The multi-billion e-scrap market still on the rise

Worldwide – The global electronics scrap recycling market was worth no less than US$ 11 billion in 2014 – better yet – it will witness 7.2% growth between 2015 and 2022, according to a new report by Transparency Market Research.

There is an evident need for the recycling of post-consumer electronics due to the progressively shorter lifespan of such products in combination with stringent government regulations governing the collection and processing of electronic scrap.

At the moment, Europe is the largest market for electronic scrap recycling, so the report states. It adds that while large white goods were represented the lion’s share of globally generated e-scrap back in 2014, the biggest portion of the e-waste stream is now made up of small household appliances and all kinds of consumer products.

Strong government action and ‘huge profits’ generated through the recovery of precious metals from electronic scrap is expected to boost the revenues of the electronic scrap recycling market in Europe – and beyond – in the coming years. Precious metals are said to remain a ‘dominant’ presence in the industry during the forecast period.

However, it is stressed that high costs of advanced recycling methods and technical barriers to the smelting and refining processes pose a challenge to the market and may somewhat limit growth.