Used electronics are part of a growing end-of-life waste stream. The world generated 62 billion kg of e-waste in 2022, but only 22.3% was documented as formally collected and recycled. The figures below describe discarded electrical and electronic equipment, not a count of individual devices, and keep each measurement period and geography explicit.
Contents
- Global volume and growth
- Which device categories generate the most waste
- Regional generation and formal recycling
- What households do with old devices
- European collection and treatment
- Materials, waste flows and policy
Global volume and growth
The Global E-waste Monitor 2024 measured 62 billion kg of global e-waste in 2022. That was an average of 7.8 kg per person. Only 13.8 billion kg was documented as formally collected and recycled, equal to a documented rate of 22.3%.
The long-term change is substantial. Annual global e-waste generation rose from 34 billion kg in 2010 to 62 billion kg in 2022. Over the same period, electrical and electronic equipment placed on the global market increased from 62 billion kg to 96 billion kg. These are different measures: one describes the end-of-life stream, while the other describes equipment entering the market.
The monitor projects that equipment placed on the market will reach 120 billion kg in 2030 and that global e-waste generation will reach 82 billion kg in 2030. These are 2030 forecasts, not observed measurements. The Global E-waste Monitor 2024 announcement projects the documented collection and recycling rate to decline from 22.3% in 2022 to 20% by 2030.
Which device categories generate the most waste
The 2022 category totals show that used electronics waste is spread across household, commercial and information-technology equipment. In the Global E-waste Monitor 2024, the categories generated the following amounts:
| Device category | E-waste generated in 2022 |
|---|---|
| Small equipment | 20.4 billion kg |
| Large equipment, excluding photovoltaic panels | 15.1 billion kg |
| Temperature-exchange equipment | 13.3 billion kg |
| Screens and monitors | 5.9 billion kg |
| Small IT and telecommunications equipment | 4.6 billion kg |
| Lamps | 1.9 billion kg |
| Photovoltaic panels | 0.6 billion kg |
Small equipment was the largest listed category at 20.4 billion kg. Large equipment excluding photovoltaic panels generated 15.1 billion kg, while temperature-exchange equipment generated 13.3 billion kg. Screens and monitors generated 5.9 billion kg, and small IT and telecommunications equipment generated 4.6 billion kg.
The categories also differed in their documented formal collection and recycling rates. Only 12% of small equipment e-waste and 5% of lamp e-waste was documented as formally collected and recycled in 2022. Small IT and telecommunications equipment had a higher documented rate of 22% in the same year. These rates describe documented formal flows, not every possible reuse, repair, informal recovery or disposal route.
Regional generation and formal recycling
Per-person e-waste generation and documented formal recycling varied widely by region in 2022. Europe had the highest generation level at 17.6 kg per person and a documented formal collection and recycling rate of 42.8%. Europe also documented 7.5 kg collected and recycled per person.
Oceania generated 16.1 kg per person and recorded a 41.4% documented formal collection and recycling rate. The Americas generated 14.1 kg per person, with a documented rate of 30%. Asia generated 6.4 kg per person and recorded an 11.8% documented rate. Africa generated 2.5 kg per person, while its documented formal collection and recycling rate was 0.7%.
| Region | E-waste per person, 2022 | Documented formal collection and recycling |
|---|---|---|
| Europe | 17.6 kg | 42.8% |
| Oceania | 16.1 kg | 41.4% |
| Americas | 14.1 kg | 30% |
| Asia | 6.4 kg | 11.8% |
| Africa | 2.5 kg | 0.7% |
These regional measures should be read together but not treated as a direct ranking of individual behavior. The monitor reports the e-waste stream and documented formal flows at regional level; the result is shaped by equipment use, collection systems, reporting and the treatment of discarded equipment.
What households do with old devices
Eurostat provides a different view: what people reported doing with no-longer-used digital devices. In 2024, 51% of EU individuals aged 16–74 kept an old mobile phone or smartphone at home. A further 18% gave or sold it to someone else, 11% recycled it, and 2% threw it away without recycling. These percentages describe EU individuals, not kilograms of e-waste.
Recycling behavior varied among EU countries and age groups. Greece had the highest reported mobile-phone recycling share at 25% in 2024. Czechia reported 18%, the second-highest reported EU rate. Among age groups, 13% of EU people aged 55–74 recycled an old mobile phone, compared with 7% of those aged 16–24. Younger people were more likely to give or sell one: 23% of those aged 16–24 did so, compared with 12% of those aged 55–74.
For larger personal devices, 34% of EU individuals aged 16–74 kept an old laptop or tablet at home in 2024. The reported shares for those devices included 11% who recycled one and 12% who gave or sold one. For old desktop computers, 15% reported recycling them.
The household figures point to a practical issue for used electronics recycling: storage at home is a common outcome for devices that are no longer used. They should not be added directly to the weight-based WEEE collection rates below, because Eurostat’s household figures measure people’s reported actions, while WEEE collection rates use different weight-based denominators.
European collection and treatment
Eurostat reported that the EU collected 11.6 kg of WEEE per inhabitant in 2023. The EU WEEE collection rate was 37.5% when measured against average electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market in 2020–2022. The denominator matters: this is not a comparison with only the equipment sold in 2023. The figures come from Waste statistics – electrical and electronic equipment.
The amount of equipment entering the EU market increased from 7.6 million tonnes in 2012 to 14.4 million tonnes in 2023, an 89% increase. EU collected WEEE increased from 3.0 million tonnes in 2012 to 5.2 million tonnes in 2023. EU treated WEEE rose from 3.1 million tonnes to 5.2 million tonnes, while WEEE recycled and prepared for reuse increased from 2.4 million tonnes to 4.3 million tonnes.
In 2023, the EU collected 9.0 million tonnes less equipment than the 14.4 million tonnes placed on the market that year. That comparison uses the same calendar year for the two quantities, whereas the official 37.5% collection rate uses the 2020–2022 average equipment placed on the market as its denominator. Three EU countries—Bulgaria, Slovakia and Latvia—reached the 65% WEEE collection target in 2023.
Materials, waste flows and policy
Formal recycling returned 6 billion kg of metals to the economy in 2022, according to the Global E-waste Monitor 2024. At the same time, formal e-waste recycling lost 1 billion kg of metals through non-viable recovery. The monitor also recorded about 80 million kg of metals recovered through incinerator or bottom-ash methods in 2022, compared with about 7 billion kg of metals lost during e-waste incineration or landfill disposal.
An estimated 14 billion kg of e-waste was improperly disposed of in ordinary residual-waste bins worldwide in 2022. This estimate concerns a disposal pathway rather than a count of devices. It also sits alongside the formal recycling figures, so the categories should not be interpreted as a complete one-to-one accounting of every kilogram without the monitor’s full methodology.
Used equipment and e-waste also cross borders. Around 5.1 billion kg crossed national borders in 2019. Of that total, 3.3 billion kg, or 65%, was classified as uncontrolled movement. The 2019 figures retain their original measurement year and should not be read as a current 2026 flow.
Policy coverage was incomplete as of June 2023: 81 of 193 countries had an e-waste policy, legislation or regulation. Together, the figures show why a used device’s next step matters. Keeping a phone or computer at home delays its entry into a formal stream; giving or selling it can extend use; and documented collection and treatment determine whether materials are recovered through accountable systems.