Electronics disposal has become a large and measurable waste-management challenge. The world generated 62 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022, but only 22.3% was documented as properly collected and recycled. The figures below show how much discarded equipment is being generated, what happens to it, which materials are at stake, and how disposal behavior differs across regions.
Contents
- Global e-waste generation and outlook
- Collection, recycling and the disposal gap
- Materials, value and environmental consequences
- Devices and cross-border movement
- European Union WEEE statistics
- Canadian household disposal behavior
Global e-waste generation and outlook
The Global e-Waste Monitor 2024 reported 62 million tonnes of e-waste worldwide in 2022. That total was 82% higher than in 2010. The same source projects global e-waste to reach 82 million tonnes in 2030, making the 2030 figure a forecast rather than a measured total.
The 2022 stream was comparable in weight to 107,000 of the world’s heaviest passenger aircraft, with each aircraft rated at 575 tonnes. Asia generated about 30 million tonnes in 2022, roughly half of the global total. Per-person generation was highest in Europe at 17.6 kilograms, followed by Oceania at 16.1 kilograms and the Americas at 14.1 kilograms.
These regional figures measure e-waste generated per person, not the amount each region successfully collected or recycled. That distinction matters: a region can generate a large amount of discarded equipment while having very different collection systems, treatment capacity, or reporting coverage.
Collection, recycling and the disposal gap
Only 22.3% of global e-waste generated in 2022 was documented as properly collected and recycled. About 14 million tonnes was estimated to have been trashed, mostly through landfilling. The documented global percentage therefore describes material with a recorded formal recycling pathway; it does not mean that all remaining material followed one identical route.
Europe recorded a formally documented e-waste collection and recycling rate of 42.8% in 2022. African countries formally recycled less than 1% of their e-waste in the same year. The comparison reflects a major difference in documented infrastructure and formal systems, alongside differences in the quantities and types of equipment in use.
The Global e-Waste Monitor also identified substantial activity outside formal systems. High- and upper-middle-income countries with e-waste infrastructure collected and recycled 16 million tonnes outside formal systems in 2022. Low- and lower-middle-income countries without e-waste infrastructure managed about 18 million tonnes, mainly through informal-sector channels. These figures describe management routes and infrastructure contexts; they should not be read as equivalent measures of verified final recycling outcomes.
Materials, value and environmental consequences
The 62 million tonnes of global e-waste in 2022 contained about 31 million tonnes of metals, 17 million tonnes of plastics, and 14 million tonnes of other materials, including minerals, glass, and composites.
| Material or resource measure | 2022 amount or value |
|---|---|
| Metals in global e-waste | About 31 million tonnes |
| Plastics in global e-waste | About 17 million tonnes |
| Other materials | About 14 million tonnes |
| Metals embedded in e-waste | About US$91 billion |
| Secondary raw materials reclaimed | About US$28 billion |
The metals embedded in the 2022 global e-waste stream were valued at about US$91 billion. Within that estimate, copper represented about US$19 billion, gold about US$15 billion, and iron about US$16 billion. Secondary raw materials reclaimed from the stream were valued at about US$28 billion.
Documented e-waste recycling in 2022 avoided the extraction of about 900 million tonnes of primary ore. Formal e-waste management avoided about 93 million tonnes of carbon-dioxide-equivalent emissions. At the same time, only about 1% of rare-earth-element demand was met by e-waste recycling in 2022. The rare-earth figure shows that recycling contributes to supply, but covered only a small share of demand during that measurement year.
Devices and cross-border movement
Small devices were the largest quantified category in the global figures, accounting for 20.4 million tonnes, or 33%, of e-waste in 2022. Only 12% of small-device e-waste was recycled. Small information-technology and telecommunications equipment generated 4.6 million tonnes and had a documented collection and recycling rate of 22%.
Retired photovoltaic panels are projected to reach 2.4 million tonnes in 2030, compared with 600,000 tonnes in 2022. This is a forecast for 2030 and should not be confused with the measured 2022 quantity.
About 5.1 million tonnes, or 8.2% of global e-waste, moved across borders in 2022. Approximately 3.3 million tonnes, equal to 65% of cross-border e-waste movements, went from high-income to middle- and low-income countries through uncontrolled, undocumented channels. The source describes these movements as uncontrolled and undocumented; the statistic does not establish that every shipment had the same destination treatment.
Policy coverage expanded but remained incomplete. The number of countries with e-waste legislation reached 81 in 2023, up from 78 in 2019. Of the 81 countries with legislation in 2023, 67 had a legal instrument promoting extended producer responsibility. Only 46 countries had e-waste collection-rate targets, and only 36 had e-waste recycling-rate targets in 2023.
European Union WEEE statistics
Eurostat’s Waste statistics - electrical and electronic equipment reports that EU countries officially collected 11.6 kilograms of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) per inhabitant in 2023. The EU WEEE collection rate was 37.5%, measured against the average amount of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) put on the market during 2020–2022.
EU countries placed 14.4 million tonnes of EEE on the market in 2023. That was up from 7.6 million tonnes in 2012. Over the same period, WEEE collected increased from 3.0 million tonnes to 5.2 million tonnes, while WEEE treated increased from 3.1 million tonnes to 5.2 million tonnes.
| EU measure | 2012 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| EEE placed on the market | 7.6 million tonnes | 14.4 million tonnes |
| WEEE collected | 3.0 million tonnes | 5.2 million tonnes |
| WEEE treated | 3.1 million tonnes | 5.2 million tonnes |
| WEEE recovered | 2.6 million tonnes | 4.8 million tonnes |
| WEEE recycled and prepared for reuse | 2.4 million tonnes | 4.3 million tonnes |
EU WEEE recovered increased from 2.6 million tonnes in 2012 to 4.8 million tonnes in 2023. WEEE recycled and prepared for reuse increased from 2.4 million tonnes to 4.3 million tonnes. In per-person terms, the EU placed 32.2 kilograms of new EEE on the market in 2023, versus 11.6 kilograms of WEEE collected per person.
The EU collection rate uses a defined reference period for equipment placed on the market, while the per-person figures describe different flows in 2023. They are useful together, but they are not interchangeable measures.
Canadian household disposal behavior
Statistics Canada reported that, in 2023, 16% of Canadian households had unwanted small appliances to dispose of. Computers, televisions, and cellular phones each appeared in 14% of households. Printers were reported by 10%, audio-visual equipment by 9%, and microwave ovens by 6%.
Among Canadian households with unwanted computers, 64% took or sent them to a depot or drop-off centre, while 16% donated or gave them away. For unwanted televisions, 67% took them to a depot or drop-off centre. The corresponding share was 66% for audio-visual equipment and 67% for printers.
Electronic gaming equipment showed a broader mix of disposal and reuse routes: 52% of households with unwanted gaming equipment took it to a depot or drop-off centre, 21% donated or gave it away, and 16% repaired or sold it.
Cellular-phone behavior changed between 2021 and 2023. In 2023, 16% of Canadian households with unwanted cellular phones returned them to a supplier or retailer, up from 12% in 2021. Meanwhile, 33% took phones to a depot or drop-off centre, down from 40% in 2021.
Some items still commonly entered ordinary waste streams. Among Canadian households with unwanted landline telephones in 2023, 54% put them in the trash. In the same year, 16% of households had unwanted mercury-containing lights to dispose of, and 36% of those households put the lights in the garbage. These household results come from Statistics Canada’s “Trip through your wires: Canadian households and electronic waste” and describe reported household behavior in Canada during 2023.