An investigation has been launched into the UK’s e-waste industry, looking at how it can create a circular economy for electronic goods.
Globally, 44.7 million tonnes of e-waste were produced in 2017, 90% of which was sent to landfill, incinerated, illegally traded or treated in a sub-standard way.
Europe and the US account for almost half of all e-waste globally, with the EU predicted to produce 12 million tonnes by 2020.
Government watchdog, the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC), says the use of electronic devices and equipment has boomed in recent years thanks to advances in technology, materials and software.
It says there are now more devices connected to the internet than there are humans on the planet, something that is predicted to continue – fuelled by rising consumer demand and decreasing costs.
It says this growth has led to a rapid increase in electronic waste (e-waste) and that the UK has an above EU average, producing 24.9kg of e-waste per person, higher than the EU average of 17.7kg.
We are missing EU targets and are one of the worst offenders for exporting waste to developing countries, who are ill-equipped to dispose of it in a socially and environmentally responsible way.
It says the UK one of the worst offenders for exporting waste to developing countries and it will now be looking at ways to implement a circular economy for electronic goods.
Despite the intrinsic value of e-waste, recycling rates are low and much of the world’s e-waste ends up in landfill, the EAC says.
It also says, while the technology to recover materials and metals exists, it is “expensive and under-utilised”.
Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee, Mary Creagh MP, said: “Our old fridges, freezers, computers, TVs, kettles and mobile phones are piling up in a ‘tsunami of e-waste’.
“New phone launches, cheaper goods, and built-in obsolescence have contributed to the growth of electronic waste in recent years.
“The UK produces more e-waste than the EU average. We are missing EU targets and are one of the worst offenders for exporting waste to developing countries, who are ill-equipped to dispose of it in a socially and environmentally responsible way.
“Our attitude to e-waste is unsustainable and the need for radical action clear.
“We will be investigating the UK’s e-waste industry and looking at how we can create a circular economy for electronic goods.”
A circular economy for electronic goods
The EAC will look at the challenges to recovering materials from electronic waste as well as what steps are being taken to move towards a circular economy in this area and how the UK Government can support this transition.
It will look at the environmental and human health risk from e-waste, as well as secondary markets and incentives to implement these markets.
The investigation will also focus on technology, targets producer compliance schemes and how “fraud” in the UK’s e-waste system can be addressed.
It will also ask questions about what actions the UK Government can take to prevent to the illegal export of e-waste to the developing world.
The e-waste issue
Electronic waste (e-waste) is hugely valuable, worth at least $62.5 billion annually, the equivalent of the GDP of Kenya.
This value comes from high value metals in electrical components such as gold, silver, copper, platinum and palladium.
Second-hand markets for products such as smartphones are well developed, however, the World Economic Forum has argued that there is “significant room for improvement”.
E-waste can contain up to 60 different metals and chemicals, some of which can be hazardous to human health and the environment, including contaminating soil, polluting water sources and entering food supply chains.
E-waste can contain up to 60 different metals and chemicals, some of which can be hazardous to human health and the environment, including contaminating soil, polluting water sources and entering food supply chains.
Crude recycling techniques in the developing world, such as burning plastic from goods to harvest the valuable metals, exposes workers to toxic substances and carcinogens leading to health problems.
A recent report from Agbogbloshie, Ghana linked toxins from e-waste to the contamination of chicken eggs with dioxins and PCBs.
Agbogbloshie is a scrap yard and slum where 80,000 residents primarily subsist by retrieving metals from e-waste, some of which originated in Europe.
Despite a ban on e-waste exports to developing countries, 1.3 million tonnes of undocumented goods are exported from the EU each year, according to the EAC.
In February, the UK was ranked as “the worst offender” in the EU by the Basel Action Network. Following the report’s findings, the Environment Agency closed down four illegal waste operators in the UK, the EAC says
The export of e-waste from developed countries to developing countries has been identified as a global challenge with some countries in Africa and Asia becoming key destinations for e-waste dumping.
The UN has called for binding agreements on the classification of waste and stronger national legislation and enforcement.
In May, countries were unable to reach agreement on proposals for sustainable e-waste management under the Basel Convention. These will be reviewed again in 2021.
