Page 29 from: March / April 2018
E-SCRAP
Ever-g row ing vo lumes cha l l enge the b road e – sc rap recyc l i ng sec to r A Euro 50 million facility for Moscow; a 40 000-tonne facility for Dubai; a state- of-the art
plant for Hong Kong. Groundbreaking electronics recycling projects continue to pop up in
emerging economies around the globe. Indeed, evergrowing e-scrap volumes offer a great
business opportunity. At the same time, however, the sector is facing increased and com-
plex challenges, experts warned at the latest International Electronics Recycling Congress.
The numbers speak for themselves:
worldwide, some 45 million tonnes of
electronic scrap was generated in
2016, according to a new study from
the United Nations University (UNU).
This represents an increase of 3.3 mil-
lion tonnes or 3% over 2014, with fur-
ther growth of 17% to 52 million
tonnes predicted for 2021.
Boosted by ongoing urbanisation and a
rapidly-growing middle class, mainly in
Asia (China/India), electronics consump-
tion and e-scrap generation are expect-
ed to witness spectacular growth in the
coming decades, concludes the study.
With a population of 7.4 billion, the
world now has 7.7 billion mobile phones
and 8 out of 10 people now have mobile
phone access. In addition, some 3.6 bil-
lion people – close to half the world’s
population – use the internet, up from
20.5% in 2007. Almost half of the world’s
households have a computer (up from
30.2% in 2007) and 54% have internet
access (up from 23% in 2007).
LOW RECYCLING RATE
In addition to documenting these
impressive numbers, the UNU calls for
better laws and regulations to harmo-
nise and boost recycling. Currently,
‘less than 20%’ of the 45 million
tonnes of e-scrap generated annually
is believed to be properly processed,
concludes the report. ‘Only 41 coun-
tries quantify their e-waste generation
and recycling streams officially; the
fate of a large majority of e-waste – 34
million of the 45 million tonnes – is
simply unknown,’ it states.
The UNU advocates: better design of
the components making up electrical
and electronic equipment in order to
facilitate reuse and recycling; greater
capture and recycling of old equip-
ment; and better tracking of e-waste
and the resource recovery process.
WHO WILL BE THE WINNERS?
The importance of tackling these
major issues was endorsed by experts
speaking at the recent International
Electronics Recycling Congress (IERC)
29recyclinginternational.com | March/April | 2018
‘ANYONE INTERESTEd IN RECYCLING 15 000 COmpuTERS fROm
mExICO?’
‘In Mexico, millions of stocked used computers
are waiting to be scrapped, but so far no-one
has seriously worked on a sustainable solu-
tion.’ So says Rolando Gómez, an IT entrepre-
neur from Puebla near Mexico City who has
reluctantly taken up an involvement in e-scrap
recycling.
Gómez’s company Pissalab delivers computers
to government bodies and industries in
Mexico. ‘For every new installed computer, I
have to take back the old one,’ he told
Recycling International on the sidelines of the
IERC. ‘I have come here to meet e-scrap recy-
cling experts who can help me to get rid of the
stocked materials.’
In several warehouses around Mexico City, Gómez has stockpiled some 15 000 computers
and screens to date – and volumes are continuing to grow ‘very rapidly’, he said. ‘In Mexico,
in government buildings alone, some 3 million computers are replaced by new equipment
each year. Most of these used devices are either reused or end up at companies like ours.’
The entrepreneur estimates that ‘more than 10 million’ discarded computers are already out
there ‘having ended up in warehouses or dumped at landfills across Mexico’. The country
lacks a proper e-scrap recycling infrastructure – ‘at least for these massive streams of comput-
ers’, he added.
Shipping the computers out of the country to recyclers in Europe, Asia or elsewhere would
be ‘the obvious short-term solution’, Gómez continued. ‘However, when you look at it long-
term, it would be much better and for sure more sustainable to start processing at home
rather than transporting container-loads of computers to faraway destinations around the
globe.’
Therefore, Gómez is seriously exploring several options to set up a facility dedicated to the
recycling of computers. ‘In Salzburg, I have talked to several technology suppliers who would
be interested to help and get this off the ground,’ he confirmed.
Rolando Gómez.
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