Many household items contain valuable metals like lithium, gold, silver, and copper, but are not recycled.
Every year, consumers discard or store a large amount of unused electronic devices that contain essential raw materials for the transition to green energy, according to a report by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) published on October 12.
Toys, cables, e-cigarettes, and many other household items contain valuable metals but are not recycled. (Photo: Noel Celis).
Toys, cables, e-cigarettes, tools, electric toothbrushes, razors, headphones, and other household items contain metals such as lithium, gold, silver, and copper. The demand for these materials is expected to surge as they play an important role in rapidly developing green industries, such as electric vehicle battery production. In Europe alone, copper demand is predicted to increase sixfold by 2030 due to rising needs in key sectors like renewable energy, telecommunications, aerospace, and defense.
However, these materials are being wasted as this “invisible” waste is discarded or left to gather dust at home instead of being recycled. UNITAR reported that the global amount of “invisible” electronic waste reaches 9 billion kilograms each year, with raw materials inside valued at $9.5 billion, approximately 1/6 of the estimated total value of electronic waste in 2019.
“Invisible electronic waste often falls outside the recycling scope of waste handlers because it is not considered electronic waste. We need to change that, and a key solution is to raise awareness,” said Magdalena Charytanowicz, an expert at the Forum for Electronic and Electrical Equipment Waste.
More than 1/3 of invisible waste comes from toys such as racing cars, talking dolls, robots, and drones, with 7.3 billion items discarded each year. The UNITAR report stated that the weight of 844 million discarded e-cigarettes each year is equivalent to six Eiffel Towers. The research also found that 950 million kilograms of recyclable copper cable were discarded last year, enough to wrap around the Earth 107 times.
In Europe, 55% of electronic and electrical waste is recycled, but the global average recycling rate has dropped to just over 17%. According to Charytanowicz, the recycling rate has fallen to nearly zero in some areas of South America, Asia, and Africa, often due to a lack of collection points. Manufacturers have been responsible for collecting and recycling waste in Europe since 2005, most of whom collaborate with environmental agencies. However, the recycling rates are uneven, indicating that consumers still lack awareness and information, according to Guillaume Duparay, a member of the French non-profit organization Ecosystem.
