Only 20% of World’s E-Waste Was Recycled Last Year, Says ITU Report

Only about 20 percent of the world’s e-waste was recycled in 2016, said an ITU report released Wednesday with the United Nations University and the International Solid Waste Association. Nearly 45 million metric tons of e-waste were generated last year, an 8 percent increase from 2014, said the report. “Experts foresee a further 17 per cent increase” to 52.2 million metric tons by 2021, it said. The assessment “highlights the significant and growing risk to the environment and human health due to increasing levels of e-waste and its improper and unsafe treatment and disposal through burning or in dumpsites,” it said. The “positive news” is that more countries are adopting e-waste legislation, it said. The report estimates two-thirds of the world’s population last year was “covered by national e-waste management laws,” a “significant” increase from the 44 percent that was covered only two years earlier.