Electronic waste generation worldwide stood at roughly 62 million metric tons in 2022. Several factors, such as increased spending power, and the availability of electronics, has fueled e-waste generation in recent decades, making it the fastest growing waste stream worldwide. This trend is expected to continue, with annual e-waste generation forecast at 82 million metric tons in 2030.

How much e-waste do people produce?

Globally, e-waste generation per capita averaged 7.8 kilograms in 2022. However, this differs greatly depending on the region. While Asia produces the most e-waste worldwide in volume, Europe and Oceania were the regions with the highest e-waste generation per capita, at 17.6 and 16.1 kilograms respectively.

E-waste disposal

In 2022, the share of e-waste formally collected and recycled worldwide stood at 22.3 percent. Meanwhile, around 48 million metric tons are estimated to have been collected informally, with 29 percent of this value being disposed as residual waste, most likely ending up in landfills. Due to the hazardous materials that are often used in electronics, improper e-waste disposal is a growing environmental concern worldwide.

Presence of various types of household electronic waste (eWaste) and disposal methods used in previous 12 months.

In 2022, 30 percent of e-waste generated in the Americas was documented as formally collected and recycled. Nevertheless, rates varied significantly across the continent; while more than 52 percent of e-waste was collected in North America (U.S. and Canada), in South America this figure stood below three percent. E-waste generation in the Americas amounted to 14.4 million metric tons that year.

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Electronic Waste Recycling Market Size 2025-2029

The electronic waste recycling market size is forecast to increase by USD 32.74 billion, at a CAGR of 21.6% between 2024 and 2029.

The market is witnessing significant growth due to several key factors. Stringent government regulations for electronic waste management are driving market expansion, as authorities impose penalties on businesses and individuals for improper disposal of electronic waste. Additionally, the increasing number of mergers and acquisitions among market companies is boosting market competition and innovation. E-waste contains valuable resources such as precious metals like palladium, gold, and silver, as well as plastics, glass, and other materials. However, a major challenge persists in the form of a lack of awareness about proper methods of e-waste segregation. This issue hinders the effective collection and recycling of e-waste, leading to inefficient use of resources and potential environmental harm. Overall, these trends and challenges are shaping the future of the market.

What will be the Size of the Electronic Waste Recycling Market During the Forecast Period?

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The market is experiencing significant growth due to the increasing production and disposal of electronic devices, driven by consumer demand for new technology and the durability of modern electronics. Recycling e-waste is an essential solution to mitigate the harmful effects of raw materials extraction and reduce the environmental impact of e-waste. E-waste collection and recycling are crucial aspects of e-waste management. E-waste facilities employ advanced technologies to recover metals and chemicals from discarded devices, including consumer electronics like smartphones, laptops, and tablets, as well as larger appliances such as medical equipment, washing machines, refrigerators, and air conditioners.
Product innovation in e-waste recycling processes enhances recovery rates and reduces recycling costs. Electronic manufacturers play a pivotal role in e-waste management by implementing take-back programs and designing products with durability and data security in mind. The recycling industry faces challenges in handling the growing volume of e-waste, ensuring data security, and maintaining high recovery rates. Despite these challenges, the demand for recycled metals as raw materials continues to grow, making e-waste recycling a promising market for investors and businesses.

How is this Electronic Waste Recycling Industry segmented and which is the largest segment?

The electronic waste recycling industry research report provides comprehensive data (region-wise segment analysis), with forecasts and estimates in 'USD billion' for the period 2025-2029, as well as historical data from 2019-2023 for the following segments.

Material

  Metals and chemicals
  Plastic
  Glass


Source

  Household appliances
  Entertainment and consumer electronics
  IT and telecom
  Medical equipment
  Others


Method

  Mechanical recycling
  Pyrolysis
  Landfill disposal
  Bioleaching


Geography

  Europe

    Germany
    UK
    France


  APAC

    China
    India
    Japan


  North America

    Canada
    US


  South America

    Brazil


  Middle East and Africa

By Material Insights

The metals and chemicals segment is estimated to witness significant growth during the forecast period.

The market is primarily driven by the metals and chemicals segment, which focuses on the recovery and reuse of valuable metals like gold, silver, and copper from consumer electronics. This segment also ensures the safe disposal of hazardous materials such as mercury and cadmium. The economic incentive to extract and reuse precious metals, coupled with the need to meet ongoing demand in electronic manufacturing, drives the growth of this segment. Strict regulations mandate proper disposal and recycling of toxic substances to mitigate environmental and health risks. Product innovation, consumer awareness, and waste reduction are other significant factors fueling the market's growth.

