The global e-waste monitor 2024

The world is experiencing significant electronification, including a digital transformation, with technologies profoundly changing the way we live, work, learn, socialize, and do business. Many people own and use multiple electronic devices, and the increasing interconnectivity of urban and remote areas has led to a rise in the number of devices and objects linked to the Internet.

This growth has led to a simultaneous increase in the amount of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and e-waste. Waste EEE generates a waste stream that contains both hazardous and valuable materials, collectively known as e-waste, or waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The global e-waste monitor has been the leading source of reporting on this pressing issue since 2014. It provides the most up-to-date overview of global e-waste data, statistics, and progress in policy and regulation. It also provides a glimpse into what the future holds if things change or stay the same.

The global e-waste monitor finds that by 2022 the world generated 62 billion kg of e-waste, or an average of 7.8 kg per capita. Only 22.3 per cent (13.8 billion kg) of the e-waste generated was documented as properly collected and recycled. In 2010, the world generated 34 billion kg of e-waste, and that amount has increased annually by an average of 2.3 billion kg per year. The documented formal collection and recycling rate has gone up as well, growing from 8 billion kg in 2010 at an average rate of 0.5 billion kg per year.