UK lags behind other European nations in e-waste recycling

According to data from the UN’s Global E-Waste Monitor, just 30% of the 1.652 billion kg of e-waste generated by the UK is recycled. For comparison, Norway recycles nearly 74% of the e-waste it creates, while Holland responsibly tackles 59% of throwaway electronics.

“These figures are incredibly disappointing for a developed nation like the UK,” says Emma Armstrong, Sustainable Electronics Ambassador at In2tec.

“Throwaway electronics have a devastating ecological impact, ruin the health of waste pickers in developing countries, and waste rare earth elements like gold, aluminium, copper, and steel – and none of this is necessary.

“There is a solution to e-waste that combines economic and environmental viability – permitting the reuse, repair, and refurbishment of electronics.

“Many electronic components are designed for upwards of 25 years of life – but on average are used for less than four years. However, embracing tech products designed to be disassembled and modular can slash the consequences of e-waste cost-effectively."

Of the 62 billion kg of e-waste generated globally, just 13.8 billion kg, or 22% of e-waste is documented as formally collected and “recycled”, often meaning it is simply shredded and burned.

A total of 16 billion kg is estimated to be collected and recycled outside of formal systems in high- and upper-middle-income countries with developed e-waste management infrastructure, while 14 billion kg of e-waste is estimated to be disposed of as residual waste, the majority of which is sent to landfill.

The UN report also found recycling activities are taking only around 1% of the current demand for the recycling of rare earth elements and the market price for rare earth elements is still too low to support larger-scale commercial recycling operations, it said.

“The answer is circularity in the electronics industry, but for too long it has been seen as an impossibility at scale because of technical challenges, including the complexity of the construction of conventional printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs) and the limited repair, recycling, and reusability options they present,” Emma adds.

“Fortunately, there are significant economic benefits to repairing and reusing. The ability to gain undamaged and uncontaminated components for second-life use means they are both carbon-free and zero-cost, turning electronics recycling into an opportunity for profit and changing the e-waste liability into an asset.

“The UN’s GEM report underlines that if countries could bring the e-waste collection and recycling rates to 60% by 2030, the benefits – including minimising human health risks – would exceed costs by more than $38 billion.”

In2tec is working to slash the harrowing environmental and societal impact of e-waste and provide innovative solutions to the growing problem of throwaway electronics.

The company’s signature ReUSE and ReCYCLE comprise a closed-loop process allowing manufacturers to remove components from existing electronics at the end of their useful life and reuse them.

ReUSE is a series of materials, processes, and design principles used to manufacture printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs), while ReCYCLE is the ultra-low energy process for unzipping PCBAs – the foundation of nearly all technology – to the original bill of materials (BoM).

The technology's versatility allows global commercialisation and a vast reduction in the overall energy used to manufacture and process when it reaches its end of life – something that is not possible when using conventional PCBA processes or materials.