It feels as if electronics were made to be thrown out every year, right? From mobile phones that just happen to die right when your contract is over, to televisions that become obsolete as soon as a larger, thinner version debuts. While the cost of constantly trying to keep up to date with the latest electronics is definitely steep on a household budget, there is a pretty hefty environmental cost, too, that comes along with E-waste.


Below are 10 facts about E-waste you should know :

  1. The United States produces more e-waste annually than any other country. The amount of electronics that Americans throw away every year is about 9.4 million tons.

  2. Recycling one million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 U.S. homes in a year, according to the EPA.

  3. A large number of what is labeled as "e-waste" is actually not waste at all, but rather whole electronic equipment or parts that are readily marketable for reuse or can be recycled for materials recovery.

  4. Only 12.5% of e-waste is currently recycled.

  5. According to the United Nations, 20-50 million metric tons of e-waste are discarded every year.

  6. The UN University estimates that global e-waste volumes could increase by as much as 33% between 2013-2017.

  7. E-waste represents 2% of Africa's trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste. The extreme amount of lead in electronics alone causes damage in the central and peripheral nervous systems, the blood and the kidneys.

  8. Cell phones and other electronic items contain high amounts of precious metals like gold or silver. Americans dump phones containing over $60 million in gold/silver every year.

  9. There are more mobile phones in existence than there are number of people living on Earth. Based on the number of active SIM cards in use, there are more than 7.2 billion mobile devices being used, while there are less than 7.2 billion people on the planet. The growth rate of mobile devices compared to the population growth rate is five times greater.

  10. Many major retailers will take e-waste for recycling, regardless of whether you purchased the product from the retailer or not. Among those stores accepting drop-offs are Staples, Verizon, and Best Buy. Always call ahead of time to confirm that stores will accept e-waste and what types of products they will recycle.

E-waste doesn’t have to mean ‘game over’. Educate yourself about e-waste and be a responsible citizen.