Below is an excerpt from an article written by the United Nations University in Bonn.

The amount of global e-waste — discarded electrical and electronic equipment — reached 41.8 million tonnes in 2014

The bulk of global e-waste in 2014 (almost 60%) was discarded kitchen, laundry, and bathroom equipment. Personal information and communication technology (ICT) devices — such as mobile phones, personal computers, and printers — accounted for 7% of e-waste last year.

More specifically, e-waste in 2014 comprised:

• 12.8 million tonnes of small equipment (such as vacuum cleaners, microwaves, toasters, electric shavers and video cameras);
• 11.8 million tonnes of large equipment (including washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, electric stoves, and photovoltaic panels);
• 7.0 million tonnes of temperature-exchange (cooling and freezing equipment);
• 6.3 million tonnes of screens;
• 3.0 million tonnes of small ICT equipment; and
• 1.0 million tonne of lamps.

The UK has a much better record, thanks to forward thinking legislation and companies such as Secure Data Recycling; companies that recycle all electrical and electronic waste, reusing old IT where we can and reprocessing unwanted electrical equipment, avoiding the need to add to the UK’s landfill crisis.

Contact us for more information on e-waste.