According to the UN’s Global E-Waste Monitor, 62 billion kg of e-waste was generated in 2022, and this is expected to rise to 82 billion kg in 2030. In 2022 alone, e-waste contained 4 billion kg of metals classified as critical raw materials.
Unfortunately, the amount of e-waste is growing five times faster than the amount of electronics being recycled or reused. The enormous consumption of electronics combined with insufficient product reuse and material recycling is a major challenge — not least here in Denmark, where we throw away an average of 24.8 kg of e-waste per inhabitant per year. That is 40% more than the EU average and 210% higher than the global average.
“There is significant overconsumption and waste of resources, and it poses a threat to our shared future. The good news is that we can do something about it. We can make our electronics last longer instead of constantly buying new products, and we can prioritise buying reused products when we have the opportunity. Right now, it is very important that we sort our e-waste correctly, so it can be reused or recycled as quickly as possible. If we make these behaviours part of our everyday lives, we can reduce — and perhaps, in time, completely eliminate — the deep gap that currently exists between consumption and available natural resources,” says Morten Harboe-Jepsen, CEO of Elretur.
To raise awareness of the issue and remind people that e-waste must be sorted and collected so it can be handled correctly, International E-Waste Day (IEWD) is held every year on 14 October.
The theme for IEWD 2024 is “Retrieve, Recycle & Revive”. IEWD is organised by WEEE Forum and its members, including Elretur, all of which are non-profit organisations that manage producer responsibility on behalf of companies across Europe. WEEE stands for waste electrical and electronic equipment.
New figures from Statistics Denmark show that more than half of Danes leave their old phone in a drawer when they buy a new one. The same applies to 40% of Danes with their old tablet. At the same time, only 17% and 19%, respectively, hand in their phone or tablet for reuse and recycling.
In European households, there are on average 74 electronic products, excluding lamps, and a total of 700 million functional phones are stored — and perhaps forgotten — in drawers.
A major barrier to handing in old electronics is that the products may contain private information that people do not want others to access.
“You can safely hand in personal electronics in Elretur’s cages at recycling centres. If we assess that a phone or computer can be reused, it is wiped of data and prepared under highly controlled conditions that comply with GDPR rules. Alternatively, it is completely dismantled so the materials can be recycled. But this process can only take place if the electronics are handed in at recycling centres, and 14 October is a very good occasion to go through drawers and cupboards so the electronics can return to the cycle and create value,” says Morten Harboe-Jepsen.
Elretur is Denmark’s largest Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) for electronics and ensures responsible and cost-effective collection and handling of the electronic and battery waste handed in at recycling centres across Denmark.
Since 2017, the amount of reused electronics has increased tenfold. Elretur collects, registers and treats more than 80% of the e-waste in Denmark. Elretur recycles 84% of the products collected. This is above the EU average of 80%.
The aim is now to take the next step and increase product reuse. In 2024, Elretur therefore established two unique reuse facilities, in Roskilde and Middelfart.
The facilities have one purpose: to reuse and recycle as much electronics as possible. The objective is for the facilities to identify 60,000 electronic products each year — such as phones, computers and refrigerators — that can be prepared for reuse. In 2023, more than 70,000 tonnes of e-waste was collected at Danish recycling centres.
Hand in end-of-life or unused electronics at the recycling centre: Your old phone is not doing any good in a drawer. Neither is the blender that has been sitting in the cupboard for five years without being used.
Use your electronics for longer: Do you really need a new phone, or does it perhaps just need a new screen?
Buy reused electronics: Before you buy new white goods for the holiday home, it is worth checking whether you can find them reused with a two-year warranty.
A 2024 survey from Statistics Denmark shows that we are a little too good at storing old electronics in drawers — and that we can become much better at sorting our e-waste:
More than 50% keep their old mobile phone when they get a new one.
40% still have their old laptop.
40% of tablets are gathering dust in drawers.
16% keep their used desktop computer.
17% sort their old phone as electronic waste / for recycling.
19% do the same with their used laptop/tablet.
25% do the same with their old desktop computer.
There is good reason to send your e-waste back into the cycle.
Photo: WEEE Forum
Elretur is Denmark’s largest Producer Responsibility Organisation (PRO) for electronics and the country’s oldest, with close to 20 years of experience managing producer responsibility.
Elretur manages producer responsibility for electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) on behalf of more than 1,000 companies across a wide range of industries — producers and importers of electrical and electronic equipment and batteries — in Denmark.
Elretur ensures responsible and cost-effective collection and handling of the electronic and battery waste handed in at recycling centres across Denmark, and collects, registers and treats more than 80% of the e-waste in Denmark.
Since 2017, the amount of reused electronics has increased tenfold.
Elretur recycles 84% of the products collected. This is above the EU average of 80%. The aim is now to take the next step and increase product reuse. In 2024, Elretur therefore established two unique reuse facilities that will lift thousands of electronic products out of the waste stream and put them back on the market.
Elretur is part of Retur, a family currently consisting of four Producer Responsibility Organisations: Elretur, Emballageretur, Batteriretur and Tekstilretur, which manage producer responsibility for electronics, packaging, batteries and, in the future, textiles respectively. As a member of one or more Producer Responsibility Organisations under Retur, companies receive help managing their producer responsibilities in one place, as well as access to the combined knowledge, expertise and international network of the organisation.
Together, Retur is a one-stop shop for producer responsibility, and we work collectively to increase reuse and recycling. We do this to ensure that as many valuable resources as possible are lifted out of the waste stream and returned to the cycle — Retur to the future.
Contact: Camilla Falkenberg, Head of Press and Communications at Retur, mobile: +45 43 14 08 94 or email cf@retur.dk
Visit:
https://elretur.dk/iewd/