Electronic waste contains a wealth of raw materials, making recycling an essential part of the circular economy and digital sustainability. The recycling of electronic waste also reduces the need for new raw material extraction, contributing to economic growth and digitization while minimizing waste disposal and its associated environmental and health concerns.

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The metals and chemicals segment was valued at USD 5.12 billion in 2019 and showed a gradual increase during the forecast period.

Regional Analysis

Europe is estimated to contribute 41% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period.

Technavio's analysts have elaborately explained the regional trend

Sustainable management of electronic waste is critical to achieving a circular-economy and minimizing environment and public health risks. The objective of this study was to investigate the use of pyrolysis as a possible technique to recover valuable materials and energy from different components of e-waste as an alternative approach for limiting their disposal to landfills. The study includes investigating the potential impact of thermal processing of e-waste.Thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and differential thermogravimetric analysis (DTG) of e-waste components were used to better understand the mass loss characteristics of the pyrolysis process up to 700 oC. The changes in e-waste chemical components during pyrolysis were considered using Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry and X-ray fluorescence (XRF) techniques. The energy recovery from pyrolysis was made in a horizontal tube furnace under anoxic and isothermal condition of selected temperatures of 300, 400 and 500 oC. Critical and valuable metals were recovered from electronic components. Pyrolysis produced liquid and gas mixtures organic compounds that can be used as fuels, but the process also emitted particulate matter and semi-volatile organic products, and the remaining ash contained leachable pollutants. Furthermore, toxicity leaching characteristic profile of e-waste and partly oxidized products were conducted to measure the levels of pollutants leached before and after pyrolysis at selected temperatures. The results of this study contribute to the development of alternative approaches to practical recycling that could especially help reduce plastic pollution and recover materials of value from e-waste. Additionally, this information may be used to assess the risk of exposure of workers to emissions semi-formal recycling centers. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Sahle-Demessie, E., B. Mezgebe, J. Dietrich, Y. Shan, S. Harmon, and C.C. Lee. Material recovery from electronic waste using pyrolysis: Emissions measurements and risk assessment. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering. Elsevier B.V., Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS, 9(1): 104943, (2021).

(i) Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), also known as e-waste, such as computers, televisions, fridges and mobile phones, is one the fastest growing waste streams in the EU. WEEE include precious materials the recycling of which should be enhanced. (ii) The indicator is calculated by multiplying the 'collection rate' as set out in the WEEE Directive with the 'reuse and recycling rate' set out in the WEEE Directive; where: o The 'collection rate' equals the volumes collected of WEEE in the reference year divided by the average quantity of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) put on the market in the previous three years (both expressed in mass unit). o The 'reuse and recycling rate' is calculated by dividing the weight of WEEE that enters the recycling/preparing for re-use facility by the weight of all separately collected WEEE (both in mass unit) in accordance with Article 11(2) of the WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU, considering that the total amount of collected WEEE is sent to treatment/recycling facilities. The indicator is expressed in percent (%) as both terms are measured in the same unit. (iii) EU Member States plus the United Kingdom, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (iv)

Overview

The goal of this project was to create a structured dataset which can be used to train computer vision models to detect electronic waste devices, i.e., e-waste or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Due to the often-subjective differences between e-waste and functioning electronic devices, a model trained on this dataset could also be used to detect electronic devices in general. However, it must be noted that for the purposes of e-waste recognition, this dataset does not differentiate between different brands or models of the same type of electronic devices, e.g. smartphones, and it also includes images of damaged equipment.

The structure of this dataset is based on the UNU-KEYS classification Wang et al., 2012, Forti et al., 2018. Each class in this dataset has a tag containing its corresponding UNU-KEY. This dataset structure has the following benefits: 1. It allows the user to easily classify e-waste devices regardless of which e-waste definition their country or organization uses, thanks to the correlation between the UNU-KEYS and other classifications such as the HS-codes or the EU-6 categories, defined in the WEEE directive; 2. It helps dataset contributors focus on adding e-waste devices with higher priority compared to arbitrarily chosen devices. This is because electronic devices in the same UNU-KEY category have similar function, average weight and life-time distribution as well as comparable material composition, both in terms of hazardous substances and valuable materials, and related end-of-life attributes Forti et al., 2018. 3. It gives dataset contributors a clear goal of which electronic devices still need to be added and a clear understanding of their progress in the seemingly endless task of creating an e-waste dataset.

This dataset contains annotated images of e-waste from every UNU-KEY category. According to Forti et al., 2018, there are a total of 54 UNU-KEY e-waste categories.

