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karo sambhav was formally established in December 2016, and started its first round of operations in 2017.
”karo sambhav” is a hindi expression with the literal meaning of “making possible”. our name is an invitation to everyone to create a cohesive circular economy movement.
our mission is to make recycling a way of life for a billion people. We collaborate with leading enterprises, strategic alliances and governments on circular economy and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)frameworks. Karo’sprogrammes cover e-waste, plastic packaging waste, battery waste and glass, while continuing exploration towards less scrutinised sectors like mattresses, textiles and tyres.
Since its inception, Karo Sambhav has driven industry-first practices on transparency, auditability, and collaborative programme implementation. From pioneering a solution for e-waste management industry with International Finance Corporation, to establishing a venture with 30+FMCG brands to tackle the plastic waste crisis, Karo Sambhav utilises its core strengths of deep technical expertise, grassroots action, technology and systems thinking approach to create impact at scale.
Karo Sambhav was the first to be registered as a Producer Responsibility Organisation in India for e-waste. Download our authorisation here. You can find our name on the Central Pollution Control Board website here. We follow all regulations for the different types of waste, as per Indian legislation.
Our work is sector agnostic. While we focus on e-waste, plastic waste and battery waste as critical categories, we continue exploration of other waste streams like glass, tires, mattresses and textiles.
Do we pay as a Bulk Consumer to dispose or will Karo Sambhav be paying us? It is a mix of both as some of the material has a negative recycling value such as cartridges, etc. i.e., we need to pay to responsibly dispose it, whereas some material has a net positive value, wherein we get a fixed amount from the sales of secondary material to the recyclers, thus we pay for the same to the bulk consumers. Generally, a bulk consumer must share an inventory list with us, and we share formal quotation of the material. In certain cases, Bulk Consumers are more than happy in giving their e-waste free of cost and they are keen towards responsible recycling of the e-waste.
We provide a mix of services that is required for responsibly disposing E-Waste as a Bulk Consumer i.e.,
You can reach out to us at engage@karosambhav.com or call us at our toll-free no. 1800-2121-434
We are based in 40 cities PAN India and our ever expanding our operations
Corporate Office in Gurugram, Haryana and IT office in Bangalore, Karnataka
End of life (EOL), is the stage a product or material reaches when it is no longer of use. This could mean it is destined for a landfill, compost, or a recycle bin, depending on how the user disposes of the material when they are done using it. At Eastman, we try to ensure materials have a good EOL and are recycled molecularly or mechanically into new materials rather than having a bad EOL, sitting in a landfill or ending up in our environment or waterways.
E-waste is defined as “electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part discarded as waste by the consumer or bulk consumer as well as rejects from manufacturing, refurbishment and repair processes”.
The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 supersede the E-Waste (Management & Handling) Rules of 2011. The primary motivation behind the new Rules is to ensure the efficient collection and proper recycling of the categories of e-waste mentioned in Schedule – I of the Rules (Please see Annex I).
In addition to the previously covered producers, bulk consumers, collection centres, dismantlers and recyclers (under E-Waste Rules, 2011), the new Rules also include manufacturers, dealers, refurbishers and Producer Responsibility Organizations (PROs) under its purview.
We take resources from the ground to make products we use. When we no longer want them, we throw them away: take-make-waste. This is called a linear economy. A circular economy is based on the principles of reducing waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.
The current system is no longer effective for businesses, people, or the environment. It is imperative to transform all the elements of the take-make-waste system, including how we manage resources, how we make and use products, and what we do with the materials afterwards. Only then will we be able to create a thriving economy that can benefit everyone within the limits of our planet.
Shifting the system involves everyone and everything—from businesses, governments, and individuals to our cities, our products, and our jobs. By designing to minimize waste and pollution, recycling and reusing products and materials, and preserving our natural resources, we can drive a truly circular economy.
No. Circular economy is about looking at a system as a whole and seeing how it is all connected. Waste management focuses on the final stage of a product, whereas the circular economy looks across the lifecycle and crucially includes design. It is about redesigning systems to be more efficient and effective, so that ultimately there is no ‘waste’.
The circular economy and climate change mitigation go hand-in-hand. There are many different facets to the circular economy including material efficiency, reuse and recycling- all of which have different impacts on the emissions.
