Europe fails on e-waste recycling

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Europe fails to recycle most of its electronic waste, according to a study for the European Commission by the United Nations University (UNU).

Despite producing over 10 million tons of electronic waste a year, just a quarter of medium-sized appliances and 40 per cent of larger appliances are collected for salvage or recycling. But smaller appliances, such as MP3 players, have a collection rate near zero.

The UNU's Ruediger Kuehr said: "The study suggests possible long-term collection rate targets of around 60 per cent for small appliances like MP3 players and hairdryers as well as for medium sized audio equipment, microwaves and TVs and 75 per cent for large appliances like refrigerators and washing machines.'

He said that hitting such targets would boost the harvest of e-waste from 2.2 million tons a year to 5.3 million. A study last week showed that millions of mobile phones are scrapped annually in the UK alone.

UN Under-Secretary-General and UNU Rector Konrad Osterwalder said: "Electronic products have a great positive impact on our lives. However, their increasing availability and affordability means that they also present a growing environmental problem, one we all personally need to address. The old saying 'reduce, reuse, recycle', applies particularly well to electronic waste."

The report noted that the environmental benefits are different for each type of product, so the authors recommended differentiated collection for each different category of e-waste, such as splitting higher value gadgets out from smaller appliances.

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