E-waste around the world: Inequalities and imbalances
Much like any other global issue, the problem of e-waste is one that is riddled with inequalities and imbalances.
(a) The global distribution of e-waste generated (kg per capita); (b) the percentage increase of global e-waste generated from 2014 to 2017 (Purchase et al., 2020).
The world’s production of e-waste is largely concentrated in Asia and North America. In 2019, Asia alone generated 24.9 Mt (5.6 kg per capita) of e-waste, as compared to just 0.03 Mt (2.5 kg per capita) that Africa generated (Forti et al., 2020). Naturally, the developed world generates more e-waste than the developing world, due to the availability of electronic equipment in developed societies.
Another trend can easily be spotted in Diagram B. Economies which are rapidly growing, such as China, tend to have a high percentage increase of e-waste generated in the recent decade. This is likely due to the sharp increase in electronic products required to facilitate such development processes in these places.
The global flow of e-waste exports (Purchase et al., 2020).
Subsequently, a few main patterns can be observed in the global flow of e-waste exports. Generally, e-waste flows from developed countries (which don’t always have the space to dispose of their waste properly), to developing countries, which are often exploited in this chain. Remember the previous post on the Khian Sea waste disposal incident? That’s exactly what continues to happen till this day, despite treaties and laws put in place to try and stop this from happening.
Even though e-waste is a global issue, it doesn’t affect all countries equally. This also poses specific challenges for us, should we wish to solve the problem of e-waste effectively and sustainably.
References
Forti V., Baldé C.P., Kuehr R., & Bel G. (2020). The Global E-waste Monitor 2020: Quantities, flows and the circular economy potential. United Nations University (UNU)/United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) – co-hosted SCYCLE Programme, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) & International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), Bonn/Geneva/Rotterdam.
Purchase, D., Abbasi, G., Bisschop, L., Chatterjee, D., Ekberg, C., Ermolin, M., Fedotov, P., Garelick, H., Isimekhai, K., Kandile, N. G., Lundström, M., Matharu, A., Miller, B. W., Pineda, A., Popoola, O. E., Retegan, T., Ruedel, H., Serpe, A., Sheva, Y., . . . Wong, M. H. (2020). Global occurrence, chemical properties, and ecological impacts of e-wastes (IUPAC technical report). Pure and Applied Chemistry, 92(11), 1733-1767. https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2019-0502.