GENEVA (AN) — U.N. agencies say the mountain of waste from discarded electronics and metals has been rising so fast that efforts to recycle it around the world can't keep up.
A record 62 million metric tons of e-waste were produced in 2022 and are expected to rise to 82 million metric tons by 2030, according to a report on Wednesday from the International Telecommunication Union and U.N. Institute for Training and Research, or UNITAR.
That would mark a 33% increase in e-waste in less than a decade. Just 22.3% of all the e-waste – which is any product that has a plug or battery and including many common devices such as TVs, cellphones and toys – was documented as properly collected and recycled in 2022.
The other undocumented but "recoverable natural resources" are considered a pollution risk. The report says e-waste is a health and environmental hazard, containing toxic additives or hazardous substances such as mercury that can damage the human brain and coordination system.
An untapped source for rare Earth metals
Half of the 62 million metric tons of waste was from metals such as copper, iron and gold that the report says are worth as much as US$91 billion.
Plastics made up 17 million metric tons; another 14 million tons were mainly from composite materials and glass.
Some of the e-waste also has rare Earth metals that are vital to technology companies' manufacturing and sustainable energy transformation, but just 1% of the demand for them comes from recycling.
"Amidst the hopeful embrace of solar panels and electronic equipment to combat the climate crisis and drive digital progress, the surge in e-waste requires urgent attention," said UNITAR's Executive Director Nikhil Seth.
