October 14th marks International Electronic Waste Day. Experts are calling on households, businesses, and governments to direct more end-of-life and unused electronic devices to repair or recycling facilities to recover precious metals and reduce the need to mine new resources. This year's mountain of waste electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) is expected to weigh approximately 57.4 million tons, heavier than the Great Wall of China, the heaviest structure on Earth. A Hidden Treasure Mountain: Ruediger Kuehr, Director and Chief of Staff of the Sustainable Cycles of Development (SCYCLE) Initiative at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), stated that electronic and electrical parts are an "urban mine" with enormous value. SCYCLE conducts and shares comprehensive, practical research to help society reduce the environmental damage caused by the production, use, and disposal of electronic and electrical waste. "One ton of discarded mobile phones contains more gold than a ton of gold ore," Dr. Kuehr asserted. "For example, one million mobile phones contain 24 kilograms of gold, 16,000 kilograms of copper, 350 kilograms of silver, and 14 kilograms of palladium. These resources can be recovered and put back into the production cycle. If they are not recycled, new materials must be mined continuously, harming the environment." Kees Baldé, Senior Officer of the United Nations University's SCYCLE project, said: "Recovering gold and other materials from waste can save a huge amount of CO2 emissions compared to mining virgin metals." He believes that in 2019, a conservative estimate of $57 billion worth of recyclable materials was burned or dumped, a value greater than the GDP of many countries. According to the WEEE Forum, successfully increasing recycling rates requires the participation of everyone, including consumers. "Awareness of the problem is one of the main drivers for action on e-waste," said Magdalena Charytanowicz, a member of the WEEE Forum responsible for International E-Waste Day. "Therefore, on October 14th, we hope to reach as many citizens as possible around the world, raising awareness and advocating for the proper disposal of end-of-life electronic products through initiatives like e-waste collection, school workshops, and social media campaigns." "Consumers want to do the right thing, but they need to be better informed and have better access to infrastructure so that proper e-waste disposal becomes the norm." Pascal Leroy, Executive Director of the WEEE Forum, which organizes International E-Waste Day, said: "Many factors influence the efficiency and recycling of resources in the electrical and electronic industry, but one is particularly crucial: as long as citizens do not recycle, sell, or donate used or damaged products, we will continue to mine new materials and cause significant damage to the environment." The Brussels-based WEEE Forum is the world's largest and most influential non-profit international association of its kind, representing 45 producer responsibility organizations worldwide. Its goal is to integrate technical, business, and operational knowledge on the collection, logistics, decontamination, processing, preparation for reuse, and reporting of e-waste, translating the principle of extended producer responsibility into effective e-waste management policy approaches. In 2020, WEEE Forum member organizations reported that 2.8 million tons of electronic waste was collected, properly decontaminated, and recycled. This is a significant task, but only a small portion of electronic and electrical waste is processed. Source: Environmental Information Center (https://e-info.org.tw/node/232511)
