","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"When measured per capita, Europeans (16.2 Kg) produce the most e-waste per person, followed by Oceania (16.1 Kg) and the Americas (13.3 Kg).\n\nAfrican residents produce the least amount of e-waste per capita. Included in the generation number are the almost 94 million tons of MSW recycled and composted and an additional 17.7 million tons of other food management in 2018. But since only 17.4% of 2019s e-waste was collected and recycled, just US$10 billion of this was recovered in an environmentally responsible way. Which leads us to yet another way in which our current consumption and disposal habits jeopardize public health. Of the 80,000 or so tonnes of e-waste we produce each year, the best estimates suggest we recycle less . The same chemicals and metals that allow our electronics to work so smoothly and quicklyamong them mercury, cadmium, and leadare highly toxic when consumed or absorbed into bloodstreams. The numbers are astounding; 50 million tonnes of e-waste are produced each year, and left unchecked this could more than double to 120 million tonnes by 2050. MMTCO2E is million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. Is Parchment Paper Compostable? Look for an e-waste recycling company that has been vetted through. Get the best reports to understand your industry, Consumer Electronics (CE) in the United States. In 2018, 17.7 million tons of food (28.1 percent of generation of wasted food) was managed through animal feed, co-digestion/anaerobic digestion, bio-based materials/biochemical processing, donation, land application and sewer/wastewater treatment. From mobile phones that just happen to die right when your contract is over to televisions that become obsolete as soon as a larger, thinner version debuts. With each passing year, our electronicsall the smartphones, laptops, monitors, TVs, speakers, and other personal devices that, for better or for worse, have become indispensable to modern lifeget smaller, slimmer, and more lightweight. Landfilling of waste has decreased from 94 percent of the amount generated in 1960 to 50 percent of the amount generated in 2018. Over time, any greenhouse gases contained within the e-waste will slowly be released into the atmosphere. Earth911 is a universal resource that helps you find your own shade of green. Only 4 million tonnes of raw materials was made available for recycling. Asia produced the lions share 24.9 million tonnes followed by the Americas (13.1 million tonnes) and Europe (12 million tonnes), while Africa and Oceania generated 2.9 and 0.7 million tonnes respectively. Since then, annual production has increased nearly 230-fold, reaching 460 million tonnes in 2019. . Official websites use .gov In the country's capital, 12,500 tons of solid waste are generated daily, 47% comes from households, 29% from commerce, 15% from services and the remaining 9% from the so-called "miscellaneous and controlled".garbage generation is something that cannot be avoided; it is impossible to stop producing . Your children, and theirs, will thank you for it. That includes New Zealand. Generation of other material categories fluctuates from year to year, but overall MSW generation increased from 1960 to 2005, with the trend reversing from 2005 to 2010, and rising again from 2010 through 2018. This means that easily recyclable parts might be recycled, but it will usually be done poorly. "}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which Region Recycles The Highest Percentage of E-Waste? The amount of MSW recycled was 69.0 million tons and the amount composted was 24.9 million tons. E-Waste contains a mixture of valuable materials that can be recycled (but which usually arent), and toxic materials such as lead, mercury and cadmium which can be hazardous to our health and to the environment. That's how much e-waste the average American household of four throws out every year. Distribution of e-waste generation In absolute terms, Asia produces the most electronic waste followed by Europe and North America. A significant amount of e-waste will have been produced (and not recycled) before 2014. Governments worldwide are enacting new laws to better manage e-waste.
Annually, computer devices account for nearly 70% of e-waste, 12% comes from the telecom sector, 8% from medical equipment and 7% from electric equipment. There is 100 times more gold in a tonne of e-waste than in a tonne of gold ore. UN agencies have come together with the World Economic Forum, the Global Environment Facility and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development to call for an overhaul of the current electronics system. As of the end of 2019, 78 countries, covering 71% of the worlds population, either had a policy for managing e-waste or were putting regulation in place an increase of 5% from 2017. There is no official figure for the total amount of unrecycled e-waste currently on Earth. The world produces as much as 50 million tonnes of electronic and electrical waste (e-waste) a year, weighing more than all of the commercial airliners ever made. Technology carries severe environmental consequences when we dont recycle