste despite the practice being illegal. About 50-80% of
the electronic waste from industrialized countries is exported to developing
countries such as India, China, Vietnam, and the Philippines1, which furthers
India’s overall waste problem.
The Indian government has introduced regulations to structure the handling
and processing streams of electronic waste 7. However, 90% of India’s
electronic waste is still being processed informally. E-Grove aims to bridge the
gap by offering the ease of the informal sector with the social responsibility of
formal sector, by offering easy scheduling and pick up services.
E-grove’s initial survey indicated that an average middle-high income
Bengaluru resident goes through roughly 2-3 cell phones annually and a
computer every two years as well as a variety of cords and components8.
The improper disposal of electronic waste can risk the exposure of natural
systems to toxic chemicals. The United Nations has identified three main
stages that put the health of environmental systems at risk6:
1.
Primary emissions: Direct contact from substances that are contained in
e-waste. Heavy metal such as lead or mercury, fluorinated cooling fluids, etc,
can leach during temporary storage or in unlined landfills.
2.
Secondary emissions: Improper treatment (notably by the informal
sector) can create hazardous reaction byproducts (e.g. dioxins or furans
formed by incineration/inappropriate smelting of plastics)
3.
Tertiary emissions: Inappropriate handling of materials or reagents used
in processing or extraction (chemical baths for leaching metals, etc)
A study that evaluated trace metal concentrations in soil, air, and human hair
in both formal and informal electronic waste recycling sites in Bengaluru and a
control site in Chennai found that concentrations of ten trace metals such as
Copper (Cu), Cadmium (Cd), and Lead (Pb) were present at higher
concentrations in soils at the e-waste recycling sites compared to reference
sites. Additionally, most of these elements were found in higher
concentrations at the informal recycling site.
Competition
E-Grove’s most direct competition includes smaller businesses that collect ewaste along with other recyclables like plastic bottles or newspapers. These
businesses encompass small “mom and pop” shops or simply a person on the
street collecting any waste. This informal method of collection accounts for 90%
of e-waste produced in Bangalore2. This method is desirable because it is easy
and often the informal sector will pay the individual for their e-waste; however,
the collection and disposal process is very hazardous and the materials are
often burned, releasing toxins into the air and ground water.
A new start-up in Bengaluru called BinBag helps individuals and organizations
to dispose of their e-waste by hosting collection parties or partnering with
corporate events to streamline collection by making it fun and easy. This
organization collects and appraises the electronics, then resells it to processes
and refunds his customers for the value of their e-waste. Bin Bag has
established a more streamlined process, putting drop boxes in strategic
locations, and creating partnerships with businesses to manage their electronic
waste.
Pilot Program
Value Proposition:
•
Using innovative marketing and processing techniques to provide affordable, convenient, and environmentally responsible e-waste solutions to the
residents of Bengaluru.
Social Component
•
•
Increase public perception of the value in responsibly handled electronic
waste.
Increase “Grovers” social capital through validation and recognition of their
socially responsible behavior
Financial Component
•
Provide affordable and convenient waste management solutions.
Environmental Component
•
Increase the amount of electronic waste that is recycled in a responsible
way, reducing the risks associated with poor processing in regards to the
environment, and the community.
The pilot program’s primary objective is to test the assumption that members
of the target market are willing to forgo the current market for the nonmonetary social and environmental benefits of using E-Grove’s service. The
pilot will have two components: electronic waste collection from residential
and commercial communities; including apartment complexes and electronic
retail stores, respectively, and a strategic marketing and branding campaign.
Two founders of the E-Grove team will travel to India, during J-term 2016.
Each member will be responsible for one of two distinct tasks. The first group
member will work to establish the operations of E-Grove. Their responsibilities
will include coordinating collection and the resale of electronic waste from
established clients to vetted buyers. The second group member will be
responsible for the marketing, branding, and expanding the customer base by
building and maintain rapport with key customers, and identifying new
opportunities.
MiniGrove Department: Household Customers
E-Grove conducted a study in which the majority of the respondents stated
that they would pay a small fee to have their electronic waste collected from
their households8. E-Grove would serve as a pseudo-utility service,
contracting with residential complexes and commercial institutions to collect
their e-waste. In the context of apartment buildings, this subscription service
will provide regular pick-ups that will be incorporated into the maintenance
fees of the building.
