Tech Trash Tsunami: Uncontrolled E-waste threatens environment and future

By Isobel Williams via SWNS

A record 62 million tons of electronics thrown away in 2022 would fill enough trucks to form a bumper-to-bumper line around the equator, according to a new report.

And less than a quarter was properly recycled, suggest the findings.

The massive tonnage of so-called e-waste generated in 2022 is equal to the weight of 107,000 of the world's largest, heaviest passenger aircraft – enough to form an unbroken queue from New York to Athens, from Nairobi to Hanoi, or from Hong Kong to Anchorage

E-waste is defined as any discarded product with a plug or battery.

It is regarded as a health and environmental hazard as it contains toxic additives or hazardous substances such as mercury, which can damage the human brain and coordination system.

The UN's fourth Global E-waste Monitor has revealed rapidly increasing amounts of e-waste which is rising five times faster than documented recycling, with a huge chunk of trashed tech ending up in landfill.

Since 2010 the number of devices thrown away has shot up by 82 percent, with predictions that it will have risen by a further 32 percent in 2030.

Worldwide, the annual generation of e-waste is rising by 2.6 million tons annually, on track to reach 82 million tons by 2030, a further 33 percent increase from the 2022 figure.

Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava from ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau 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.

“With less than half of the world implementing and enforcing approaches to manage the problem, this raises the alarm for sound regulations to increase collection and recycling.”

The researchers from the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) are pleading for urgent action on e-waste to save future generations from the worsening climate crisis.

UNITAR Executive Director Nikhil Seth said: “Amidst the hopeful embrace of solar panels and electronic equipment to combat the climate crisis and drive digital progress, the emergence in e-waste requires urgent attention.”

Lead author Kees Baldé added: “No more than one percent of demand for essential rare earth elements is met by e-waste recycling. Simply put: Business as usual can't continue.

“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.”

The team says that 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 also shows that the majority of this e-waste is made up of small devices such as toys, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, and e-cigarettes.

Typically, collection and recycling rates are highest for heavier and bulkier equipment categories, such as large devices, temperature exchange equipment, screens, and monitors.

Careless disposal of tech is not just impacting the environment, but the economy, as the report shows that the metals embedded in 2022 e-waste amount to a worth of $91 billion.

Therefore, with less than a quarter (22.3 percent) of the year's e-waste mass being properly collected and recycled, $62 billion worth of recoverable natural resources were squandered in one year.

Vanessa Gray from the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau said: “The Global E-waste Monitor shows that we are currently wasting $91 billion in valuable metals due to 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.”

Professor Ruediger Kuehr from the University of Limerick added: “Many in today's society use 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 centers cater to the needs of the digital transformation.

“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.”