E-waste: impacting environment and finances

Did you know in 2021, it is estimated that humans disposed of 57.4 million tonnes of e-waste? The waste outweighs the heaviest structure constructed, which is the Great Wall of China.

What is E-Waste?

E-waste is a technological and environmental problem that is threatening current and future generations. E-waste are the electric items that are just thrown away. Most of these items and their raw materials could actually be reused.

*Source: weforum.org

E-waste generated in 2021

Less than 20% of the e-waste, which can contain harmful substances, is properly collected, treated and recycled. More than 80% of the e-waste is disposed of in a way that could harm the environment and the current as well as future generations.

The WEEE Forum organizes International E-waste Day on the 14th of October every year. It is done to raise awareness regarding the effects of e-waste and encourage people to recycle.

The theme for the year 2022 is “Recycle it all, no matter how small!”. As per a UN report, in 2019, 22 million tonnes of small e-waste was generated. This represented approximately 40% of global e-waste at that time.

Countries producing the most e-waste

As per records of 2019, these are the countries that produced the most e-waste

The financial impact of e-waste

Apart from affecting the environment, e-waste also contributes to a lot of financial and resource wastage. Most of the materials used in creating these devices and equipment can be recycled. Raw materials like copper, gold and iron, with an approx. value of $57 billion is lost every year in e-waste.

As per a study, the e-waste produced in 85 countries equates to more than 1 billion phones! This would contain roughly:

By recycling e-waste, a huge amount of money and resources can be saved.

Listed companies in waste management

Following are a couple of companies that can benefit from the increased conscience for e-waste management

Republic Services, Inc. (RSG) is one of the largest listed waste management companies in the United States.

RSG has benefited due to the growing economy, which often brings about an increase in waste. The company provides services and solutions to ensure proper recycling and make waste disposal effortless, including e-waste.

The company has a market capitalisation of $41.10 billion while the stock is down 3.92% YTD as of 10th October 2022.

Clean Harbors, Inc. (CLH) is an environmental and industrial services company that provides service to the majority of Fortune 500 companies.

CLH offers e-waste solutions to its clients, including services like converting unwanted or unusable electronic waste to marketable materials.

The company has a market capitalisation of approximately $6.21 billion while the stock is up 17.83% YTD as of 10th October 2022.

Parting thoughts

While most electronics are now cheaper and easily accessible, you could actually help bring the prices further down. By using recycled materials, producers can save up on costs like the mining of raw materials. Recycled materials also tend to be more energy efficient.