UK shamed on electrical waste
We throw away more than any other nation except Norway
BrITONs are the second worst culprits worldwide for producing unwanted electronic waste.
Each person throws away almost 24kg ( 53lbs) of e- waste a year, with the nation most likely to discard washing machines, refrigerators and small household items such as blenders.
The UK as a whole throws away 1.6million tons of e-waste annually – equivalent to the weight of around 8,719 Boeing 747 aeroplanes. In the league table of personal electronic waste, the UK comes second only to Norway – where people dispose of 26kg (57lbs) a year on average – out of 181 countries.
The stark figures are taken from the United Nations’s annual survey of e-waste, which found it totalled 53.6million tons globally last year.
The UK is estimated to recycle around 57 per cent of its ewaste – discarded products with a battery or plug – each year, but experts say far more needs to be done.
Dr Kees Balde, a co-author of the Global E-Waste Monitor 2020 report from United Nations
University, said: ‘ Nowadays products are often not designed to last long, neither are they easily repairable. Therefore, our love for gadgets and the need for electronic equipment in our daily lives have become a large part of the general throwaway culture. The UK, as a rich country, is part of the problem.’
It has been described as a ‘tsunami’ of waste in the UK, where cheap electronic goods and constant smartphone upgrades have contributed to unwanted items being discarded.
Greenpeace UK’s IT expert Andrew Hatton said: ‘The way we deal with electronic waste is shameful – it’s time for a reboot. Vast amounts of precious metals are extracted at great environmental and social costs to make expensive high-tech products that break easily and often can’t be repaired.’
Only 17.4 per cent of 2019’s global e-waste was documented as having been properly collected or recycled. While the amount disposed of properly has risen by 1.8million tons in five years, it has not kept pace with the amount of electronic waste produced – which has gone up by 9.2million tons since 2014.
Electronic waste contains hazardous chemicals such as
‘It’s time for a reboot’
the mercury used in fluorescent lights which can harm adults and children in developing countries when the waste is disposed of there.
It also contains precious metals including gold, silver and copper, so billions of pounds have been lost by burying and burning waste.
The UN report predicts global e-waste will reach 74million tons by 2030. It will have doubled in just 16 years, making it the fastest-growing form of domestic waste.