For resource recover or recycling stage, one ton of e-waste can help prevent 0.87 MTCO2 of emissions while one ton of plastic waste can help prevent 1.34 MTCO2 of emissions.
The circular economy aims to find commercially viable ways of doing these while significantly reducing the energy needed to produce.
The Rules define EPR as “responsibility of any producer of electrical or electronic equipment, for channelisation of e-waste to ensure environmentally sound management of such waste. “The basic concept is to promote environmental impact reduction at the end of life by:
Internalizing end-of-life cost at More recyclable and less toxic products the Manufactuing stage
There are two types of EPR models available to producers:
Table 1 lists the difference between a CPR and an IPR system from an executable point of view.
Karo Sambhav is a tech-enabled, environmentally beneficial and socially responsible e-waste Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) of top brands such as Apple, Lenovo, Dell and HP. Karo’s members also include prominent distributors and importers. We have set-up an India-wide transformative solution on e-waste management with the aim of making recycling a way of life. We make it possible for people and institutions to responsibly recycling their electronic waste.
Our Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) solutions cover Information Communication Technology (ICT), Lighting and Consumer Electronics. We partner with industry associations, pollution control boards, state IT departments, municipal corporations, NGOs, informal sector waste pickers, collectors & aggregators, and responsible recyclers across India. International Finance Corporation (IFC, part of The World Bank group) has partnered with us for a pan-India project on the development and implementation of a PRO solution for the industry. Karo Sambhav enables producers to transcend the compliance boundaries. We help you become thought leaders by participating in the transformation of e-waste management in India.
If you are a producer of electronic goods and believe that solving the e-waste problem of India requires urgent attention we invite you to join us and comply as a leader by:
Recycling refers to the recovery of the materials used in the manufacture of electronic devices (e.g., gold, mercury, copper, aluminum, plastic and glass), which can then be used in the manufacture of new devices, reducing the consumption of non-renewable resources.
Responsible recycling also ensures that these materials, some of which are extremely toxic, do not find their way into landfills to cause harm to people or the environment.
Some of the components of e-waste contain materials such as lead, cadmium, mercury, polychlorinated bi-phenyls (PCBs), etched chemicals, brominated flame retardants which are hazardous in nature. Therefore e-waste should be handled in an environment-friendly manner to prevent this hazardous material polluting the environment.
E-waste as such is not toxic. However, processing of e-waste to recover valuable materials such as lead, copper and gold is hazardous. Therefore a careful environmentally sound recovery process is required for recycling the e-waste.
The awareness session shall act as a pre-cursor to the collection drive which is conducted as per the requirement of the Stakeholder.
The awareness session is >1 hour and covers the basics of e-waste on a global and domestic context, the e-waste rules in India, the concept of EPR, our responsibilities as Bulk Consumers/Stakeholders/Consumers.
Karo Sambhav has its authorized collection centers in many cities across India. However if the Stakeholder is unable to locate a collection center around them, they can always call at the Karo Sambhav helpline, thereafter a pick-up will be arranged for the concerned Stakeholder.
we have collection centres across most capital cities of states and union territories across India. click here for the complete list of karo sambhav collection centres. however if you do not see a collection centre near you, it is because so far we have found it unviable to create a centre there. but if you are passionate about the issue and want to figure out ways to make it possible for a collection near your house write to us at engage@karosambhav.com and we can together figure it out.
One of the main reasons why Karo Sambhav encourages the awareness session is because of the ripple effect it creates. We believe in the power of a good cause. We trust that once our stakeholders have become aware of the harms posed by the mismanagement off e-waste, they will be able to drive, even if it is a small amount of change, in their own circles; thus encouraging more people to be responsible as well.
We provide adequate proofs of destruction and/or recycling to our stakeholders. We can provide videos of the same on request of the stakeholder.
According to the new Rules, ‘Producer’ means any person who:
Therefore, even importers of EEE are now covered under the definition of ‘Producers’ which was not the case before.
The following are the main responsibilities of Producers under the new Rules:
The EPR- Authorisation plan should constitute of a collection scheme of the e-waste placed on the market, through means such as ‘buy-back arrangements, exchange schemes, Deposit Refund System, etc’ and direct it, whether directly or through authorised agencies (such as PROs) to registered recyclers.
