A collection of studies highlight that the UK is on track to be the world’s largest e-waste contributor by 2024.

The UK is currently the second largest e-waste producer in the world, generating 23.9kg of waste per capita. Norway is the biggest e-waste contributor at present, generating 26kg of waste per capita, but UK e-waste is anticipated to rise as high as 55,000 tonnes annually by 2030.

e-waste refers to household and business waste electrical and electronic equipment, such as laptops, mobile phones and televisions.

A rise of 173 per cent

A study by Uswitch into the UK e-waste sector unveils some startling figures, signalling quite a bleak look ahead. According to the research, there were 19,053 tonnes of IT and telecoms waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in 2008, which increased to 52,008 tonnes in 2016; a rise of 173 per cent.

If the UK continues on current trajectories, it is likely to overtake Norway and become the world’s largest e-waste contributor by 2024. This has been made more likely by Norway’s recent strategies to actively reduce its e-waste, such as a “take-back” scheme that encourages businesses to correctly repurpose and reuse returned equipment.