What is E-waste Recycling?
Electronics waste, commonly known as e-scrap or e-waste, is the trash we generate from surplus, broken, and obsolete electronic devices. Electronics contains various toxic and hazardous chemicals and materials that are released into the environment if we do not dispose of them properly. E-waste or electronics recycling is the process of recovering material from old devices to use in new products.
E-waste Globally
In 2016, approximately 44.7 million metric tons of e-waste was generated worldwide. The quantity included 16.8 million metric tons of small equipment, 9.1 million metric tons of large equipment, 7.6 million metric tons of temperature exchange (freezing and cooling) equipment, 6.6 million metric tons of screens and monitors, 3.9 million metric tons of small IT, and 0.7 million metric tons of lamps. The amount of worldwide e-waste generation is expected to exceed 50 million tons by 2020, with an annual growth between 4% and 5%.Each year, globally, around 1 billion cell phones and 300 million computers are put into production.The amount of global e-waste is expected to grow by 8% per year.
What Happens to Devices at the End of Their Useful Life?
Unfortunately, the majority of these electronic products end up in landfills, and just 12.5% of e-waste is recycled. According to a UN study, over 41.8 million tons of e-waste was discarded worldwide, with only 10%–40% percent of disposals appropriately done. Electronics are full of valuable materials, including copper, tin, iron, aluminum, fossil fuels, titanium, gold, and silver. Many of the materials used in making these electronic devices can be recovered, reused, and recycled—including plastics, metals, and glass.