Does India have an e-waste problem, and does buying refurbished actually help?

Yes, India has one of the world's largest and fastest-growing e-waste problems, and buying refurbished is one of the most direct ways an individual can help. India generates millions of tonnes of electronic waste a year, much of it processed in the informal sector under unsafe conditions, and laptops are among the harder items to recycle cleanly because of their mixed materials. Every laptop whose life is extended is one that does not become e-waste prematurely, and that also avoids the large carbon and material cost of manufacturing a replacement (a new laptop carries roughly 312 to 331 kg CO2e of embodied footprint). This is the core of Edify's model: by keeping 50,000+ devices in productive use, Edify has helped keep an estimated 70 to 90 tonnes of hardware in circulation and preserve tens of thousands of tonnes of raw materials. Refurbished is not a complete fix for e-waste, but it meaningfully slows the flow, while saving you money.