A repeatable test of qualified, saleable recovered material, closing the gap between collection, process yield and buyer acceptance.
India's green-industry expansion creates reasons to recover copper, precious metals and battery materials from used equipment. The investment calculation begins with a more prosaic question: what mass, quality and value emerges from a defined waste stream after collection, segregation, losses, processing and compliance costs?
The original India Front *Minerals Reclamation* article argues for an urban-mining industrial base. This Framework adds a batch-level mass, qualification and cash record applicable to a specific process. It does not borrow unverified national recovery-rate or subsidy claims from the parent.
A. Define a legal and physical boundary
Separate waste streams governed by the E-Waste (Management) Rules from waste batteries governed by the Battery Waste Management Rules. The applicable stream, recycler registration, permissions, permitted materials and EPR obligations must be verified. Certificates created through the relevant EPR regime are compliance instruments; their value is not the same as sales of recovered metal.
Record field
Required evidence
Record field
Required evidence
Record field
Required evidence
Record field
Required evidence
Record field
Required evidence
Record field
Required evidence
| Record field | Required evidence |
|---|---|
| Feed | Source, accepted net tonnes, category, assay, hazardous fractions and sampling protocol |
| Recovery | Saleable outputs, residuals, rejects, stock movements and disposal, all in matched physical units |
| Grade | Purity, contamination, test method and intended customer's specification |
| Operating cost | Collection, logistics, energy, reagents, labour, treatment, residual handling and finance |
| Revenue | Invoiced accepted metal/chemical sales, realised by-products and contractually transferable EPR proceeds where legally applicable |
| Capacity | Permitted throughput, operating hours, actual batches and traceable inventory |
B. Close the mass balance before pricing
Input mass = recovered product + recoverable intermediate inventory + residues / rejects + measured process losses, under one explicitly stated moisture and sampling basis. Where moisture, assay or process losses remain unmeasured, report UNRECONCILED. A recovery percentage lacks an evidential basis.
The economically relevant yield is customer-accepted recovered product ÷ measured input feed, using a clearly specified material and consistent units. Technical extraction yield, nominal plant throughput and commercially accepted product must not be substituted for each other.
Worked application — deliberately hypothetical
A permitted plant receives 100 tonnes of a defined, assayed waste feed. Its documented physical accounting shows 30 tonnes of recovered concentrate, 55 tonnes of other identified output/residue and 15 tonnes of process loss. The physical balance closes: 30 + 55 + 15 = 100 tonnes.
The 30-tonne concentrate figure does not establish 30 tonnes of saleable metal. If the buyer's assay, impurity limits and payable-metal terms are unknown, the saleable-metal quantity and realised revenue remain INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE. This record provides no defensible margin, national recycled-metal contribution or resource-substitution calculation.
Gate
Hypothetical evidence
Finding
Gate
Hypothetical evidence
Finding
Gate
Hypothetical evidence
Finding
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Hypothetical evidence
Finding
Gate
Hypothetical evidence
Finding
| Gate | Hypothetical evidence | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Feed traceability | 100 tonnes weighed, category and assay procedure recorded | Conditional: full assay result still needed |
| Physical output | 30 + 55 + 15 tonnes identified | Accounting balance closes under stated convention |
| Product qualification | Customer test and acceptance absent | Not established |
| Unit economics | Price, treatment costs and EPR entitlement absent | Not calculable |
| Investment choice | New process versus present disposal or sale alternatives | Insufficient evidence |
C. Calculate the incremental commercial result
For the same batch and period:
Net realised value = accepted material revenue + legally earned, non-duplicated compliance revenue + genuine by-product receipts − collection and processing costs − lawful residue and environmental-management costs.
Add financing, capital service and replacement expenditure at the investment-appraisal level, with consistent timing and taxation. If an EPR certificate is sold, recognise it only where the applicable scheme, verified recycling activity and contract permit. Never treat a certificate face value as additional physical material.
Compare at least the present disposal/sales route, proposed recovery process and an alternative licensed processor. Higher physical recovery does not guarantee higher realised value once contamination, energy and customer qualification costs are included. Conversely, a lower laboratory yield may be economically superior where its product is usable without a costly secondary process.
D. Decision record
Outcome
Required finding
Outcome
Required finding
Outcome
Required finding
Outcome
Required finding
| Outcome | Required finding |
|---|---|
| Supported for further appraisal | Traceable feed, balanced yields, qualified sales route and credible net-value comparison |
| Conditional | Economics credible only after a named permit, buyer qualification or financing condition |
| Unsupported | Reliable evidence shows the process cannot satisfy the relevant technical or economic constraint |
| Insufficient evidence | Material-balance, assay, price or permitted-use evidence missing |
The recycler controls process and traceability records; regulators determine compliance; customers determine acceptance; investors decide financing. None of these powers is created by the Framework.
Provenance and limitation
Derived from Issue 3, *Minerals Reclamation: Mounting Resource Sovereignty* (Team India Front, 2026). This Framework is a product-and-batch test, focused on the commercial yield from a specific recovered-material batch. Relevant legal reference: the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2022 and Central Pollution Control Board EPR guidance; rules differ for batteries.
Parent: https://indiafront.co.in/minerals-reclamation-resource-sovereignty-urban-mining-india Official e-waste rules: https://moef.gov.in/uploads/2022/11/E-Waste-Management-Rules-2022.pdf CPCB guidance: https://cpcb.nic.in/uploads/Projects/E-Waste/FAQ_ewaste_23012024.pdf