e-waste responsibly. However, MSW does not include everything that may be landfilled at the local level, such as construction and demolition (C&D) debris, municipal wastewater sludge, and other non-hazardous industrial wastes. In 1950 the world produced only 2 million tonnes per year. Most e-waste does not get disposed of properly and releases harmful pollutants into the environment. . One of the earliest laptops, the Macintosh PowerBook 100, weighed more than five pounds when it was released in 1991; the lightest laptop currently on the market is less than two. As the report notes, hiding inside all of that unrecycled e-waste is also $57 billion worth of recoverable gold, silver, platinum, and other precious metals. Given that only 61 countries had undertaken such legislation as of 2014, the goal seems plausible, if ambitious. The UNEP estimates that out of this number, only 20% are formally recycled and 80% end up in landfills, posing threats to both the environment and human health. In this article, I will reveal the latest research, facts, and statistics which illustrate the scale and consequences of the global e-waste problem. Generation of MSW increased (except in recession years) from 88.1 million tons in 1960 to 292.4 million tons in 2018. This could be reduced or avoided if e-waste was recycled. Waste Flow by Origin Reports These reports include solid waste disposal, export, and alternative daily cover. ","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It is estimated that 57.4 Mt (Million Metric Tonnes) of e-waste was generated globally in 2021.\n\nThere has been an increase year on year since e-waste data started being collected in 2014. Please be respectful of copyright. Solutions include durable product design, buy-back and return systems for used electronics, urban mining to extract metals and minerals from e-waste, and the dematerialisation of electronics by replacing outright device ownership with rental and leasing models in order to maximise product reuse and recycling opportunities. This compares to 35 million tons (16.8 percent of total generation) in 1990. Check out the Food: Material-Specific Data web page. Your guide to a green and eco-friendly lifestyle. Science says yes, Every year the spirit of the American West is awakened in Nevada, Balis masks offer a connection to the gods, See the heavens the way ancient Britons did at this dark sky park, Chiles new national park protects a superbloom of rare flowers, Dip into the indigo revival in South Carolina, Photograph by Thomas Imo, Photothek, Getty Images. Researchers cannot accurately track where it ends up. In new research, we found that Europe has the highest collection and recycling rate, covering about 42.5% of the total e-waste generated in 2019. Americans throw out approximately 416,000 mobile phones each day, according to 2014 figures from the EPA. The energy and GHG benefits of recycling, composting, combustion with energy recovery and landfilling shown in the table below are calculated using the WARM methodology. Global electronic waste volume is projected to grow to 74.7 Mt by 2030 meaning it will have almost doubled in only 16 years. 6,570 pounds per family annually. The total amount of e-waste generated increased by 9.2 million tonnes over the same period. The scale of the problem is only accelerating. Thats 3.3 times less than the average American/Canadian family. When measured per capita, Europeans (16.2 Kg) produce the most e-waste per person, followed by Oceania (16.1 Kg) and the Americas (13.3 Kg). We have collected 10 of the most interesting, shocking, and thought-provoking facts from the report we believe everyone should know. The United States produces too much trash. It's never been done at this scale, but experts think the plan might work. It also contributes directly to global warming. Check out our Municipal Solid Waste Landfills page for more information, and visit our Landfills web area for information on other landfills. 82.6% of electronic waste is not recycled (via official channels) and therefore not documented. Are you interested in testing our business solutions? About the UN E-Waste Coalition According to the International Labour Organization, up to 100,000 people work in the informal e-waste sector in Nigeria. Only includes rubber from tires. Shari Nijman, Communication Officer, UN Environment News and Media Unit, UNEP Terms of Use PrivacyReport Project Concern Report Scam Contact Us. Paper and paperboard recycling, at about 46 million tons, resulted in the largest portion of the total MSW reduction over 155 MMTCO2E in 2018. Food was the largest component at about 24 percent. That amounts to about 29 pounds per week, and 1,600 pounds per year from the average American. The International Telecommunication Union, one of the groups behind the publication of the Global E-waste Monitor 2020, has set a target of getting 50 percent of the worlds nations to enact such legislation by 2023which would mean getting the current number up from 78 to 97 over the next three years. Watch this clever heron throw shadeliterally, Video Story, Migration and movement in the Anthropocene, Video Story, Copyright 