The commercial segment model will operate on an as needed basis. There
will be a flat fee of 60 rupees with an additional 10 rupees per kilogram, and
they will be charged once the electronic waste reaches the E-Grove
facility. The pilot will verify that the target customer is willing to pay for the
safe disposal of personal electronic waste. Social capital plays a significant
role in the success of this business, and as outsiders to both the industry and
Bengaluru, E-Grove will start at a significant disadvantage. E-Grove
proposes creating partnerships like with Bin Bag, a company that is already
working on a similar business proposition. They have well-established
business relationships with recyclers, refurbishes and reuse/repair shops. Egrove proposes to form a partnership with BinBag that allows for mutual
asset development
For customers, working with E-Grove will ensure that their electronic waste is
disposed of responsibly using proper methods. Waste would be collected
from buildings using a fleet of bicycles with collection bins. All bicycles will
be equipped in accordance with India’s regulations governing the
transportation of electronic waste (covered bins, etc). Once the product has
been collected from all the scheduled pickups, the electronic waste will be
brought back to the headquarters and go through a preliminary sorting,
separating the waste into categories such as; cellphones, wires, laptops. EGrove will then sell the electronic waste to buyers who meet specific e-waste
recovery and recycling requirements. The buyers might be wholesalers,
recyclers or refurbishes.
The premise of E-Grove is that the company offers the best and most
convenient option for safe disposal of electronic waste. To ensure that this
is the case, all buyers must go through a vetting process with E-Grove to
be approved for business. This is to ensure that buyers meet the best
practiced standards as determined by the law in India on paper and in
reality. Grovers must have confidence that the price they pay for pick-ups
guarantees that their waste is being disposed of in the most sustainable
fashion.
Propagule Department: Branding and Marketing
A propagule is the part of a mangrove tree that spreads. In the same way
mangroves propagate, so will E-Grove’s marketing and educational campaign,
sowing the seed to give rise to a new Grover #JoinTheGrove.
E-Grove strives to be the first lifestyle brand in waste management.
Bengaluru’s residents will have a convenient and accessible way to live out
their values, and be acknowledged and rewarded for their responsible
recycling habits.
The founder in charge of the Propagule Department job will be responsible
for increasing awareness of E-Grove’s services. The department’s first task will
focus on creating brand ambassadors that are open advocates for change.
This person will strive to show how each individual action, agglomerated, has
a larger impact. An important part of the message will be educational and
illustrative of how individual actions can come together to create change. The
primary goal of this campaign is to encourage as many Bengaluru residents to
Join The Grove.
“Grovers” are socially and environmentally conscious Bengaluru’s residents
with a disposable income. They frequently replace electronic equipment and
understand the issues stemming from improper e-waste disposal. “Grovers”
care about the safe disposal of e-waste at large in their communities and value
a responsible solution.
The “Grove” Department: Retail and Corporate Partnerships
This department is critical for E-Grove’s continued success. The founder managing this department will contact and convince retailers and heavy electronic
users that partnering with E-Grove would be beneficial for their businesses.
This will rely heavily on showing that Begalureans have embraced
#joiningthegrove. By partnering with E-Grove, companies can also associate
with the waste revolution occurring in India. This will be expanded on in next
segments.
Measurement and Evaluation
To measure the impact of E-grove on environmental quality, several impact
metrics will be continuously monitored. This is an important part of the
business because E-Grove’s brand revolves around its ability to quantify the
positive impact of the services on the amount of electronic waste that is
responsibly recycled.
E-Grove will establish a grading metric that sets values to the different ways
electronic waste is sold for reuse, refurbishment, and/or recycling. E-grove will
then be able to estimate the reduction impact of changes in terms of embodied
energy, hazardous waste, and greenhouse gases.
Financial Projections
For E-Grove’s pilot, two founding members will travel to Bengaluru to run a
one month trial of the preliminary business model. Initially, E-Grove will
employ a single collector for the premium pick-up service. The pilot
requires $7,500 to start this social venture. $2,000 is devoted to the
transportation of the E-Grove team to Bengaluru, and an additional $1,000
will provide housing and cover living expenses (Appendix, Table 3). The
online platform and software development will require a $1,000 investment.
We will use the rest of the money to hire collectors, rent bicycles, and set
up pick up locations.
Our revenue model is based on the model that large utilities use. We will
charge a fixed rate each month in exchange for our pickup service and the
use of our bins. A bin will be given to the client, with the charge varying by
bin size. Every week a bike worker will collect the materials deposited in the
bin, and take it to our facilities. We hope to establish long term contracts
with residential and commercial contracts to provide service for multiple
months. We will charge a nominal fee of 10 rupees/unit/month.
The revenue model for the as needed pickup service portion of E-Grove
uses a combination of a flat pickup fee and a variable fee that is based on
the weight of the collected e-waste. All pick-ups cost a 200 rupee flat fee.
In addition to the flat fee, there is an additional 10 rupee charge for each
kilogram of collected waste. The average cost to consumers per pick-up is
estimated at 400 rupees based on a 20kg collection. This could include, but
not limited to, a phone, a few chargers, over-the-ear headphones, and a
radio. This estimate varies depending on the specific electronics. After
resale, the collected e-waste will provide E-Grove capital at an average rate
of 15 rupees/kg, thus approximately 300 rupees per customer pick-up.
