I was interested to read some blatant misinformation in a recent article from Earth911 that 99% of all e-waste is recycled.
Because according to the US EPA only 12.5% of disposed e-waste is recycled (Municipal Solid Waste In the United States, 2005 Facts and Figures, October 2006). And for good reason - 87.5% of it is non-recyclable!
Only 12.5% of the consumer electronic products bought were “recovered” in 2005. This compares with an average recovery rate of 32.1% for all other categories
Important Fact about E-Waste and Recycling that the green coalition of electronics manufacturers don’t want you to read.
These are quantifiable statistics concerning the issues of electronic waste and the ongoing e-waste recycling methods currently deployed. All facts and figures are backed by source and where possible I have made a link to the original data. These facts and figures were originally compiled for both legislators as well as advocates of environmental policy studies. Since its compelation in 2006, the statistics have been updated where possible. This list will be updated as new statistics are released.
Research includes Facts and figures from the Electronics TakeBack Coalition (2006) last updated in June 2008
What is the latest estimates of E-waste expansion globally?
The estimated amount of extra e-waste created each year is 400 million units
At the current growth rates 3-4 billion units will be scrapped from now until 2010. This equated to an average of 400 million units plus a year. (International Association of Electronics Recyclers 2006)
More than 130,000 computers are trashed EACH DAY in the USA
Today, this estimate is more like 250,000. This previous estimate was drawn up by Gartner in 2003.
In their Electronics Recovery Recycling Baseline Report in 1999, the National Safety Council predicted that there could be up to 500 million obsolete computers in the US by 2005. This estimate has been confimred by Gartners findings in 2005.
More than 20 million computers and televisions are added to home storage each year.
This means that a huge amount of e-waste is out there but currently being stored in people’s homes.
According to the EPA about 57 million PCs and TVs are bought by households and businesses each year in the United States. These don’t necessarily replace the older versions of the same electronic. This is particularly true with products such as Cellphones which notoriously stay in a bottom draw for some years. Consumers (both business and household) frequently store their retired products.
Experts agree that the average home will be hoarding three or more units somewhere in their home. However, this figure is much bigger with businesses holding older computers. Up to 24 million TVs and PCs are added to their storage each year. This storing or hoarding is predicted to accelerate thanks to new Plasma and LCD TVs. New digital broadcasting are likely to negate any resale value old TVs might have.
Cell phones
Over 130 million mobile phones or cell phones are trashes each year (USA)
This equates to more than 2.5 million tons of e-waste (2005)
And contrary to figures published by the industry, nearly 90% of this waste in irreclaimable.
2.6 million tons of e-waste was generated in 2005, and the EPA notes that only 12.6% was recycled:
As in recent previous updates of this report, generation of selected consumer electronic products was estimated as a subset of miscellaneous durable goods. In 2005, an estimated 2.6 million tons of these goods were generated. Of this, approximately 330,000 tons of selected consumer electronics were recovered for recycling. Selected consumer electronics include products such as TVs, VCRs, DVD players, video cameras, stereo systems, telephones, and computer equipment.“
Each year up to 50 million tons of e-waste get dumped
Some 20 to 50 million metric tonnes of e-waste are generated worldwide every year, comprising more than 5% of all municipal solid waste. When the millions of computers purchased around the world every year (183 million in 2004) become obsolete they leave behind lead, cadmium, mercury and other hazardous wastes. In the US alone, some 14 to 20 million PCs are thrown out every year. In the EU the volume of e-waste is expected to increase by 3 to 5 per cent a year. Developing countries are expected to triple their output of e-waste by 2010.
E-waste is the fastest rising waste stream in the US
The amount of consumer electronic actually rose by 8% from 2004 to 2005 to 2.63 million tons, a higher rate than any other category of waste. This is at a time when all other sources of waste are falling.
Location and Numbers of Old Electronics
How Much Electronic Waste Gets Recycled or Stockpiled?
