The E-Waste Database

🌱 What was planned? Despite largescale international and EU opposition, Norway’s parliament approved plans for commercial-scale deep-sea mining on its continental shelf in January 2024. Norway was the “first country in the world” to do so. The plan was to allow companies to apply to mine for minera

🌱 What investments are flowing into the EU? According to S&P Global, the amount of “private equity and venture capital investments” going towards the EU's mining and metals industry are increasing. From January to October 2024, the “private equity deal value in metals and mining companies amounted

🌱 What international obligations are there? Broadly speaking, governments and companies must uphold “Indigenous Peoples’ rights in line with international standards including the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the ILO Convention 169 Indigenous and Tribal

🌱 What risks do lithium batteries pose? Lithium batteries can be found in increasingly more electrical devices. They are sometimes also installed permanently within these devices. During the collection of old electrical devices, lithium batteries can cause fires. When small lithium-ion or lithium-m

🌱 What has Harris proposed? While critical minerals are “often overlooked in political discussions”, Kamala Harris is focusing on this topic in her U.S. presidential campaign. Harris has proposed creating a stockpile or “national reserve” of critical minerals. In a white paper, she set out “a detai

🌱 Why are governments concerned with critical raw materials? Critical raw materials – such as cobalt, nickel, and lithium – are needed for the production of batteries and renewable energy technologies. Yet, the demand for critical minerals is expected to exceed the supply over the next decade. Acco

🌱 What is cassiterite? Cassiterite is a tin ore, and it is considered critical for the energy transition. Cassiterite is used in lithium-ion batteries, the coatings of solar panels, and as solder for electronics in wind turbines. Due to the high demand for it, cassiterite is referred to as “black g

🌱 Why has lawsuit been brought? Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe and Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) have brought a court case against the European Commission (EC) over what they call “grossly inadequate” climate targets for 2030. According to the two, the EU’s current climate ambitions do no

🌱 What is lithium used for? Lithium is a key component in batteries. The metal is used in both the batteries of mobile devices and electrical vehicles (EVs). It is therefore also considered to be strategically valuable for the energy transition. 🌱 How much lithium could be produced in Serbia? The

🌱 What is the CSDDD? The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) makes human rights and environmental due diligence mandatory for large companies operating in the EU. It notably applies to both EU and non-EU companies that meet the thresholds for employee count and net worldwide tu

🌱 How do products impact the environment? The mass consumption of products is considered “a major cause of climate change and pollution”. Products can, however, be produced in more sustainable ways. According to the European Commission, a product could be considered more sustainable if it, for exam

🌱 How much e-waste originates from toys? Toys are a considerable source of e-waste. Roughly 7.3 billion e-toys – so an average of one toy per person on Earth – are discarded each year. These include car racing sets, drones, electric trains, music toys, and talking dolls, amongst others. According t

🌱 What is a battery passport? A battery passport is in essence a type of “supply-chain tracker”. It provides an insight into the raw materials and components used to produce a battery. Typically, the battery composition, the origin of the materials and components, the proportion of recycled content

🌱 What happens when e-waste is disposed informally? Environmental contamination and pollution often occur when e-waste is disposed of informally. The process of dismantling, shredding, and melting materials from e-waste can release contamination into the air, soil, and groundwater. Moreover, when r

🌱 When was the first rechargeable battery invented? In 1859, Gaston Planté created the first lead-acid battery that could be recharged indefinitely. In 1881, Camille Faure then invented a lighter and longer-lasting rechargeable battery that could be used in an “electric carriage”. Charles Bush nota

🌱 What are the concerns? The demand for minerals critical to the energy transition is expected to rise considerably, as governments phase out fossil fuels and move to triple the capacity of global renewable energy by 2030. In light of this, the extraction of critical minerals is also expected to tr

🌱 Does mining pose a threat to Indigenous Peoples? With “54% of energy transition metals and minerals […] on or near Indigenous Peoples’ territories”, an energy transition without involving or impacting Indigenous Peoples is not possible. Historically, mining “has always posed severe risks for Indi

🌱 What is being banned? The sale of disposable vapes will be banned in England, Scotland, and Wales as of 1 June 2025. The ban, however, does not apply to refillable or rechargeable vapes. It also does not cover new products, such as “rechargeable disposables”, “pod”, and “Big Puff” models. These m

🌱 How is the government facilitating e-waste recycling? According to the German Ministry of Environment, there were 1.6 million tons of electrical devices in circulation in Germany in 2013 and this rose to more than 3 million tons by 2021. In line with this, the amount of e-waste in Germany is grow

🌱 How much funding is there? The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has considerably expanded its funding of critical minerals projects over the past few years. Since January 2021, the DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) has spent $171m on “supporting critical minerals explorati

🌱 Why was the UN panel set up? The UN Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals was set up on 26 April 2024. At COP28, several “resource-rich developing countries” had voiced that they were “experiencing issues along the[ir] minerals value chain”. The UN panel was founded in response to a propos

🌱 What has been alleged? On 31 August 2022, the UN published a report that found that “serious human rights violations” – that “may constitute crimes against humanity” – had taken place in Xinjiang, China. The report outlined that Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim communities had been arbitrar

🌱 Why do vapes cause fires? Vapes and e-cigarettes contain lithium-ion batteries. As the vapes are often disposed of incorrectly, they cause fires in garbage cans, garbage trucks, and at disposal facilities. Lithium-ion batteries can easily ignite when they are damaged. There is always a risk of th

🌱 Which countries are subject to infringement procedures? On 25 July 2024, the European Commission (EC) announced that it had sent letters of formal notice to all 27 EU Member States. With these letters, the EC opened infringement procedures against each of the Member States “for failing to meet wa

🌱 What has Northvolt developed? Northvolt announced in November 2023 that it had produced a battery that replaced lithium, cobalt, nickel, and graphite with sodium, iron, nitrogen, and carbon. The use of sodium to replace lithium in batteries alone is not a new creation. Several Chinese companies h

🌱 What research is being done? When the batteries in EVs become defective, they are rarely repaired. A large part of the issue stems from the fact that in the design process of EVs, repairs and accessibility to the batteries are not factored in. Yet, most of the time when a battery becomes defectiv

🌱 How are Indigenous peoples impacted by the energy transition? Indigenous peoples are particularly strongly affected by transition mining. According to the UN, over half of the “transition materials [are] located on or near land where Indigenous people live”. Moreover, “85% of […] lithium extracti

🌱 Is the use of renewable technologies increasing? According to the IEA, “[c]lean energy technologies had another record year” in 2023. Compared to the previous year, the use of solar PV technologies and of wind turbines grew by 85% and 60% respectively in 2023. Over 40 GW of battery storage capaci

Below you will find a few examples of several countries’ solutions aimed to encourage better e-waste practices. 📍 California California has a statewide system to manage e-waste. This system is funded through “advance recycling fees” paid by consumers. 📍 China In China, some manufacturers have be

🌱 What tariffs are planned? On 14 May 2024, the U.S. president, Joe Biden announced that he plans to heavily increase the tariffs on several goods imported from China. According to the White House, the new tariffs will affect imported goods worth an estimated USD 18bn. The plan is to phase in the n