E-waste growing at five times the rate of recycling, UN report finds

[midian182]

In a nutshell: Electronic devices have never been more pervasive in society than they are today. That means we're creating a lot of electronic waste. According to the UN, the rate at which it's being generated is five times faster than we're recycling it using documented methods.

The 2024 Global E-waste Monitor report by the UN's International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) warns that the annual generation of e-waste is growing at a rate of 2.6 million metric tons per year.

E-waste is defined as discarded devices with a plug or battery, such as phones, TVs, and laptops. It doesn't include waste from electric vehicles.

Also read: Sustainable Computing, Explained

The report states that 62 million metric tons of e-waste was produced in 2022, enough to fill 1.55 million trucks with a 40-ton capacity. By 2030, the amount of e-waste produced in one year is predicted to hit 82 million tons.

What's especially concerning is that of the 62 million tons of e-waste generated in 2022, just 13.8 million tons, or 22.3%, were formally documented, collected, and properly recycled. That figure is expected to fall to just 20% by the end of the decade due to technology advances, limited repair options, shorter product life cycles, growing electronification, and inadequate e-waste management infrastructure.

E-waste creation and recycling rates vary across the world. Europe creates the most at 17.6kg (38.8 pounds) per capita while in the Americas it's 14.1kg. However, Europe's formal collection and recycling rate is 42.8% while it's 41.4% in Oceania, 30% in the Americas, 11.8% in Asia, and just 0.7% in Africa.

"The latest research shows that the global challenge posed by e-waste is only going to grow. With less than half of the world implementing and enforcing approaches to manage the problem, this raises the alarm for sound regulations to increase collection and recycling," said Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, director of ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau.

This amount of e-waste isn't just impacting the environment. The report states that the net annual economic monetary cost of e-waste is $37 billion. Unless improvements are made to e-waste management and policies, it's expected to hit $40 billion by 2030.

Tech giants such as Apple and Samsung have been more supportive of the right-to-repair movement in recent times, helping reduce e-waste, but there's still a long way to go when it comes to improving current recycling processes.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/102363-e-waste-growing-five-times-rate-recycling-un.html

 

[Kn0xx]

"Tech giants such as Apple and Samsung have been more supportive of the right-to-repair movement in recent times, helping reduce e-waste, but there's still a long way to go when it comes to improving current recycling processes."

Apple and Samsung are prime examples that gives you right to repair, but then it borks the software to a point that the new version is better. I still have a Pocophone F1 that still works 6 years after released. Yet a Samsung A5 2017 was very good at the begining, after 2 years the imense of software borking made it obsolete for day to day use. Almost every new-tech companys put EoL by changing the software in it, not hardware fault. A long discussion can be made on EoL hardware and EoL Software new era.

 

[brunocasarini]

Maybe if devices were made to be fixed this wouldn't be such huge a problem.

 

[wiyosaya]

I am sure Microsoft is happy to contribute to the problem by obsoleting perfectly good hardware with Windohs 11.

 

[Atmajaya2020]

Our desire to always have new gadgets or hardware also contributes to this problem..
and as long as there are still many technology companies that prioritize profits rather than the sustainability of a device/hardware, this problem will continue to pile up..

 

[stewi0001]

"Tech giants such as Apple and Samsung have been more supportive of the right-to-repair movement in recent times, helping reduce e-waste, but there's still a long way to go when it comes to improving current recycling processes."

Apple and Samsung are prime examples that gives you right to repair, but then it borks the software to a point that the new version is better. I still have a Pocophone F1 that still works 6 years after released. Yet a Samsung A5 2017 was very good at the begining, after 2 years the imense of software borking made it obsolete for day to day use. Almost every new-tech companys put EoL by changing the software in it, not hardware fault. A long discussion can be made on EoL hardware and EoL Software new era.

In my opinion, Samsung just copies whatever Apple does, when it comes to phones.

 

[yRaz]

I really love my s21+ but the software experience is starting to get janky. The only apps I have installed are my work app, my banking app and Firefox. Aside from that my software experience is 100% stock so I don't know where these weird bugs are coming from. Maybe sameaung just isn't worried about the software experience on 4 year old hardware?

 

[Underdog]

"Tech giants such as Apple and Samsung have been more supportive of the right-to-repair movement in recent times, helping reduce e-waste, but there's still a long way to go when it comes to improving current recycling processes."

