Mountains of tech waste polluting the planet, but what should we do about it?

By Stephen Beech via SWNS

A mountain of electronic waste - weighing more than the Great Wall of China - is expected to be dumped this year, warns a new report.

The growing 'e-waste' mountain, including old mobile phones and laptops, is the result of an "explosion" in online streaming, according to experts.

They are calling on families, firms and governments to get behind efforts on International E-Waste Day to get more dead or unused tech products to facilities where they can be repaired or recycled.

This year’s worldwide mountain of waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) is predicted to total 57.4 million metric tonnes. That's more than the weight of the Great Wall of China, Earth’s heaviest artificial object.

Last year’s Global E-waste Monitor 2020 reported an estimated 53.6 million metric tonnes (Mt) of WEEE generated in 2019 -- a 21 per cent jump in just five years. And it is expected to soar to 74 Mt by 2030.

Global e-waste generation is growing annually by three to four per cent, a problem attributed to higher consumption rates of electronics, shorter product life and limited repair options.

According to estimates in Europe, where the problem is most studied, 11 of 72 electronic items in an average household are no longer in use or are broken.

Annually per citizen, another four to five kilos of unused electrical products are hoarded in Europe before being dumped.

A French study estimates that 54 to 113 million mobile phones alone, weighing 10 to 20 tonnes, are sleeping in drawers and other storage spaces in French homes.

In the US, while many mobile phones are recycled, an estimated 151 million or more phones a year -- around 416,000 a day -- are trashed and end up incinerated or landfilled.

Around 40 per cent of heavy metals in US landfills are estimated to come from dumped electronics.

By weight, discarded large appliances - such as ovens and fridges - make up the largest component of e-waste. Such large appliances contain steel, copper and aluminium which makes them attractive to thieves.

Pascal Leroy, Director General of the WEEE Forum, said: "One thing stands out, as long as citizens don’t return their used, broken gear, sell it, or donate it, we will need to continue mining all-new materials causing great environmental damage.”

He added: “This year’s focus for International E-Waste Day is the crucial role each of us has in making circularity a reality for e-products.

"This is more important than ever as our Governments go into COP26 to discuss global action to reduce carbon emissions.

"Every tonne of WEEE recycled avoids around two tonnes of CO2 emissions. If we all do the right thing with our e-waste we help to reduce harmful CO2 emissions. ”

Just 17.4 per cent of e-waste was known to be properly treated and recycled in 2019.

In the case of mobile phones, tablets, computers and other small IT products, many factors are thought to discourage recycling, including data security, product value, difficult-to-reach return points, and uncertainty about appropriate recycling.

Dr Ruediger Kuehr, director of the SCYCLE Programme, said the value of components in the world’s 'urban mines' is enormous.

He said: “A tonne of discarded mobile phones is richer in gold than a tonne of gold ore.

“Embedded in one million mobile phones, for example, are 24 kilos of gold, 16,000 kilos of copper, 350 kilos of silver, and 14 kilos of palladium - resources that could be recovered and returned to the production cycle.

"And if we fail to recycle these materials, new supplies need to be mined, harming the environment.”

Kees Baldé, of the UN University’s SCYCLE Programme, said: "The recovery of gold and other material from waste saves a lot of carbon dioxide emissions when compared with virgin metal mining,”

He explained that high-value, recoverable materials valued at $57 billion USD -- a sum greater than the Gross Domestic Product of most countries – were mostly dumped or burned in those parts of the world without extended producer responsibility legislation in 2019 rather than being collected for treatment and reuse.

Magdalena Charytanowicz, of the WEEE Forum in charge of International E-Waste Day, added: “Alongside convenience, financial compensation, care for the environment, culture and social norms, awareness is one of the key motivators for people to take action on e-waste.

“This is why on October 14 we hope to reach as many citizens worldwide as possible and urge the proper disposal of end-of-life electronics by encouraging campaigns and awareness activities such as e-waste collections, school lectures, and social media outreach.

"Even the smallest action promoting sound e-waste collection, repair, reuse or recycling is welcome in the frame of International E-Waste Day.

“Consumers want to do the right thing, but need to be adequately informed and a convenient infrastructure should be easily available to them so that disposing of e-waste correctly becomes the social norm in communities.”