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, Copyright 2015-2023 National Geographic Partners, LLC. 77 pounds of plastic bottles and jars. Each year, the total amount of electric and electronic equipment the world uses grows by 2.5 million tonnes. (The numbers in the Recycled, Composted, Combustion with Energy Recovery and Landfilled columns are listed by weight of material* in millions of tons). This was an increase of 4.3 million tons from 2010 to 2018, and it came from durable goods and the containers and packaging categories. China, the US, and India produce the most e-waste. In addition, nearly 35 million tons of MSW (11.8 percent) were combusted with energy recovery and more than 146 million tons of MSW (50 percent) were landfilled. That's more than 10kg for every single person, every single week. Due to a change in methodology, there was an increase in the wasted food generation estimate between 2017 and 2018, which results in a lower composting rate even though the tons composted remained the same from 2017 to 2018. It is estimated that 40% of the heavy metals in U.S. landfills come from discarded electronics, according to Jonas Allen, director of marketing for EPEAT, a global green electronic rating system. One thing the public would like to see are universal, interchangeable chargers for phones and laptops. According to the EPA, the average person creates 4.4 pounds of solid waste each day. Greenhouse gases are measured in 'carbon dioxide-equivalents' (CO 2 e). The amount of food wasted in Europe can feed 200 million people, and the food wasted in Latin America can feed 300 million a year.So think twice next time you want to throw away food.By . It feels as if electronics were made to be thrown out every year, right? The hierarchy ranks the various management strategies from most to least environmentally preferred. One third of all food produced is lost or wasted -around 1.3 billion tonnes of food -costing the global economy close to $940 billion each year. As much as 7% of the worlds gold may currently be contained in e-waste, with 100 times more gold in a tonne of e-waste than in a tonne of gold ore. 15 . [9] The world also produces more than 29 million US tons of polystyrene (plastic foam) each year. "}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which Region Produces the Most E-Waste per Capita? Includes collection of other MSW organics for composting. Opt not to print. It takes 500 pounds of fossil fuel, 50 pounds of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water to manufacture one computer and monitor. In 2019, humans generated 53.6 million tonnes (approximately 59.1 million tons), up 21 percent from 2014. That has left the transport of spent e-waste overseas a controversial practice. "}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What Materials in E-Waste Can Be Recycled? The United States generated 6.92 million tons of e-waste, about 46 pounds per person, in 2019. In 2000, it reached 4.74 pounds per person per day and then decreased to 4.69 pounds per person per day in 2005. The amount of trash going into the country's landfills is at its lowest level since 1960. This covered some 71% of the worlds population, a significant increase from just 44% 5 years previously. That's equivalent to discarding about 70 mobile phones per person in Singapore! Over the last ten years we have produced more plastic than during the whole of the last century. In 2018, plastic products generation was 35.7million tons, or 12.2 percent of generation. About 30 percent of the e-waste in the U.S. gets landfilled, incinerated, recycled informally, exported for dumping, or simply left somewhere. The hierarchy places emphasis on reducing, reusing, and recycling as key to sustainable materials management. Plastics generation has grown from 8.2 percent of generation in 1990 to 12.2 percent in 2018. This is comparable to the emissions that could be reduced from taking almost 42 million cars off the road in a year. It wastes precious resources, contributes to climate change, and is hazardous to the environment and to human health. Of the MSW generated, approximately 69 million tons were recycled and 25 million tons were composted. There has been an increase year on year since e-waste data started being collected in 2014. But uptake by the industry remains to be seen. In 2018, about 146.1 million tons of MSW were landfilled. 90 pounds of tossed-out clothes and shoes. Africa has the lowest at just 0.9%. Around the world, as incomes rise and prices fall, the yearly e-waste mountain is growing, reaching. While every generation of electronics gets a little more efficient, we should make our phones, tablets, TVs, and computers last as long as possible to reduce the amount of e-waste sent to landfills and most of our electronics still go unrecycled. The average American produces the following pounds of trash every year: 38 pounds of newspapers. According to the report, in addition to health and pollution impacts, improper management of e-waste is resulting in a significant loss of scarce and valuable raw materials, such as gold, platinum, cobalt and rare earth elements. Michigan is the state with the most trash per capita, with