Global e-waste surging: Up 21% in 5 years

https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-07/tca-ges062820.php


News Release 2-Jul-2020

A record 53.6 million tons (Mt) of e-waste was produced globally in 2019, the weight of 350 cruise ships the size of the Queen Mary 2; $57 billion in gold and other components discarded -- mostly dumped or burned

United Nations University / ITU / UNITAR


A record 53.6 million metric tonnes (Mt) of electronic waste was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21 per cent in just five years, according to the UN's Global E-waste Monitor 2020.

The new report also predicts global e-waste -- discarded products with a battery or plug -- will reach 74 Mt by 2030, almost a doubling of e-waste in just 16 years. This makes e-waste the world's fastest-growing domestic waste stream, fueled mainly by higher consumption rates of electric and electronic equipment, short life cycles, and few options for repair.

Only 17.4 per cent of 2019's e-waste was collected and recycled. This means that gold, silver, copper, platinum and other high-value, recoverable materials conservatively valued at US $57 billion -- a sum greater than the Gross Domestic Product of most countries - were mostly dumped or burned rather than being collected for treatment and reuse.

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For perspective, last year's e-waste weighed substantially more than all the adults in Europe, or as much as 350 cruise ships the size of the Queen Mary 2, enough to form a line 125 km long.

E-waste is a health and environmental hazard, containing toxic additives or hazardous substances such as mercury, which damages the human brain and / or coordination system.

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