Karo Sambhav partners with Xiaomi India for e-waste awareness and collection

Karo Sambhav, a tech-enabled Producer Responsibility Organization (PRO), in partnership with Xiaomi India, India’s number 1 smartphone and smart TV brand today announced a nationwide awareness programme aimed at developing and implementing responsible electronic waste (e-waste) management solutions across India.

As a part of this campaign, Karo Sambhav is setting up over 1150 e-waste collections points at all Xiaomi Mi Homes and Mi Authorised Service Centres in over 500 cities across the country. These collection points will enable consumers to drop-off phones and other Xiaomi product categories such as batteries, accessories etc for responsible recycling.

Commenting on this alliance Muralikrishnan B, Chief Operations Officer, Xiaomi said, “As the number one smartphone brand, Xiaomi is committed to setting effective examples of environmentally sustainable measures by providing customers take-back and recycling services that meet world-class standards. By ensuring that all our Mi Home and service centre outlets are equipped with e-waste bins, we are confident that these efforts will go a long way in building greater public awareness among our consumers for responsible disposing of.”

“Karo Sambhav is building transformative solutions that bring much-required transparency and accountability in e-waste management in India. Active participation of brands like Xiaomi will go a long way in mainstreaming of the issue of e-waste,” said Pranshu Singhal, Founder and Director, Karo Sambhav. 

Besides creating a take-back channel, Xiaomi has also joined Karo Sambhav as one of its producer members to spread awareness on the issue of e-waste among various stakeholders.

Rapidly evolving technology along with its benefits has also resulted in a significant rise in old and unusable electronics. India generates more than 2 million tonnes of e-waste per annum. Less than 2% of this gets recycled responsibly, resulting in serious health and environment hazards.

Karo Sambhav through its various initiatives has engaged with hundreds of Bulk Consumers and thousands of waste handlers to encourage responsible management of e-waste. Its school programme has reached over 1950 Schools and engaged with over 8 lakh individuals across the country. It has also successfully collected and sent over 4000 MTs of e-waste for responsible recycling.