The Global E-waste Monitor 2024
About this book
The Global E-waste Monitor 2024, produced by the United Nations University (UNU), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), reports on the generation, flows, and management of electronic and electrical equipment waste (e-waste) globally. As the most authoritative and regularly updated global database on e-waste statistics, the Monitor series provides the empirical foundation for international policy responses to what is now formally recognised as the world's fastest-growing solid waste stream. The 2024 edition reports that global e-waste generation reached 62 million tonnes in 2022, a 82% increase compared to 2010 volumes.
This growth is driven by three converging factors: the expanding global installed base of electronic products; shorter product lifespans driven by rapid technological obsolescence and planned obsolescence practices; and the spread of electronic devices into consumer markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America where per-capita ownership was previously low. E-waste is an acutely heterogeneous waste stream, encompassing six broad categories defined in EU WEEE Directive terminology: (1) temperature exchange equipment (refrigerators, air conditioners); (2) screens and monitors; (3) lamps; (4) large equipment (washing machines, electric stoves, photovoltaic panels); (5) small equipment (microwaves, ventilation equipment, toasters); and (6) small IT and telecommunications equipment (phones, laptops, tablets). Each category requires different management approaches due to differences in material composition and the presence of specific hazardous substances.
The value of secondary raw materials embedded in global e-waste is estimated at approximately $91 billion in 2022, including significant quantities of copper, gold, silver, palladium, iron, and aluminium. Against this opportunity, formal e-waste recycling recovery rates are critically low: only 22.3% of global e-waste was formally documented as collected and recycled in 2022, with the remainder going to undocumented informal channels, landfill, or incineration. Geographical disparities in formal e-waste collection are stark.
Europe achieves a formal collection rate of approximately 43% (the highest globally), driven by the EU WEEE Directive. In contrast, formal collection rates in Africa are estimated at 0.9% and in Asia at 11.8%, meaning that vast quantities of e-waste are processed by informal workers using hazardous practices — open burning, acid leaching — that expose workers and surrounding communities to toxic heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants.