E-waste has reached a record level; understand the problem

From old cell phones to broken refrigerators and discarded e-cigarettes, global e-waste has reached record highs and is growing five times faster than recycling rates – bringing a host of health, environmental and climate problems, according to a new analysis.

The numbers are impressive. In 2022, the world generated 62 million metric tons of electronic waste, also known as “e-waste” according to United Nations Global E-Waste Monitor released this Wednesday (20).

To put it in perspective, this waste could fill more than 1.5 million 40-ton trucks that, if placed bumper to bumper, could form a line long enough to go around the equator.

E-waste is the umbrella term for any discarded product that has a plug or battery and often contains toxic and dangerous substances such as mercury and lead.

As the world becomes increasingly dependent on electronics – and increasing quantities are being sold in developing countries for the first time – this stream of hazardous waste is increasing.

Global e-waste in 2022 increased 82% compared to 2010, according to the report, and is on track to increase another 32% to reach 82 million metric tons in 2030.

Recycling capacity is not keeping pace.

Less than a quarter of e-waste (22.3%) produced in 2022 was documented as collected and recycled, according to the report. Since 2010, the growth of e-waste has outpaced the growth of formal collection and recycling by nearly five times, the report calculated.

Most e-waste ends up in landfills or is part of informal recycling systems, where the risks of pollution and harmful health impacts are high.

Small electronic devices such as toys, vacuum cleaners and e-cigarettes had particularly low recycling rates, at around 12%, despite making up about a third of all e-waste, the report found.

Recycling rates tend to be higher for heavier, bulkier equipment, such as air conditioning units and TV screens, due to their size and associated health concerns.

As the gap between e-waste generation and recycling capacity continues to grow, “the recycling rate could actually decline in the coming years,” said Vanessa Gray, an e-waste expert at the International Telecommunications Union and author of the report, to CNN .

The report predicts that collection and recycling rates will decline to 20% by 2030.

Jim Puckett, founder and executive director of the Basel Action Network, an e-waste monitoring group, called the report's findings “grim.”

The findings reveal that manufacturers are showing “a lack of duty of care” by not taking responsibility for what happens to their products at the end of their useful life, Puckett, who was not involved with the report, told CNN .

“Manufacturers have to be dragged along, begrudgingly,” to make products that last, he said, “and not just design products for the trash, hoping they can sell us a new one as quickly as possible.”

Manufacturers need clear plans for removing, collecting and recycling toxic and hazardous parts of their products, Puckett added.

In addition to being an environmental problem, e-waste is also a climate problem.

Electronic devices require raw materials, including rare earth metals, which are extracted and processed in a highly energy-intensive process primarily powered by fossil fuels. As demand increases and people are persuaded to replace devices more frequently, the climate impact is growing.

Proper e-waste management and disposal reduces global carbon pollution, the report found, by recovering metals and reducing the need to extract new raw materials.

“The more metals we recycle, the less we need to mine,” Kees Baldé, lead author of the report and senior scientific expert at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research, told CNN .

Recycling metals from e-waste, rather than extracting new raw materials, avoided approximately 52 million metric tons of planet-warming emissions in 2022, according to the report.

Better management of e-waste, such as refrigerators and air conditioners, which emit refrigerants such as chlorofluorocarbons that are potent greenhouse gases, can also reduce the climate impact of this waste.

Additionally, recycling can release value stored in these products. Metals worth approximately $91 billion were embedded in e-waste discarded in 2022, including $15 billion worth of gold, the report found.

Despite growing global concern about e-waste, only 81 countries had e-waste policies in 2023, according to the report, including European Union countries and India.

The United States, which is among the largest producers of e-waste, does not have a federal law requiring recycling of electronics, although some states, including Washington DC, have implemented their own e-waste regulations.

But even where e-waste legislation exists, enforcement “remains a genuine challenge globally,” the report’s authors said in a statement.

One of the best ways to start dealing with the e-waste crisis is for rich countries to stop dumping e-waste in countries that don't have the capacity to deal with it, Baldé said.

In low- and middle-income countries, e-waste – much of it imported from rich countries – is often handled by informal and unregulated recycling systems, where it causes severe health and pollution impacts.

“Simply put – business as usual cannot continue,” Baldé 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 prevent illegal shipments of e-waste.”