The amount of electronic waste―or e-waste―that we produce is at least 62 million tons, and it’s rising five times faster than the amount being recycled.
That’s the worrying finding of the UN Global E-waste Monitor report, published recently.
The report looked into the sheer volume of old phones, batteries and other tech that’s thrown away and found that all this e-waste would fill over one and a half million 40-ton trucks―that’s about enough to form a bumper-to-bumper line of lorries around the Equator.
Data crunched by the UN agencies behind the report―ITU and UNITAR―also found that only around 25 percent of e-waste in 2022 was officially recorded to have been recycled.
This means $62 billion worth of recoverable natural resources are unaccounted for, increasing pollution risks to communities worldwide.
Worldwide, e-waste is rising by 2.6 million tonnes annually, meaning that we’re on track to reach 82 million tons by 2030.
E-waste―any discarded product with a plug or battery―is a health and environmental hazard, containing toxic additives or hazardous substances such as mercury, which can damage the human brain and nervous system.