Anthropogenic and industrial wastes are resources for metals of high economic significance. These metals being the foremost aspect for development and national security fall in the high risk zone of critical metals. Developing countries like India is devoid of many of those critical metals due to lack of primary resources and hence the secondary resources play a pivotal role, to augmenting their supply. Wastes generated from iron & steel, aluminium, copper, zinc, and the anthropogenic wastes like WEEEs (batteries, magnets, catalysts), etc contain high risk & high economic importance critical metals like Rare earths, Se, Te, Co, Ni, Li, etc, which are worthy of exploitation for recovery. Most of these metals in their metal wheel have very minute concentration; but their concentrations are highly increased in their relevant wastes. Recycling those wastes and concurrently extracting these critical metals shall be very advantageous for developing econmies to be self-reliant in many of these net imported metals. 

This overview shall discuss on the various technological options to replenish these metals from the global cum Indian perspective, and the advent of indigenous technologies to exploit such resources.