Description of Classes

At the time of writing, 22. Apr. 2024, the dataset has 19613 annotated images and 77 classes. The dataset has mixed bounding-box and polygon annotations. Each class of the dataset represents one type of electronic device. Different models of the same type of device belong to the same class. For example, different brands of smartphones are labelled as "Smartphone", regardless of their make or model. Many classes can belong to the same UNU-KEY category and therefore have the same tag. For example, the classes "Smartphone" and "Bar-Phone" both belong to the UNU-KEY category "0306 - Mobile Phones". The images in the dataset are anonymized, meaning that no people were annotated and images containing visible faces were removed.

The dataset was almost entirely built by cloning annotated images from the following open-source Roboflow datasets: [1]-[91]. Some of the images in the dataset were acquired from the Wikimedia Commons website. Those images were chosen to have an unrestrictive license, i.e., they belong to the public domain. They were manually annotated and added to the dataset.

Cite This Project

This work was done as part of the PhD of Dimitar Iliev, student at the Faculty of German Engineering and Industrial Management at the Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria and in collaboration with the Faculty of Computer Science at Otto-von-Guericke-University Magdeburg, Germany.

If you use this dataset in a research paper, please cite it using the following BibTeX: @article{iliev2024EwasteDataset, author = "Iliev, Dimitar and Marinov, Marin and Ortmeier, Frank", title = "A proposal for a new e-waste image dataset based on the unu-keys classification", journal = "XXIII-rd International Symposium on Electrical Apparatus and Technologies SIELA 2024", year = 2024, volume = "23", number = "to appear", pages = {to appear} note = {under submission} }

Contribution Guidelines

Image Collection

1. Choose a specific electronic device type to add to the dataset and find its corresponding UNU-KEY. * The chosen type of device should have a characteristic design which an object detection model can learn. For example, CRT monitors look distinctly different than flat panel monitors and should therefore belong to a different class, regardless that they are both monitors. In contrast, LED monitors and LCD monitors look very similar and are therefore both labelled as Flat-Panel-Monitor in this dataset.
2. Collect images of this type of device. * Take note of the license of those images and their author/s to avoid copyright infringement. * Do not collect images with visible faces to protect personal data and comply w

The dataset "t2020_rt130" has been discontinued since 10/01/2023.

The dataset contains year- and state-wise total quantity of electronic waste (E-waste) which is collected and processed.

Note:

The blank cells in the dataset represent no data being reported by the respective states

Just 22.3 percent of electronic waste generated worldwide was documented as formally collected and recycled in 2022. Europe had the highest collection and recycling rate, at 42.8 percent. Many European countries export e-waste - often illegally - to developing countries. Several of these countries are in Africa, where the collection and recycling rate of e-waste was just 0.7 percent. In 2022, around 14 million metric tons of e-waste were estimated to be disposed as residual waste, with another 18 million metric being handled in low income countries with insufficient management infrastructure.

A current listing of NYS Registered Electronic Waste Recycling Facilities. Electronic waste types accepted vary from facility to facility.

E-waste generation worldwide has nearly doubled since 2010, from 33.8 million metric tons to roughly 62 million tons in 2022. Electronic waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams, with global e-waste generation projected to reach 82 million metric tons by 2030.

What makes up electronic waste? In 2022, small equipment, such as vacuum cleaners, microwaves, toasters, and electric kettles made up the largest share of global electronic waste generation, at more than 20.4 million metric tons. Another 15 million metric tons of large equipment waste was also generated that year. Although still accounting for less than one percent of e-waste generated worldwide, the growth in solar PV capacity worldwide has seen photovoltaic panels as a growing waste stream.

Where is electronic waste generated?

China is by far the largest e-waste generating country worldwide, with more than 12 million metric tons generated in 2022. In fact, Asia accounted for nearly half of all e-waste generated that year. Nevertheless, when it comes to e-waste generation per capita, four of the top five countries were located in Europe, with Norway leading the ranking at 26.8 kilograms per inhabitant.

Review of Regional E-Waste Recycling

The indicator is calculated by multiplying the 'collection rate' with the 'reuse and recycling rate', where:
• The 'collection rate' equals the volumes collected of WEEE in the reference year divided by the average quantity of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) put on the market in the previous three years (both expressed in mass unit).
• The 'reuse and recycling rate' is calculated by dividing the weight of the WEEE that enters the recycling/preparing for re-use facility by the weight of all separately collected WEEE (both in mass unit) in accordance with Article 11(2) of the WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU, considering that the total amount of collected WEEE is sent to treatment/recycling facilities.
The indicator is expressed in percent (%) as both terms are measured in the same unit.

