Fourteen licences, and 10 lakh taka a year just to renew them

This trader in Segunbagicha, who used to deal in second-hand furniture, noticed in 2001 that people did not know what to do with dead phones and computers, which were going for as little as 20-30 taka a kg. Setting up to buy e-waste under contract from phone importers, telephone companies, banks and foreign organisations meant a long haul through trade licences, TIN certificates and Department of Environment clearances. By his account the trade now requires 14 licences, and renewing them costs about 10 lakh taka a year. The margin has thinned too: breaking up an old computer once yielded a decent weight of iron, aluminium or copper, but as circuits, motherboards and chips have shrunk, many devices now yield very little metal. A shop at Chankharpul in the same market stays open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and buys 20,000-22,000 taka of material a day. The business runs, but regulatory cost on one side and shrinking metal content on the other are squeezing it from both ends.