Global generation of electronic waste is rising five times faster than documented e-waste recycling, new UN report says

By Annette Gartland on March 21, 2024

Old Fadama, Accra, Ghana, February 7, 2023. ©Muntaka Chasant for the Fondation Carmignac.

A record 62 billion kilogrammes (62 million tonnes) of electronic waste was produced worldwide in 2022, which is equivalent to an annual average of 7.8 kg of e-waste per capita.

This is an increase of 82% since 2010, when the world generated 34 billion kg of e-waste, and the amount of e-waste produced globally is on track to rise more than 32%, to 82 billion kg, by 2030.

These statistics come from the UN’s fourth Global E-waste Monitor (GEM), produced by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and Fondation Carmignac.

The enforcement of e-waste policy, legislation, and regulation remains a genuine challenge globally, the GEM authors say, and the stagnation of the global e-waste collection and recycling rate is likely exacerbated by the fact that only 46 countries have collection rate targets and only 36 have recycling rate targets.

According to the new report, the world’s generation of electronic waste is rising five times faster than documented e-waste recycling.

The e-waste generated in 2022 contained 31 billion kg of metals, 17 billion kg of plastics, and 14 billion kg of other materials (minerals, glass, composite materials, etc.).

Only 22.3% of the e-waste generated in 2022 was documented as having been properly collected and recycled, leaving US$62 billion worth of recoverable natural resources unaccounted for and increasing pollution risks to communities worldwide, the GEM report states.

Formal recycling in Germany. Photo credit: R. Kuehr, UNITAR.

The documented rate of formal collection and recycling of e-waste has increased, growing from 8 billion kg in 2010 at an average rate of 0.5 billion kg per year.

However, the growth rate of countries implementing e-waste policy, legislation, or regulation has been decelerating.

As of June 2023, 81 countries (42 per cent of all countries worldwide) had adopted e-waste policies and 67 of them had a legal instrument governing e-waste management with provisions promoting extended producer responsibility.

The GEM report notes that e-waste – any discarded product with a plug or battery – is a health and environmental hazard. It contains toxic additives or hazardous substances such as mercury, which can damage the human brain and coordination system.

The report’s authors foresee a drop in the rate of documented collection and recycling of e-waste from 22.3% in 2022 to 20% by 2030. This, the report says, is because of the widening difference in recycling efforts relative to the staggering growth of e-waste generation worldwide.

Challenges contributing to the widening gap include technological progress, higher consumption, limited repair options, shorter product life cycles, society’s growing electronification, design shortcomings, and inadequate e-waste management infrastructure, the report says.

As a result of non-compliant e-waste management, 58,000 kg of mercury and 45 million kg of plastics containing brominated flame retardants are released into the environment every year, it adds. This, the report says, has a direct and severe impact on the environment and people’s health.

The GEM report underlines that, if countries could bring their e-waste collection and recycling rates to 60% by 2030, the benefits, including minimising human health risks, would exceed costs by more than US$38 billion.

It also notes that the world remains “stunningly dependent” on a few countries for rare earth elements, which, the report says have unique properties that are crucial for future technologies, including renewable energy generation and e-mobility (using electric propulsion for modes of transportation).

The director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau, Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, said: “From discarded televisions to dumped telephones, an enormous amount of e-waste is generated around the world.

“The latest research shows that the global challenge posed by e-waste is only going to grow.”

Less than half of the world was implementing and enforcing approaches to manage the problem of e-waste, Zavazava said.

The report’s lead author, Kees Baldé from UNITAR, said that no more than 1% of the demand for essential rare earth elements was met by e-waste recycling.

“Simply put, business as usual can’t continue,” he said. “This new report represents an immediate call for greater investment in infrastructure development, more promotion of repair and reuse, capacity building, and measures to stop illegal e-waste shipments. And the investment would pay for itself in spades.”

Ruediger Kuehr, who is a senior manager at UNITAR’s Sustainable Cycles (SCYCLE) programme, said that many people now used multiple computers and phones, an ever-growing number of new appliances, monitors and sensors, e-bikes, e-scooters, clothes, toys, and furniture with embedded electronics, electric tools, and energy-saving equipment such as LEDs, photovoltaics, and heat pumps.

“Urban and remote areas are increasingly connected to the Internet, and a growing number of data centres cater to the needs of the digital transformation,” he said.

“In the face of all this, concrete steps are urgently needed to address and reduce e-waste. Improved e-waste management could result in a global net positive of US$38 billion, representing a significant economic opportunity while addressing climate change and health impacts.”

The head of the Environment and Emergency Telecommunications Division at the ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, Vanessa Gray said the GEM showed that US$91 billion in valuable metals was currently being wasted because there was insufficient e-waste recycling.