Failure to comply with these regulations can result in severe penalisation. Under Chapter III, Section 13(iv), ‘in the event of refusal of Extended Producer Responsibility - Authorisation by the Central Pollution Control Board, the producer will forfeit his right to put any Electrical and Electronic Equipment in the market till such time the Extended Producer Responsibility - Authorisation is granted.” This applies to all the ‘Producers’ covered in Q.2.
In addition to this, Section 7 of Chapter II states that “Operation without Extended Producer Responsibility-Authorisation by any producer… shall be considered as causing damage to the environment”. This is in direct violation of Section 15 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The penalty for such a contravention is imprisonment from a term of up to five years (can be extended to seven years in case of continued contravention) and heavy fines.
E-waste is defined as electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part discarded as waste or reached its end-of-life as well as rejects from manufacturing, refurbishment and repair processes.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) means that it is the responsibility of the producer who puts their product in the market to safely dispose after it is no longer useful/ discarded by the consumer.
The E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 supersede the E-Waste (Management & Handling) Rules of 2011. The implementation of rules started from 1st October 2017. As per the mandate, the rules apply to every manufacturer, producer, consumer, bulk consumer, collection centres, dealers, e-retailer, refurbisher, dismantler and recycler involved in manufacture, sale, transfer, purchase, collection, storage and processing of e-waste or electrical and electronic equipment.
The mandate lists down in detail responsibilities of various stakeholders involved with electronic products from its manufacturing stage to its recycling stage and thereafter.
Click here to Download the E-Waste (Management) Rules of 2016 issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.
Click here to Download the E-waste (Management) Amendment Rules, 2018 issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.
Click here to Download Implementation Guidelines for E-Waste (Management) Rules 2016 issued by CPCB
According to the Rules, ‘Producer’ means any person/entity who/which:
Yes, you need to apply for an EPR Authorisation as a producer of electronics by filing an EPR Application to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
The main responsibilities of Producers as per the rules are to:
Yes, conducting awareness programmes among the consumers of electronics is mandatory.
Yes, failure to comply with the rules can result in severe penalisation as below:
No, it is not required to get an authorisation in case you are registered as an MSME organisation under the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Act, 2006.
As per the rules, CPCB shall issue EPR authorisation within 120 days from the date of receipt of complete applications submitted to CPCB. In case of any deficiency in the application, CPCB may respond with checklist of short comings within 25 days. Click here to Download Revised SoP for Grant of EPR-Authorisation under E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 as Amended.
karo sambhav collects electronics and electrical equipment that’s been discarded and has reached its end of their product life for recycling. to view a detailed checklist of the products we recycle, click here
karo sambhav works on a B2B and B2C model. we collect e-waste from aggregators, waste pickers, educational institutions, NGOs, business entities and corporates. we also collect e-waste from individuals from residential societies/complexes during collection drive with awareness sessions.
Any quantity of e-waste can be disposed and dropped at a Karo Sambhav collection centre nearest to you.
The e-waste collected by Karo Sambhav is send to a dismantling/recycling facility. At the end of the recycling process, we provide a certificate of destruction or recycling and a material recovery report is shared with our clients to validate the recycling process.
Any plastic material which contains ingredients such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high density polyethylene (HDPE), Vinyl, low density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene resins, multi-materials like acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polyphenylene oxide, polycarbonate, Polybutylene terephthalate is considered as plastic waste.
Click here to Download the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016
Click here to Download the Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules, 2018
If you are a producer that is a persons engaged in manufacture or import or brand owner of carry bags or multi-layered packaging or plastic sheets and includes industries or individuals using plastic sheets or covers made of plastic sheets or multi layered packaging for packaging or wrapping the commodity.
Any manufacture, importer, stocking, distribution, sale and use of carry bags,plastic sheets and multi layered packaging will need the registration with the State Pollution Control Board or Pollution Control Committee.
Batteries can be any source of electrical energy generated by direct conversion of chemical energy and includes:
”karo sambhav” is a hindi expression with the literal meaning of “making possible”. our name is an invitation to everyone to create a cohesive circular economy movement.
The regulations do not apply to batteries used in:
Anyone who is involved in manufacture, processing, sale, purchase, collection, storage, re-processing and use of batteries or components, consumables and spare parts which make the product operational comes under the purview of the draft rules.
The mandate lists down in detail responsibilities of various stakeholders involved in the use of battery in their products from its manufacturing stage to its recycling stage and there after.
Click here to Download the Draft Battery Waste Management Rules, 2020 issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.
