Why we should mine our e-waste

E-waste (discarded electronic appliances such as mobile phones, computers, and televisions) is a fast growing global problem as we develop and adopt more technologies into our daily lives. In fact, the yearly global e-waste produced went from 44.4 Mt in 2014 up to 53.6 Mt in 2019 according to ewastemonitor, which is a rapid rate of growth.

In order to sustain our insatiable demand for technological goods, we mine more and more resources out of the earth. Unfortunately, mining has a severe environmental impact, including metal contamination of surface water and groundwater, air emissions, acid drainage, structural degradation and more, as can be seen in the image below.

Image source: Anderson Engineering

One of the most effective tools we have to minimise mining and reduce the production of e-waste is to create a circular economy where the e-waste is recycled. The reality is that e-waste is a mostly untapped urban mine containing raw materials to the value of $57 Billion in the year of 2019 alone, according to ewastemonitor. Unfortunately, of the 53.6 Mt of e-waste produced globally in 2019, only 17.4% of it was documented to have been collected and properly recycled.

Despite this rather grim outlook, there is hope. We shifted from 44% of the global population covered by e-waste policy, legislation or regulation in 2014 to 71% in 2019. This dramatic shift in coverage should shape the behaviours around e-waste and will hopefully lead to a significant increase in the amount of e-waste that is collected and properly recycled.

Image source: E-waste Monitor

The global leader in recycling e-waste is Europe with a staggering 42.5% of its 12Mt e-waste documented as being collected and properly recycled. Unfortunately, the Americas and Asia were only documented to have recycled 9.4% and 11.7% of their 13.1Mt and 24.9Mt of e-waste respectively, which pulls down the global statistic for e-waste recycled significantly. Africa only recycled a pathetic 0.9% of its e-waste in 2019, however, it only produced 2.9Mt of e-waste, and as such, the impact was minimal.

In order to minimise the negative consequences of mining and improper e-waste disposal, we should look to the systems and policies implemented by Europe, who are recycling almost four times as much e-waste as the next best continent. Hopefully, we can bring the total global recycled e-waste above the European 42.5% in the near future, as it will be necessary to combat the ever-increasing rate at which we produce e-waste.