Apple and Samsung are prime examples that gives you right to repair, but then it borks the software to a point that the new version is better. I still have a Pocophone F1 that still works 6 years after released. Yet a Samsung A5 2017 was very good at the begining, after 2 years the imense of software borking made it obsolete for day to day use. Almost every new-tech companys put EoL by changing the software in it, not hardware fault. A long discussion can be made on EoL hardware and EoL Software new era.

I don't know about Samsung but Apple had to comply with new EU regs about the right to repair. They did it kicking and screaming not because of any concerns about the eco-waste issue.

 

[Kn0xx]

I don't know about Samsung but Apple had to comply with new EU regs about the right to repair. They did it kicking and screaming not because of any concerns about the eco-waste issue.

they were forced to it, but then, they can put soft-EoL on any device they want. the "Security updates" are the means to degrade the user experience. the newer phone will always perform better not because of new-tech, but because of the software.

 

[nismo91]

Yeah big part of it is because of Android software fragmentation.

people are so obsessed with hardware repair they forget phones wouldn't function without updated software too. millions of older phones that don't get cracked or had its battery bloated are still more than capable to run latest software, but because they run old version of android they don't run modern apps anymore, rendering them useless and turning them into e-waste.

just look at the youtube app. right now the app no longer works on android 7.1 and below. I know every phone with Android OS could use youtube when it was new. but now that they're few years old google says you can't use it. meanwhile you could still open and use youtube web on a much older computer as long as you have an updated browser.

everytime google launches a new android OS, I can't help but think of the millions of phones and tablets that will be unsupported.

 

[rhavenn]

they were forced to it, but then, they can put soft-EoL on any device they want. the "Security updates" are the means to degrade the user experience. the newer phone will always perform better not because of new-tech, but because of the software.

Are you trying to imply that Apple has a "if hardwareversion < current then run slower" check? or just that software becomes bloated / more complex and older hardware just runs it slower?

 

[yRaz]

Yeah big part of it is because of Android software fragmentation.

people are so obsessed with hardware repair they forget phones wouldn't function without updated software too. millions of older phones that don't get cracked or had its battery bloated are still more than capable to run latest software, but because they run old version of android they don't run modern apps anymore, rendering them useless and turning them into e-waste.

just look at the youtube app. right now the app no longer works on android 7.1 and below. I know every phone with Android OS could use youtube when it was new. but now that they're few years old google says you can't use it. meanwhile you could still open and use youtube web on a much older computer as long as you have an updated browser.

everytime google launches a new android OS, I can't help but think of the millions of phones and tablets that will be unsupported.

Youtube will works in Firefox on older versions of Android. I would never use the Google YouTube app, the ads make it unusable

 

[VaRmeNsI]

Youtube will works in Firefox on older versions of Android. I would never use the Google YouTube app, the ads make it unusable

You can use the Revanced version (they do other apps with ads stripped as well), also has SponsorBlock and a bunch of other goodies.

 

[toooooot]

"Tech giants such as Apple and Samsung have been more supportive of the right-to-repair movement in recent times, helping reduce e-waste, but there's still a long way to go when it comes to improving current recycling processes."

Apple and Samsung are prime examples that gives you right to repair, but then it borks the software to a point that the new version is better. I still have a Pocophone F1 that still works 6 years after released. Yet a Samsung A5 2017 was very good at the begining, after 2 years the imense of software borking made it obsolete for day to day use. Almost every new-tech companys put EoL by changing the software in it, not hardware fault. A long discussion can be made on EoL hardware and EoL Software new era.

Maybe we need a universal, compatible with all android phones version of OS with limited features that would be managed by non profit international organization. They would ensure all or most older phones can still work and not become ewaste.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

There have been a lot of good points brought up about planned obsolescence, FOMO, etc.

To add, I think there need's to be a move to get municipal waste to provide a convenient disposal option for e-waste.

WM, my local trash monopoly thing, has 4 e-waste days a year and has a yard for e-waste drop off about 10 miles from where I live that is open to the public on like Tuesdays and Thursdays or something.

Its a huge PITA *responsibly* getting rid of e-waste. I confess that there have been a few times that computer/cellphone/whatever junk piled up a bit too much since I wasn't able to get to the yard or one of the 4 dedicated days I just chucked the box in the trash to keep my life moving forward.

I mean, maybe it all ends up in the trash anyway, but I like to think getting stuff on dedicated e-waste days gets the electronics to someone who can recover the metals from them etc.

 

[Endymio]

Maybe if devices were made to be fixed this wouldn't be such huge a problem.

