A fast-growing mountain of toxic e-waste is polluting the planet and damaging health says a report. According the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor report), every year, nearly $10 billion worth of precious metals such as gold and platinum are dumped. The precious metals are used in electric equipment and contribute to the ever-increasing dump of e-waste which is polluting the Earth. Last year, humans discarded and dumped more than 50 million tonnes of electronic waste which marks an increase of 20% in just five years. This leads to the world’s fastest-growing waste problem, the United Nations said.
According to the UN’s Global E-waste Monitor report electronic equipment like smartphones, computers, white goods and electronic car parts use different expensive materials in their built. The UN stated that the materials are worth more than $55 billion (50 billion euros) and being wasted every year. In 2019 only 17% of the year’s 53 million tonnes of e-waste was recycled, with the rest ending up in scrapheaps or landfill.
Researchers have blamed devices of shorter life spans which are of single-use and can’t be recycled again. They believe that the lack of recycling infrastructure is ballooning the e-waste problem. “E-waste quantities are rising three times faster than the world’s population and 13% faster than the world’s GDP during the last five years,” said Antonis Mavropoulos, president of the International Solid Waste Association. As per the report, Asia generated the greatest volume of e-waste in 2019, with 24.9 million tonnes, followed by the Americas (13.1 Mt) and Europe (12 Mt), while Africa and Oceania generated just 2.9 Mt and 0.7 Mt respectively.
The UN warned that e-waste contained several toxic substances which are harmful to human health. “Greater efforts are urgently required to ensure smarter and more sustainable global production, consumption, and disposal of electrical and electronic equipment,” said David Malone, rector at the United Nations University and UN under-secretary-general. “This report contributes mightily to the sense of urgency in turning around this dangerous global pattern.”