Only 12.5% of disposed e-waste is recycled
Only 12.5% of the consumer electronic products bought were “recovered” in 2005. This compares with an average recovery rate of 32.1% for all other categories
68% of consumers stockpile
“68 percent of American stockpile their old computer equipment at home.”
9% of all products sold between 1980 and 2004 are still in storage
Source: EPA “Electronics Waste Management in the US: Preliminary Findings. Presentation by Clare Lindsay, U.S. EPA, Office of Solid Waste to the E-Scrap Conference in Austin, TX, October 18, 2006. These are preliminary numbers (still under review) to be presented in a final report by the EPA in 2007.
Of all products sold between 1980-2004, almost half are still in use either by the first or subsequent owners.
• About 42 percent have already been managed via recycling or disposal.
• 9 percent are being stores or hoarded
• Half of these are TVs
• A quarter of these are PCs
• A little over 20% percent were re-used by a second owner.
Sales of Electronics
a. Sales in Computing
In 2007 worldwide computer sales reached 260 million. Over 67 million were bought in the US.
267.7 million computers were sold globally in 2007, up 32 million from 2006 (IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker). 67 million of these were sold in the USA. These include Desktops, Notebooks, Laptops, Ultra Portables or Mobile Computers and x86 Servers. This oes not include hand helds such as PDAs.
An estimated 430 million computers will be sold in 2012
This year, in 2008, it is estimated by industry analysts that over 300 million computers will be bought, with over 70 million going to the US. This will increase to 430 million by 2012,(85 million in the US)
b. Sales of TVs
This year we bought 3.9 MILLION TVs for the SUPERBOWL alone!
National Retail Federation says we’ll be purchasing 4 million TVs just for this year’s 2008 SUPERBOWL. That’s up more than 50% from last year. In 2006 in the same period we bought 1.7 million.
In 2008 32 million digital TVs wil be sold in the US
As of December 2007 over 50% of US households now own a digital television. (The Consumer Electronics Association)
In 2007 $25 manufacturers made BILLION on digital TVs in the US.
According to new CEA sales projections, manufacturers are expected to announce an average of 11 percent revenue growth in excess of $25 billion in 2007 from digital TV sales. Additional rises of 13 percent revenue and 17 percent unit sales increase is estimated for 2008 (CEA).
Global TV sales in excess of 50 million a year
TV sales reached 50.6 million units per year (Q4 2006 to Q3 2007). TV revenues were over $26 billion for that period.
83% of 50”+ screens are sold to the US
c. Sales of cell phone or mobiles
Globally over one billion cell phones were sold in 2006
A new milestone was reached in 2006, with over one billion cellphones shipped and sold that year. (IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker). That’s a 22.5% rise from 2005
By 2008, cell phone usage is expected to reach two billion (UN).
In the US the amount of cell phone subscribers increased from 340,000 in 1985 to 180 million in 2004. Globally, cell phone sales have increased from 100 million units in 1997 to 780 million units in 2005.
Cell phone sales are projected to exceed 1 billion units per year in 2009, with an estimated 2.6 billion cell phones in use by the end of that year (USGS).
We purchased more than $160 BILLION consumer electronics in 2005
“15 percent of this spend was made online (CE) a jump of 5% from 2004, according to a study released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)®. “
Global consumer electronics sales was $618 BILLION in 2005
What is recoverable from recycling consumer electronics?
Gold:
One ton of e-waste from PCs has more gold in it than 17 t of gold ore.
Resources Used in Electronics Manufacturing
It takes 530 pounds of fossil fuels, 48 pounds of chemicals and 1.5 tons of water to produce 1 single PC with its monitor
The UN study found that making a PC and monitor uses 240 kg (530 pounds) of fossil fuel, 22 kg (48 pounds) of chemicals and 1.5 tonnes of water. This is more than the weight of a rhinoceros or a car (Kuehr and Williams, 2003). Making consumer electronics is an extreme burden not only on the environment but also on the demand for fossil fuels. This far exceeds any other household or business product.
Does reusing and re-selling pre-owned computers create more jobs than disposal?
