Electronic Waste (E-Waste)

Primary reference(s)

UNEP, 2019. Technical guidelines on transboundary movements of electrical and electronic waste and used electrical and electronic equipment, in particular regarding the distinction between waste and non-waste under the Basel Convention. (Version of 10 May 2019). United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Accessed 6 October 2020.

Additional scientific description

Electrical and electronic waste is classified both as hazardous waste and non-hazardous waste, according to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal (UNEP, no date a). It is categorised as hazardous waste when it belongs to any category in Annex I of the Basel Convention unless it does not possess any of the hazardous characteristics included in Annex III to the Convention. For example, e-waste is classified as hazardous waste when it contains toxic substances such as mercury, lead and brominated flame retardants (Basel Convention, 2020).

Besides containing recyclable and recoverable metals and materials such as gold, copper, nickel, silver, rare-earths and materials of strategic importance such as indium and palladium, e-waste can contain up to 60 different elements from the period table, including hazardous chemicals, of which some are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) listed under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (PACE, 2019).

Metrics and numeric limits

Classification of e-waste that can inform the metrics is provided in Annex I, (Y codes e.g., Y29) Annex VIII (List A of waste presumed to be hazardous e.g., A1180) and Annex IX (List B of waste presumed to be non-hazardous e.g., B1110) under the Basel Convention (UN Treaty Collection, 2019). For an exhaustive list of codes that can be used for transboundary movements of e-waste under the Basel Convention, it is possible to consult the E-waste Technical Guidelines (Basel Convention, 2011).

Examples of drivers, outcomes and risk management

While e-waste is one of the fastest growing hazardous waste streams globally (PACE, 2019), the findings from the Global E-Waste Monitor 2017 highlighted the low rate of electronic waste recycled globally (Baldé et al., 2017). By 2016, the world generated 44.7 million metric tonnes of e-waste and only around 20% was recycled through appropriate channels (Baldé et al., 2017). The World Health Organization reported in 2020 that global e-waste is surging and is up 21% in 5 years with a record 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste produced globally in 2019 – the weight of 350 cruise ships the size of the Queen Mary 2; USD 57 billion in gold and other components discarded – mostly dumped or burned (WHO, 2020).

E-waste dumping and open burning is driven and exacerbated by such factors as lack of a formal infrastructure ensuring proper decontamination, dismantling, recycling, recovery of items of economic value, disposal of electronic waste fractions, such as through open burning, poor incineration and use of acid baths for metals extraction, landfilling; lack of environmental protection measures and treatment standards; lack of policies, legislation or insufficient implementation and enforcement of relevant legislation; and illegal export and dumping (Baldé et al., 2017).

Electrical and E-waste can cause severe damage to human health through exposure to hazardous elements and informal recycling and the environment (Forti et al., 2018), through direct and indirect human exposure and through contamination of soil, groundwater and air.

Several health studies suggest effects from exposure to electrical and electronic waste, including adverse perinatal and neonatal outcomes and changes in behavioural and mental health disturbances (Grant et al., 2013; UNEP, 2018, cited in United Nations, 2019; PACE, 2019). Many POPs in electronic waste are also considered to be endocrine-disrupting chemicals (Grant et al., 2013).