Indiana and Illinois ranking . With the reauthorization of the farm bill next year, we have a chance to shift the U.S. agricultural system from a climate problem to a climate solution. Last year, we produced more than 16 pounds of e-waste for every one of the 7.8 billion. Only 17.4% of e-waste discarded in 2019 was recycled, the United Nations reports. United Nations University provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK. Every electronic device manufactured has its own carbon footprint. The e-waste produced annually is worth over $62.5 billion, more than the GDP of most countries. Generation and management Australia generated 75.8 million tonnes of solid waste in 2018-19, which was a 10% increase over the last two years (since 2016-17). "}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which Country is Best in E-waste Recycling? Local governments often have e-waste collection days a few times a year, but that means that homeowners have to store the unwanted items in the meantime. In 2018, the recycling, composting, combustion with energy recovery and landfilling of MSW saved over 193 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (MMTCO2E). The extraction and refinement of materials required to produce EEE creates greenhouse gases. The toxic materials such as mercury and BFR plastics that are found in e-waste have a negative effect on the environment and health of people or animals that come into contact with it. In high income countries, around 8% of e-waste is thought to be discarded in waste bins, while 7%-20% is exported. An estimated 1.3 billion tonnes of food is wasted globally each year, one third of all food produced for human consumption. This includes the source reduction of wastes before they enter the waste stream and the recovery of generated waste for recycling, composting or other methods. Let's look at some paper wastage facts: 1. The 53.6 Mt is comprised of the following items: Of these categories, screens and monitors is the only one whose production has decreased since 2014, and this is only because older, heavier monitors are no longer produced. Youll receive your first NRDC action alert and update email soon! It is hosted by the World Economic Forum. Were wasting valuable resources and risk future production of these devices without recycling the materials, said Ruediger Kuehr, head of UNUs Sustainable Cycles Programme in Bonn, Germany. There are several high-value raw materials in e-waste, including gold, silver, copper, and iron. The most important key figures provide you with a compact summary of the topic of "Electronic waste worldwide" and take you straight to the corresponding statistics. Having this data could help governments and companies manage their e-waste. We waste 7.6 million tonnes of food each year, 70% of this is perfectly edible. ","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":" These figures come from the Global E-waste Monitor 2020, a collaboration between the United Nations University and several other large international groups that are working at the intersection of technology, economics, and the environment. An additional 17.7 million tons of food were managed by other methods. ","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"We estimate that at least 347 Mt of e-waste remains on the planet. There is over 347 Mt of unrecycled e-waste on earth in 2023. A circular economy brings with it tremendous environmental and economic benefits for us all, UN Environment Acting Executive Director Joyce Msuya said. Rubber, leather and textiles accounted for over 16 percent of MSW combustion. Generation decreased 1 percent between 2005 and 2010, followed by a rise in generation of 7 percent from 2010 to 2017. Paper and paperboard products have ranged between 28.4 and 23.1 percent of generation since 2010. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. Discarded electric and electronic products are forming the fastest growing domestic waste stream worldwide. In 2019 alone, the world generated 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste. Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) is increasingly in demand in todays society, driven by higher levels of disposable income, increasing urbanization and industrialization, and population growth. "}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which Countries Produce the Most E-waste? Mercury is used in computer monitors and fluorescent lighting, but exposure to it can cause brain damage. E-waste doesnt have to mean game over. Educate yourselfon how toproperly recycle e-waste. The following provides a detailed breakdown of the numbers: Listed here are the recycling or composting rates for three categories of materials, including paper and paperboard, yard trimmings, and food: EPAs report Sustainable Materials Management: The Road Ahead serves as the foundation for the EPA SMM Program. No steps will be taken to remove toxic elements, and many more valuable reusable components might be missed. ICT e-waste includes computers, laptops, smartphones, and other similar devices. Why are so many young adults getting colon cancer? These items include bottles and corrugated boxes, food, grass