Africa: Where Do 50 Million Tonnes a Year of Toxic E-Waste Go?

27 September 2017

Rome — Each year, the electronics industry generates up to 41 million tonnes of e-waste, but as the number of consumers rises, and the lifespan of devices shrinks in response to demand for the newest and best, that figure could reach 50 million tonnes this year, according to specialised studies.

Of all these tonnes of noxious waste, a staggering 60-90 per cent of e-waste -worth nearly 19 billion dollars- is illegally traded or dumped, often with the involvement of transnational criminal gangs, a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) research had already warned a couple of years ago.

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