The E-Waste Column no. 67

Oct 18, 2023

2 min read

The column today contains a short update on the global production of e-waste.

🌱 How much e-waste will be produced this year?

“E-waste is the world’s fastest-growing waste stream”. According to the UN, 61.3 million tonnes of e-waste will be discarded this year. This is “more than the weight of the Great Wall of China” and amounts to 8kg per person worldwide. It is estimated that 844 million vapes will be discarded this year. The combined weight of these vapes is “equal to three times the weight of New York’s Brooklyn Bridge or six Eiffel Towers”. Moreover, roughly 7.3 billion individual e-toy items (which includes biking computers, drones, electric trains, musical toys, race car sets, talking dolls and other robotic figures) will be discarded this year. This is “about 1 e-toy for every [human being] on Earth”. Moreover, last year, 950 million kg of cables were discarded, which is “enough cable to circle the Earth 107 times”.

🌱 How much of this e-waste will be recycled?

There are no precise estimates for 2023 yet. However, according to the UN, only 17.4% of global e-waste was “properly collected, treated and recycled” in 2021. The rest was “placed in landfill[s], burned or illegally traded and treated in a sub-standard way or simply hoarded in the households”. “[I]n Europe, which leads the world in e-waste recycling, only 54% of e-waste is officially reported as collected and recycled”.

🌱 Why is household e-waste not recycled?

Lack of awareness by the public is considered a key issue. Many consumers hold onto their (broken or unused) devices because they plan to use them in the future, or because they do not realize that their devices could be repaired, refurbished, resold, or recycled. According to a 2022 study conducted in Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, and the UK by UNITAR and WEEE Forum members, a household has an average of 74 e-products, of which 13 “are being hoarded”. On average, 9 of the “hoarded devices” are unused but working and 4 are broken. The most commonly “hoarded devices” are small devices – such as headphones and remote controls – which consumers often do not recognize as being electronics.

🌱 Is e-waste valuable?

E-waste is “a huge sleeping resource”. It contains materials needed for “strategic sectors such as renewable energy, electric mobility, industry, communications, aerospace and defense”. “The value of raw materials in the global e-waste generated in 2019 was estimated at US $57 billion, most of that attributed to iron, copper and gold components”. With – for example – the demand for copper being anticipated “to rise 6 fold by 2030 in Europe”, the value of e-waste is likely to increase considerably over the coming years.