This is rather simplistic thinking. A battery or screen is one thing, but "fixing" a failed circuit board on a tiny device isn't very feasible. More to the point, the vast majority of e-waste aren't "failed" devices at all, but rather those made obsolete by the progress of technology.

Of course we could address that by banning the release of new chips faster or more functional than anything currently produced. Do you support such a measure?

as long as there are still many technology companies that prioritize profits rather than the sustainability of a device/hardware, this problem will continue to pile up..

Companies succeed by giving customers what they wish. Plenty of firms have attempted to prioritize "sustainability" over new features -- and gone bankrupt in the attempt.

The "problem" here is more invented than actual, in any case. 60 million tons a year really isn't that much. Dig one large hole 1.5 km on a side and 1000 meters deep, and it would hold a full century's worth of this eWaste, even if nothing whatsoever was recycled from it.

 

[anastrophe]

The "problem" here is more invented than actual, in any case. 60 million tons a year really isn't that much. Dig one large hole 1.5 km on a side and 1000 meters deep, and it would hold a full century's worth of this eWaste, even if nothing whatsoever was recycled from it.

This. We aren't 'running out of space' for our e-waste, as the hysterics like to claim. There are vast, barren reaches in just the Great Basin alone that can hold not just our e-waste, but all of our waste, for a thousand centuries.

But it's always fun to clutch pearls and reach for the fainting couch about these "millions of tons" of waste.

 

[ferrellsl]

Why is anyone considering data from the UN to be reliable?

 

[liljom]

"Tech giants such as Apple and Samsung have been more supportive of the right-to-repair movement in recent times, helping reduce e-waste, but there's still a long way to go when it comes to improving current recycling processes."

Apple and Samsung are prime examples that gives you right to repair, but then it borks the software to a point that the new version is better. I still have a Pocophone F1 that still works 6 years after released. Yet a Samsung A5 2017 was very good at the begining, after 2 years the imense of software borking made it obsolete for day to day use. Almost every new-tech companys put EoL by changing the software in it, not hardware fault. A long discussion can be made on EoL hardware and EoL Software new era.

Maybe the fact, that the F1 has double the RAM, 4 times the storage, a more efficient and powerful CPU, 30% bigger battery also contributes to this. And the ever growing complexity of apps and websites.

 

[liljom]

Yeah big part of it is because of Android software fragmentation.

people are so obsessed with hardware repair they forget phones wouldn't function without updated software too. millions of older phones that don't get cracked or had its battery bloated are still more than capable to run latest software, but because they run old version of android they don't run modern apps anymore, rendering them useless and turning them into e-waste.

just look at the youtube app. right now the app no longer works on android 7.1 and below. I know every phone with Android OS could use youtube when it was new. but now that they're few years old google says you can't use it. meanwhile you could still open and use youtube web on a much older computer as long as you have an updated browser.

everytime google launches a new android OS, I can't help but think of the millions of phones and tablets that will be unsupported.

Based on 2019 numbers, smarphones accounted for 0,05% of e-waste. And that icludes iPhones too, so we can halv that number. And who knows what percentage of that 0.025% was because of not anymore supported apps.
So I wouldn't say "big part of it is because of Android software fragmentation"

 

[nismo91]

Based on 2019 numbers, smarphones accounted for 0,05% of e-waste. And that icludes iPhones too, so we can halv that number. And who knows what percentage of that 0.025% was because of not anymore supported apps.
So I wouldn't say "big part of it is because of Android software fragmentation"

smartphones would only account for 0.05% of total e-waste if you include every non-computer electronics such as irons, toasters, refrigerators in the category of e-waste. a 2-door fridge on average weighs more than 300 old iphones put together. but people don't throw their refrigerator away just because the manufacturer says it's too old to run a feature that it could run when it was new.

every cellphone will become an e-waste at some point. but the android os fragmentation only makes the number much worse, because people can't keep using their old phones so they had to go buy a new one. the article mentioned about "right-to-repair" but those numbers are nothing compared to planned obsolescence those manufacturers conceived.

 

[Endymio]

... those numbers are nothing compared to planned obsolescence those manufacturers conceived.

In general, these studies by self-interested advocacy groups aren't worth the electrons they're printed with. The International e-Waste forum claimed that in 2022 some 5.3 billion smart phones discarded --- roughly triple the entire year's production of smart phones, and a number larger than the number of phone owners on the planet. And yet, no one ever questions these absurd figures:

E-waste: Five billion phones to be thrown away in 2022

Billions of phones will be hoarded in drawers and cupboards or thrown away rather than recycled, studies suggest.

www.bbc.com