Spread over five acres, RECYCLEKARO’s Wada R&D facility is a long-term research platform set to evolve over five years.
RECYCLEKARO has inaugurated a Rare Earths and Advanced Materials Research Centre at Wada in Palghar district near Mumbai, marking expansion of its urban mining and advanced materials capabilities. The new centre will focus on optimising the extraction of critical and rare earth metals from end of life electronics, lithium ion batteries and complex e waste streams, supporting faster and more sustainable scale up of recovery operations.
The centre will focus on rare earth recovery, advanced separation and purification, battery materials optimisation and scalable process development aimed at improving yield and purity. Research insights will be integrated into RECYCLEKARO’s plans to scale a dedicated rare earth processing capacity of 20,000 metric tonnes.
RECYCLEKARO currently operates processing capacities of 24,500 metric tonnes of e-waste and 10,000 metric tonnes of lithium-ion battery waste, providing a strong operational base for responsible resource recovery. The company said the new centre will help build indigenous scientific and process capabilities to strengthen India’s mineral security.
To support this expansion, RECYCLEKARO plans to invest around ₹5 billion by 2030 in a phased manner to develop world class research infrastructure and talent. The company will onboard research scientists, PhDs and specialists across materials science, metallurgy and chemical engineering.
Founder and Managing Director Rajesh Gupta said the centre would advance the science of urban mining, enabling end of life products to become a reliable resource for a circular and self-reliant India.
RECYCLEKARO is also strengthening industry academia collaborations with institutions including IIT Bombay, IIT Kanpur and IIT Hyderabad, alongside partnerships with overseas companies to align with global best practices.
