Average household today contains 74 e-products such as phones, tablets, laptops, electric tools, hair dryers, toasters and other appliances (excluding lamps), according to a new global survey.
Of that 74 average total e-products, 13 are being hoarded (9 of them unused but working, 4 broken).
Mobile phones rank 4th among small products most often hoarded by consumers, according to the results of surveys conducted to reveal why so many households and businesses fail to bring waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in for repair or recycling.
The surveys were conducted from June to September, 2022 by the members of the
"We focused this year on small e-waste items because it is very easy for them to accumulate unused and unnoticed in households, or to be tossed into the ordinary garbage bin. People tend not to realise that all these seemingly insignificant items have a lot of value, and together at a global level represent massive volumes," said
"Providing collection boxes in supermarkets, pick up of small broken appliances upon delivery of new ones and offering PO Boxes to return small e-waste are just some of the initiatives introduced to encourage the return of these items," Leroy added.
Meanwhile, LED lamps rank tops the list of products most likely to be trashed.
Total global stock of mobile phones (in use and hoarded) is around 16 billion.
In 2022 alone, small EEE items such as cell phones, electric toothbrushes, toasters and cameras produced worldwide will weigh an estimated total of 24.5 million tonnes -- four times the weight of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
"These small items make up a significant proportion of the 8 per cent of all e-waste thrown into trash bins and eventually landfilled or incinerated," said
"These devices offer many important resources that can be used in the production of new electronic devices or other equipment, such as wind turbines, electric car batteries or solar panels - all crucial for the green, digital transition to low-carbon societies,"
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