clippings, sofas, computers, tires and refrigerators. It is estimated that 57.4 Mt (Million Metric Tonnes) of e-waste was generated globally in 2021. That's 2.7 tonnes, per person, per . data than referenced in the text. And several electronics companies accept their products for recycling, including Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, and Dell. 2 July 2020, Bonn A record 53.6 million metric tonnes (Mt) of electronic waste was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21 percent in just five years, according to the UN's Global E-waste Monitor 2020, released today. That needs to change, said Gray. Together we can make a difference today & save tomorrow. The biggest waste producers worldwide: Sensonseo Global Waste Index 2019 In September 2018, the World Bank announced that our global waste production is predicted to rise by 70 per cent by 2050 unless we take urgent action. These Facts and Figures are current through calendar year 2018. Check out our Energy Recovery from the Combustion of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) page for more information. A rapidly warming planet poses an existential threat to all life on earth. A 2018 New York Times Magazine article depicted backyard recyclers in India, Indonesia, and Thailand who tried to recover the gold inside circuit boards by bathing them in nitric and hydrochloric acid, or by literally cooking e-waste in stoves to get at the valuable metals hidden inside the plastic, wires, and circuitry, with no protection against the emissions. Many of these workers are children, who typically receive the lowest feesas low as three dollars a dayand who often work without goggles, gloves, or other safety equipment. In ten years, the United States will waste the equivalent of 66 tons of . Cant live without that new phone that just came on the market? Some of the old TVs were recycled domestically, but significant amounts were exported to Mexico, China, and Nigeria. However, recycling e-waste isnt always easy, Kuehr told National Geographic. New Zealand produces among the highest volumes of e-waste in the world while having among the lowest documented . The amount of MSW combusted with energy recovery was 34.6 million tons, while the amount of MSW sent to landfills was 146.2 million tons. The Agency uses this information to measure the success of materials management programs across the country and to characterize the national waste stream. Also consider that the less frequently and more carefully we use our electrical appliances, the longer they last. The total value of all this discarded as e-waste in 2019 has been conservatively valued at US$57 billion (45 billion) a sum greater than the GDP of most countries. This text provides general information. A young man dismantles old laptops in Accra, Ghana. Overall, the United States produced 42 million metric tons of plastic waste in 2016 almost twice as much as China, and more than the entire European Union combined. Here are some truly shocking e-waste statistics to highlight the need for proper e-waste recycling: Worldwide a record 48.6 million tons (53.6 million metric tonnes) of e-waste was generated in 2019. The 1,200-year-old vessel, discovered in a Norwegian potato field, is revealing an extraordinary picture of how ancient Scandinavian warlords were sent into the afterlife. 1 billion mobile phones and 300 million computers are produced every year. E-waste is the fastest-growing toxic waste stream in New Zealand. If we make a conscious decision to live a more eco-friendly lifestyle, our choices can make a big difference. 45 Carbon Dioxide, Greenhouse Gas & Climate Change Statistics, Is Pine Wood Furniture Toxic? In 2018, it was about 12 percent. The recommendations and analytical framework under the Road Ahead encouragethe consideration of multiple environmental benefits when developing materials management strategies. Each year, the average office worker uses 500 coffee cups, all of which are sent to landfills. We will keep you informed with the latest alerts and progress reports. The U.N. report estimates 17% of the food produced globally each year is wasted. These products can help improve living standards, and its good that more and more people can afford them.\n \t
liability for the information given being complete or correct. So why are we generating more metric tons of e-waste than ever before? [1] E-waste represents 2% of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste. We are happy to help. This figure has fallen in the last 5 years as a percentage of total waste generated. Thats about 7.3 kilograms per person and equivalent in weight to 350 cruise ships. Of the $206 billion spent on consumer electronics in the U.S. in 2012 . ","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Estonia, Norway, and Iceland have the best electronic waste recycling rates in terms of the percentage of waste that each country produces, according to the latest available data. It's toxic E-waste is highly toxic if not treated properly. Australians produce 540kg of household waste per person, each year.Remote Political Writing Jobs,
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