From production to end-of-life: a far from complete loop.

Smartphones, computers, household appliances, there is a growing awareness of the environmental impact of the production of these electronic devices. It cannot be stressed enough that half of the carbon emissions from the digital sector (representing 4% of global emissions) come from the manufacturing process of these devices.

While the impact of the production of these devices is attracting increasing attention, the challenges surrounding their end-of-life and impact are still poorly understood.

Most of the devices are not collected or are only poorly collected. Despite the progress of legislation on the subject in many countries, the collection and recycling of WEEE is poorly managed on a global scale. Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream in recent years.

According to the United Nations University/UNITAR Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Monitoring Report (2020), in 2019, more than 53 million tonnes of e-waste were generated (i.e. almost 6 tonnes generated per hour). This trend is accelerating dramatically: we are expected to reach 74 million tonnes of WEEE in 2030, and 120 million tonnes in 2050 – an increase of over 120% compared to 2019.

Of these millions of tonnes of waste, only 17% is collected and recycled. The rest is burned or dumped in landfills. According to the NGO Basel Action Network, at least 6% of electronic waste collected in the European Union and loaded with toxic substances (arsenic, mercury, cadmium, etc.) is illegally exported to West Africa or Asia, where landfills are multiplying. There, workers put their lives at risk by dismantling and burning these devices in order to recover the rare materials, usually for less than the cost of their extraction. These dumps have disastrous consequences for the health of local residents and the environment. It is estimated that the carbon footprint of these electronic dumps is close to 100 million tonnes of CO2 per year.