How Hulladek Recycling is beating scepticism around waste management

Around ten years ago, when Nandan Mall set up Hulladek Recycling to tackle the growing challenge of e-waste, there was a lot of scepticism and disdain around waste management. People did not view it as a serious venture that was attempting to solve a crucial problem.

“People would say, ‘Ye kabadi ka kaam karega.’ (He will do the work of a scrap dealer). But 10 years down the line, with increased awareness surrounding waste management and sustainability, perspectives have improved,” says Mall.

According to Astute Analytica, India is the third largest generator of e-waste in the world, after China and the United States, generating 2 million to 3.2 million tonnes every year.

Since its inception in 2014 in Kolkata, Hulladek Recycling has handled 25,000 tonnes of waste. In 2023 alone, it collected 2,050 tonnes of e-waste across India for recycling. During Diwali last year, Hulladek collected about 15 tonnes of waste from West Bengal, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Delhi and Punjab.

Mall’s interest in waste management began during his college days when he did internships with recycling companies in Bengaluru and Delhi. In fact, Hulladek was bootstrapped with his earnings from college days.

He then learnt more about e-waste management and recycling at Indumetal Recycling in Bilbao, Spain in 2013. This training stint gave him an understanding of extraction of precious metals and salting techniques.

(Salting technique is a density separation method that segregates plastics and metals.)

Also Read

Meet Krishna, a waste collector, an entrepreneur, and a champion of change in his community

Services provided

While Hulladek predominantly tackles e-waste, it also collects plastic waste.

Hulladek offers e-waste management services to both individual households and companies. It does not rely on aggregators or kabadiwalas for waste collection. Instead it sources waste directly from waste generators to ensure the metals are untarnished. The company operates in 20 states and 2 union territories in India.

For households, the startup does doorstep collection of electronic, battery, and plastic waste in Kolkata, Ranchi, Dispur, Jaipur, Gandhinagar, Mumbai, Jamshedpur and parts of West Bengal (Asansol, Durgapur, and Siliguri).

Users can schedule pickups on Hulladek’s website or call the team.

E-waste forms about 90% of the waste collected by Hulladek; 20% of this is used batteries, while the rest includes computers, monitors, phones, and household appliances. Plastic waste accounts for 7% of the remaining waste.

The startup has partnered with several companies for e-waste and general waste disposal and EPR (extended producer responsibility) consultancy.

Extended producer responsibility, regulated by the Central Pollution Control Board under the Ministry of Environment, mandates that all producers, manufacturers and importers of electronic and electrical devices are responsible for management and disposal of products throughout their lifecycle.

Hulladek helps companies fulfil this compliance by collecting and channelising waste on behalf of them. All documentation and certificates are submitted to the pollution control board, says Mall.

The startup has worked with over 300 brands in the past 10 years, including Nestle, Cadbury, Tata Steel, Mondelez, Hindustan Unilever, Kwality Walls, Coca Cola, Pepsi Co, Red Bull, IndusInd Bank, and Punjab National Bank.

Hulladek is certified by ISO (International Organization for Standardization) and OHSAS (Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series), an international standard for occupational health and safety management systems.

The process

While the company uses an in-house logistics team for waste collection, it also hires workers for collection and transportation on contract.

The collected waste is taken to a material recovery facility, where the material is stored, segregated and dismantled before being channelised to authorised recyclers across the country. Hulladek operates 20 such warehouses across the country—some owned by the company and some run by franchisees.

During recycling/mechanical processing, plastics are shredded, metals are baled, and glass is crunched into smaller fragments. The metals are then refined into bars and ingots and then sold in the market.

The jewellery industry is the top buyer of gold, silver and platinum; other metals are bought by manufacturing companies.

For instance, a TMT bar company would buy steel while a battery company would buy lead. Anyone who manufactures new products from plastic will buy the plastic granules or ignites, explains Mall.

According to Mall, the biggest waste stream comes from visi coolers or visible coolers—which are commercial refrigeration units used to display and store perishable items such as dairy, beverages and snacks.

The company collects visi coolers for recycling from brands such as Mondelez, Red Bull, Coca-Cola, and Nestle.

Market and growth

According to Mordor Intelligence, the waste management market in India is estimated at $13.69 billion in 2025 and is expected to reach $18.40 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 6.1%. E-waste is a significant part of this market.

The e-waste management market in India is projected to reach a valuation of $5,198.52 million by 2032, from $1,660.46 million in 2023, at a CAGR of 13.52%, according to data from Astute Analytica.

Gurugram-based Karo Sambhav, Faridabad-based Namo eWaste, Roorkee-based Attero Recycling, and Chennai-based TES-AMM are some of Hulladek’s competitors.

Hulladek hopes to seize the opportunities in the waste management market by establishing its own recycling units. It plans to set up recycling plants for electronic waste in Jaipur and Guwahati by the end of FY25 and five recycling units for battery waste in three years. It will also launch an app to schedule pick-ups and enable users to calculate their carbon footprint.

The startup clocked a revenue of Rs 12 crore in FY24 and is targeting Rs 18.65 crore in FY25. It aims to reach Rs 100 crore by FY30.