The indicator is calculated by multiplying the 'collection rate' as set out in the WEEE Directive with the 'reuse and recycling rate' set out in the WEEE Directive; where: o The 'collection rate' equals the volumes collected of WEEE in the reference year divided by the average quantity of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) put on the market in the previous three years (both expressed in mass unit). o The 'reuse and recycling rate' is calculated by dividing the weight of WEEE that enters the recycling/preparing for re-use facility by the weight of all separately collected WEEE (both in mass unit) in accordance with Article 11(2) of the WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU, considering that the total amount of collected WEEE is sent to treatment/recycling facilities. The indicator is expressed in percent (%) as both terms are measured in the same unit.

Electronic Waste Management Market estimated size and share is projected to exceed USD 148.50 billion by 2034, with a forecasted CAGR of 9.5% during the period.

In 2022, roughly 14 million metric tons of electronic waste were documented as formally collected and recycled worldwide. Europe accounted for the largest share, at 40 percent, or 5.6 million metric tons. In contrast, in Africa, less than 30,000 metric tons were formally collected. Overall, only 22.3 percent of global e-waste generation that year was documented as formally collected and recycled.

A current listing of NYS Registered Electronic Waste Recycling Facilities. Electronic waste types accepted vary from facility to facility.

E-Waste Management Solution Market Outlook

The global E-Waste Management Solution market size was valued at approximately $49.7 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach around $104.2 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.6%. This market growth is driven by increasing electronic consumption, rising awareness about environmental issues, and stringent government regulations regarding e-waste disposal.

One of the primary growth drivers for the E-Waste Management Solution market is the rapid technological advancement and the resulting short lifecycle of electronic devices. With the advent of new technologies such as 5G, IoT, and AI, consumers and businesses are frequently upgrading their electronic devices, leading to a significant increase in electronic waste. Additionally, the growing consumption of electronics in emerging economies is accelerating the rate of e-waste generation, which in turn is propelling the demand for efficient e-waste management solutions.

Environmental concerns and stringent regulatory frameworks are also key factors driving the growth of the e-waste management market. Governments and regulatory bodies worldwide are implementing stringent laws and regulations to mitigate the adverse effects of e-waste on the environment. For instance, the European Union's Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive mandates proper recycling and disposal of e-waste, compelling manufacturers and consumers to adopt comprehensive e-waste management solutions.

Furthermore, the increasing awareness and responsibility among consumers and corporations regarding the environmental impact of e-waste is another significant growth driver. Organizations are increasingly adopting sustainable practices and investing in e-waste management solutions to enhance their corporate social responsibility (CSR) credentials. Moreover, various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and advocacy groups are actively promoting e-waste recycling and proper disposal methods, further driving market growth.

In addressing the challenges of e-waste, Production Waste Solutions have emerged as a pivotal component in the broader strategy of waste management. These solutions focus on minimizing waste generation at the production stage, thereby reducing the overall volume of e-waste that needs to be managed downstream. By integrating waste reduction techniques into the manufacturing processes, companies can significantly lower their environmental footprint. This proactive approach not only aids in compliance with stringent regulations but also enhances operational efficiency and cost-effectiveness. As industries increasingly recognize the importance of sustainable production practices, the adoption of Production Waste Solutions is expected to grow, contributing to a more sustainable e-waste management ecosystem.

Regionally, Asia Pacific dominates the e-waste management market due to the rising consumption of electronics, rapid urbanization, and increasing disposable incomes. The region's dominance is also supported by the presence of large-scale electronics manufacturing hubs in countries like China, Japan, and South Korea. In contrast, North America and Europe are also significant markets due to stringent environmental regulations and high awareness about e-waste management practices. Latin America and the Middle East & Africa are emerging regions with growing e-waste generation and increasing adoption of e-waste management solutions.

Component Analysis

The E-Waste Management Solution market is segmented by components into hardware, software, and services. Hardware components include specialized equipment required for the collection, sorting, and recycling of e-waste. The demand for advanced recycling technologies and machinery is increasing significantly due to the rising volume of e-waste and the need for efficient processing. This segment is expected to grow steadily as technological advancements continue to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of e-waste recycling processes.

Software solutions play a critical role in the e-waste management ecosystem by enabling efficient tracking, monitoring, and reporting of e-waste disposal activities. These software solutions are designed to facilitate compliance with regulatory requirements, optimize logistics, and enhance transparency throughout the e-waste management process. The integration of advanced technologies such as IoT a

India E-Waste Management Market is projected to reach USD 5,198.52 million by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 13.52% from 2024-2032.