“We must seize the economic and environmental benefits of proper e-waste management otherwise the digital ambitions of our future generations will face significant risks,” she said.

Gray emphasises the importance of manufacturers improving repair options and increasing the lifespan of devices.

“We need to make sure that the equipment that is used, that it can be taken apart, that different parts can be separated, because only if we have that can we ensure that they can be repaired, reused, and eventually also recycled,” she said.

Old Fadama, Accra, Ghana, April 25, 2023. Isaaka, aged 18, recovers iron materials from waste cathode ray tube TVs in a dumping area near to the Korle Lagoon.© Muntaka Chasant for the Fondation Carmignac.

The GEM states that, as a result of improvements in enforcement and regional collaboration, progress has been reported in the control of illegal shipments of e-waste in West Africa.

“However, in January 2023, an organised crime group was caught smuggling over five million kg (331 containers) of e-waste from the Canary Islands to Ghana, Mauritania, Nigeria, and Senegal,” the report adds.

“Furthermore, in 2020, the Spanish authorities intercepted a network responsible for shipping 2.5 billion kg of material to several countries in Africa, including 750,000 kg of falsely certified e-waste. Even though the import of e-waste into Africa is being monitored, it is notoriously difficult to control.”

The report adds that three of Africa’s most active ports – Durban in South Africa, Bizerte in Tunisia, and Lagos in Nigeria – have all been identified as major ports of entry for used Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE), suggesting that e-waste shipments continue to circumvent the Basel and Bamako Conventions.

A study conducted in Ireland found that roll-on/roll-off vehicles, rather than containers, were the main carriers of used EEE from Ireland to West Africa. It was estimated that 17,319 kg of used EEE were exported from Ireland annually and about one in five vehicles exported contained used EEE.

“In response to findings like these, countries in West Africa are taking steps to introduce better monitoring of used EEE and e-waste imports by strictly enforcing existing guidelines and conducting thorough physical inspections of import shipments,” the GEM states.

More key figures

14 billion kg of e-waste is estimated to have been trashed, mostly landfilled, in 2022.
31 billion kg of metals is estimated to have been embedded in e-waste in 2022, along with 17 billion kg of plastics and 14 billion kg of other materials (minerals, glass, composite materials, etc.).
The value of metals embedded in e-waste in 2022 is estimated to be US$91 billion and this includes US$19 billion worth of copper, US$15 billion worth of gold, and US$16 billion worth of iron.
The value of secondary raw materials (mostly iron) reclaimed by the ‘urban mining’ of e-waste in 2022 is put at US$28 billion.
A total 900 billion kg of primary ore extraction is avoided by reclaiming materials through documented e-waste recycling.
A total 93 billion kg of CO2-equivalent emissions are avoided by formal e-waste management (41 billion kg of recaptured refrigerants and 52 billion kg in avoided metal mining).

Recycling rates

Formally documented collection and recycling rates in Europe: 42.8%.
Formally recycled e-waste in African countries: less than 1%.
E-waste generated by Asian countries (of which relatively few have enacted legislation or established clear e-waste collection targets): about 50% (30 billion kg).
Per capita e-waste generation in Europe: 17.6 kg, followed by Oceania (16.1 kg), and the Americas (14.1 kg). These regions also have the highest documented per capita collection and recycling rates (7.5 kg in Europe, 6.7 kg in Oceania, and 4.2 kg in the Americas)
E-waste collected and recycled outside of formal systems in high and upper middle income countries that have developed e-waste management infrastructure: 16 billion kg.
E-waste managed mostly by the informal sector in low and lower middle income countries with no e-waste management infrastructure: 18 billion kg. Any material values recovered by the informal sector are largely (perhaps more than) offset by extremely high health and environmental costs.
E-waste shipped across borders in 2022: 5.1 billion kg (8.2% of the global total). Of this 5.1 billion kg about 3.3 billion kg (65%) was shipped from high-income to middle- and low-income countries through uncontrolled, undocumented movements.

E-waste by category, selected examples

Proportion of e-waste made up of small devices, e.g., toys, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, e-cigarettes (of which 12% are recycled): 33% (20.4 billion kg).
E-waste in the small IT and telecommunication equipment category, e.g., laptops, mobile phones, GPS devices, and routers (with only a 22% documented collection and recycling rate): 4.6 billion kg.
Expected mass of retired photovoltaic panels in 2030: 2.4 billion kg (four times as much as the 600 million kg in 2022).
Typically, collection and recycling rates are highest for heavier and bulkier equipment categories, such as large devices, temperature exchange equipment, screens, and monitors.

The GEM authors say that, overall, the level of awareness about e-waste remains low and there are few appropriate disposal options.