“Up to 90% of the world’s electronic waste, worth nearly $19bn (£12bn), is illegally traded or dumped each year, according to the UN Environment Programme (Unep).

Computers and smartphones are among the ditched items contributing to this 41m tonne e-waste mountain, which could top 50m tonnes by 2017, Unep says in a new report launched today in Geneva.”…according to a UN Spokesman

Most of the electronic waste around the world is sent to and “processed” in African and Asian countries such as Ghana, Nigeria, China, Pakistan, India, and Vietnam are turning into illegal e-waste hubs, bypassing the legitimate global waste and recycling market that is thought to be worth $410bn a year.

At Secure Data Recycling we feel that this is criminal, especially as companies such as our own have plenty of additional capacity to handle more and more IT waste.

When choosing your IT Recycler do a proper audit and make sure that the e-Waste is being processed here in the UK and under the guidelines set down by the EU, NOT sent overseas.