E-Grove collectors will receive compensation of about 125 rupees each
hour. The two founding members will assist collecting from drop-off
locations and manage the project. They will be compensated 200 rupees
per hour. Other expenses include fees to rent space and infrastructure,
license fees to ensure legal collection, and advertising expenses. There are
also allocated funds of 7,750 rupees per month to cover any additional
expenses such as website maintenance, license fees, and any other
unforeseen costs. It is anticipated that E-Grove will receive high amounts of
drop-offs and collected waste, making the venture profitable and cash flow
positive from an early date.
Next Steps
One of the first initiatives post-pilot, will be to make E-grove’s presence
known within the city of Bengaluru. This notoriety will be achieved in two
directions: individual customers, and existing businesses and companies
within the e-waste industry. The approach towards the individual will be
based on maximizing the financial value and social benefit of recycling
their e-waste with E-grove. A significant social media presence is a crucial
access point for the target customer. This will involve creating an
interesting and engaging Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter account
that will contain “e”-related, multi-media content, along with a welldeveloped E-grove website. Within the first couple years, E-grove hopes
to engage a public figure as an ambassador to promote the company,
along with the creation of shareable, engaging videos that shine a light
on the impact of individual participation of e-waste recycling within
Bangalore. Once financial means are obtained, E-Grove exhibitions and
displays in popular public locations will be pursued. The marketing
approach will aim to make it “cool” to be a Grover, and will adapt and
evolve as the familiarity with the people of Bangalore does. In 3-5 years,
and dependent on information gained during the pilot, E-grove hopes to
offer rewards to customers for repeated usage and/or referrals to family
and friends. This may be for in-store credit with partnered resellers
and/or electronics stores, or perhaps in the form of earning a “free
pickup” for next time.
Beginning with local IT businesses and collectors, E-grove will offer
connections and loyalty benefits with acquired customers and begin to
facilitate relationships between the collectors and the recyclers so that
Bengaluru has an e-waste exchange that is reliable, professional, and
accessible. In 5 years, the goal is to hold partnerships with the current
major recyclers of electronic waste such as E-Parisaraa, Attero, and
Ramky Enviro-engineers, as well as large scale consumers of electronics
such as Honeywell, and IBM. With a larger volume of users the hope is to
re-tool the financials to be able to offer a fee-free pick up service. In
order to improve the longevity of the devices people use, E-grove could
offer connections to reliable repair services, and a premium pick up and
drop off service of the device to and from the repairer.
As E-grove matures, it will place a higher emphasis on connecting
companies and facilitating relationships within the industry, as well as
continue to take steps and develop programs aimed towards making it
easy, accessible, and beneficial for the people of Bengaluru to recycle
their e-waste responsibly. We invite all people to join the grove as we
pilot and develop our business, spreading our roots in Bengaluru for a
sustainable and successful future in e-waste management.
E-G rove: Creating Opportunities to Responsibly Recycle E-Waste
References
1. Nguyen N.A., Tetsuro A., Ramu K., Nguyen P.C.T., Satoko M., Bulbule K.A,
Parthasaraty P., Takahashi S., Subramanian A., Tanabe S. 2009.
“Contamination by trace elements at e-waste recycling sites in
Bangalore, India”. Chemosphere. 76, 9-15.
2. Chatterjee S. 2012. “Sustainable Electronic Waste Management and
Recycling Process” American Journal of Environmental Engineering. 2,
23-33.
3. Chatterjee S., Kumar K., 2009. “Effective electronic waste management and
recycling processes involving formal and non-formal sectors”. 4, 893950.
4. Mou P. Layiding W., Xiang D., Gao J., Duan G. 2004. “A Physical Process for
Recycling and Reusing Waste Printed Circuit Boards. Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers - Conference.
5. Sepulveda A., Schluep M., Renau F.G., Streicher M. Kuehr R. Hageluken C.,
Gerecke A.C., 2010. “A review of the environmental fate and effects
of hazardous substances released from electrical and electronics
equipments during recycling China and India”. Environmental Impact
assessment Review. 30, 28-41.
6. United Nations Environment Programme. 2009. “Recycling - From E-waste
to Resources”. Sustainable Innovation and Technology Transfer
Industrial Sector Studies.
7. Ministry of Environment and Forests. 2011. “E-waste (management and
handling) Rules, 2011” Notification. S.O. 1035(E).
8.E-grove. 2014. “Interest survey of young professional Bengaluru residents”
Appendix
Table 1: Saleable material recovered from 1000 kg. Not including precious
metals such as gold, silver, platinum, etc. (Chatterjee and Kumar 2009)
Table 2: Approximate value of various components recovered from PCBs.
(Chatterjee and Kumar 2009)
Table 3: Startup Capital Allocation
Table 4: Break-even Income Statement
Table 5: Projected Income Statement
Figure 1: Responses from survey of middle-class professionals in Bengaluru