The United Kingdom is the world’s fifth largest producer of waste electrical and electronic (WEEE) devices, according to a new report from the United Nations University (UNU).

‘The Global E-Waste Monitor 2014: Quantities, Flows and Resources’ report reveals that the total amount of discarded equipment reached 41.8 million tonnes in 2014, with Northern European countries reportedly producing the largest quantity of WEEE (based on kilogrammes produced per inhabitant, kg/inh).

The UNU calculated the WEEE generated through a complex, seven-step methodology, which included selecting the relevant codes that describe EEE in the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System, extracting the statistical data from the UN Comtrade database, and ‘applying the ‘Sales – Lifespan Distribution’ method with empirical lifespan data. (However, the institute states that the figures for e-waste generated have some limitations as domestic production was not considered for countries outside the European Union, so was therefore ‘corrected with the statistical routines that detect and replace outliers’.)

It identifies that, in 2014, the 10 countries producing the most amount of WEEE in the world were:

1. Norway (28.3 kg/inh);
2. Switzerland (26.3 kg/inh);
3. Iceland (26.0 kg/inh);
4. Denmark (24.0 kg/inh);
5. UK (23.5 kg/inh);
6. Netherlands (23.2 kg/inh);
7. France (22.1 kg/inh);
8. USA (22.1 kg/inh);
9. Sweden (22.0 kg/inh);
10. Germany (21.6 kg/inh);

However, when looking at tonnages alone, just two countries – the US and China – discarded nearly one-third of the world’s total e-waste in 2014.

Conversely, developing countries produced the lowest amount of WEEE per capita, with Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Malawi, and Niger all producing 0.2 kg/inh.

WEEE make-up

The report also found that the bulk of global e-waste in 2014 (almost 60 per cent) comprised discarded kitchen, laundry, and bathroom equipment. By weight, personal information and communication technology (ICT) devices – such as mobile phones, personal computers, and printers – accounted for just seven per cent of WEEE last year.

More specifically, e-waste in 2014 comprised:

• 12.8 million tonnes of small equipment (such as vacuum cleaners, microwaves, toasters, electric shavers and video cameras);
• 11.8 million tonnes of large equipment (including washing machines, clothes dryers, dishwashers, electric stoves, and photovoltaic panels);
• 7.0 million tonnes of temperature-exchange (cooling and freezing equipment);
• 6.3 million tonnes of screens;
• 3.0 million tonnes of small ICT equipment; and
• 1.0 million tonne of lamps.

According to the report, these streams represented approximately US$52 billion (£34.4 billion) of potentially valuable and reusable resources (such as gold, palladium, and aluminium). However, less than one-sixth was estimated to have been ‘been properly recycled or made available for reuse’.

Report aims to help decision makers ‘plan for take-back systems’

Writing in the foreword to the report, the Director of United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, Kazuhiko Takemoto, said that the report aims to help decision makers, such as policymakers and the recycling industry, to ‘plan the location, capacity and technologies for recycling infrastructures’.

He writes: ‘As a whole, this monitor illustrates the size of the e-waste challenge, the management progress for establishing the specialized e-waste collection and treatment systems and the future outlook. The data and information can provide a baseline for national policymakers, such as governments, producers and the recycling industry, to plan for take-back systems. It can also facilitate cooperation around controlling illegal trade, supporting necessary technology development and transfer, and assisting international organizations, governments and research institutes in their efforts as they develop appropriate countermeasures. This will eventually lead to improvement of resource efficiency while reducing the environmental and health impacts of e-waste.’

Read the full ‘The Global E-Waste Monitor 2014: Quantities, Flows and Resources’ report.