IIT Madras Finds Green Solution To India's Growing Electronic Waste Problem
The team has developed a method to pull valuable copper from old phones and computers and turn it into useful nanomaterials.
Published : January 30, 2026 at 11:28 AM IST
By S Ravichandran
Chennai: Every year, India produces 5 million metric tons of electronic waste. Now, researchers at IIT Madras think they've cracked an eco-friendly way to deal with this growing problem.
The team has developed a method to pull valuable copper from old phones and computers and turn it into useful nanomaterials, without the harsh chemicals that usually damage the environment.
Electronic devices like smartphones, computers, and laptops have evolved from luxury items to necessities in our daily lives. This dependence has led to an explosion in electronic device usage across the population.
However, this digital revolution comes with a serious downside. Our "use and throw" culture means that outdated phones, computers, and other gadgets are being discarded at an alarming rate. Managing this electronic waste without damaging the environment has become one of the biggest challenges of our time.
The problem is particularly complex because electronic waste contains valuable metals like copper, gold, and iron. Traditional recycling methods use toxic chemicals that create harmful byproducts, essentially trading one environmental problem for another. This is where the IIT Madras innovation makes a real difference.
The research was led by Professor Ranjit Bauri from the Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering, Professor S. Pushpavanam from the Department of Chemical Engineering, and doctoral student Sinu Kurian.
The team zeroed in on printed circuit boards (PCBs), the heart of every electronic device. They created a recycling process using special chemical compounds called deep eutectic solvents, made from biodegradable natural materials that safely dissolve metals.
The researchers mixed thymol and capric acid—both eco-friendly substances—to create their green solvent. It dissolves copper from e-waste, which is then extracted using non-toxic trisodium citrate and turned into copper nanoparticles for industrial use.
Professor Pushpavanam pointed out that while people once used cell phones simply for talking, usage has grown tremendously. When old electronic devices are thrown away, valuable metals like copper and nickel are wasted. These metals are expensive to extract from factories in the first place.
More concerning is what happens when electronic waste ends up in landfills. When PCBs are dumped in soil, the metals slowly dissolve and contaminate groundwater over approximately five years. People who drink this contaminated water can suffer kidney damage and other serious health problems.
What makes the method developed by IIT Madras special is that it uses naturally occurring chemicals that don't harm the environment. The same technique can also extract iron and gold from electronic waste, not just copper.
According to Dr Sinu Kurian, the doctoral student leading the work, when PCB boards are heated to 100 degrees Celsius with the special chemicals, the copper dissolves and forms a compound called copper oxide. The team has successfully tested this method using real electronic waste samples in their laboratory.
Professor Pushpavanam added that while e-waste has plenty of copper, gold shows up in tiny amounts—mostly in computer RAM and SIM cards. Still, extracting these metals safely would be a win-win for the environment and India's economy.
Currently, the technology exists only at the laboratory scale. The researchers' next goal is to scale up the process for industrial use, making it viable for professional electronic waste management operations.
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