The electronic waste stream reached 50 million tons according to the report "A new circular vision for electronics" prepared by the World Economic Forum [WEF] and the United Nations [UN] E-Waste Coalition.
WEF and the UN warned that the amount of electronic waste produced in the world every year is 50 million tons and this figure is expected to increase to 120 million tons in 2050.
Electronic goods, from solar mini-grids to smartphones, bring huge benefits to humankind and offer new opportunities for development. They present new tools to address the challenges of climate change, expand education, deliver healthcare and facilitate trade. Digitalization and connectivity are also critical to help achieve all 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Rapid innovation and lowering costs have dramatically increased access to electronic products and digital technology, with many benefits. This has led to an increase in the use of electronic devices and equipment. The unintended consequence of this is a steep growth of electronic and electrical waste: e-waste.
When it is not being stored in cellars, drawers, and cabinets, e-waste is often incinerated or dumped in landfills or makes its way around the world to be pulled apart by hand or burned by the world’s poorest, to the detriment of health and the environment
That same e-waste represents a huge opportunity. The material value alone is worth $62.5 billion, three times more than the annual output of the world’s silver mines and more than the GDP of most countries.
The report underlined that there is 100 times more gold in a tonne of mobile phones than in a tonne of gold ore.
It noted that working electronic goods and components are worth more than the materials they contain, "Therefore, extending the life of products and re-using components brings an even larger economic benefit."
There is also an opportunity to build a more circular electronics system, one in which resources are not extracted, used and wasted, but valued and re-used in ways that create decent, sustainable jobs. In short, we need a new vision for electronics.
ILKHA