India’s effort to formalise its sprawling electronic waste sector that retrieves valuable critical minerals and rare earth metals from discarded electronics has sparked a legal showdown with some of the world’s largest electronics companies.

Samsung, LG, Daikin, Carrier and other producers have sued the Indian government over rules requiring them to increase the proportion of their electronic waste they recycle to 80% by March next year and pay a fixed price to authorised recyclers. The companies argue the rules are costly and difficult to implement.

India is the third-largest producer of electronic waste behind China and the United States, but Delhi wants to recover more critical minerals such as lithium and rare earth metals to power solar panels, wind turbines and batteries.

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