MPS to investigate ‘tsunami’ of electronic waste

MPs have launched an inquiry into how the UK can cut the amount of electronic products being thrown away, claiming it’s one of the worst offenders in Europe.

They will also look at how a “circular economy” can be created for electronic goods such as computers through improved recycling schemes.

The Environmental Audit Committee says that the increased use of devices and equipment has led to a rapid increase of electronic waste (e-waste).

Mary Creagh, Labour MP and chair of the committee, said that old “fridges, freezers, computers, TVS, kettles and mobile phones are piling up in a tsunami of e-waste”.

She added: “New phone launches, cheaper goods, and built-in obsolescence have contributed to the growth of electronic waste in recent years”.

In a statement the Committee said that globally 44.7 million tonnes of e-waste were produced in 2017, 90 per cent of which was “sent to landfill,

incinerated, illegally traded or treated in a sub-standard way”. Europe and the US account for nearly half of the world’s e-waste, official statistics show.

Mrs Creagh said the UK produces more e-waste than the EU average, and is “one of the worst offenders for exporting waste to developing countries, who are ill-equipped to dispose of it in a socially and environmentally responsible way”.

The inquiry will assess the true scale of the problem in the UK, focusing on the environmental and human health risk from e-waste.

It will also examine whether the targets set by the current Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) scheme are achievable.

Introduced in 2003, the EU’S WEEE directive set recycling targets for all countries. The Government’s target for 2019 is 550,577 tonnes, 12 per cent higher than the total amount of electronic waste collected from UK households in 2018.