The UN University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) released a report outlining the international e-waste challenge, and chronicling progress in establishing specialized e-waste collection and treatment.
According to the report, ‘The Global E-waste Monitor 2014: Quantities, Flows and Resources,' discarded e-waste reached 41.8 million tonnes in 2014.
Less than 20% is estimated to have been properly recycled.
20 April 2015: The UN University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) released a report outlining the international e-waste challenge, and chronicling progress in establishing specialized e-waste collection and treatment. According to the report, ‘The Global E-waste Monitor 2014: Quantities, Flows and Resources,’ discarded e-waste reached 41.8 million tonnes in 2014. Less than 20% is estimated to have been properly recycled.
The report provides a detailed breakdown of waste types, which comprise: over 12 million tonnes of small equipment, including vacuum cleaners, microwaves, toasters, electric shavers and video cameras; over 11 million tonnes of large equipment, such as washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, electric stoves, and photovoltaic panels; 7 million tonnes of cooling and freezing equipment; over 6 million tonnes of screens; and 3 million tonnes of small information and communication technology (ICT) equipment. Nearly one third of the waste came from the US and China.
According to the report, the e-waste represents US$52 billion of potentially reusable resources.
E-waste also contains toxic heavy metals including mercury, cadmium, chromium, and ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons. [UNU Press Release] [Publication: The Global E-Waste Monitor 2014: Quantities, flows and resources]