In an article on The Conversation website, Rachida Bouhid, Ph.D Scholar, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) writes about the impact of industrialised countries sending millions of tonnes of waste products to the Global South. The problem arises when environmental costs and end-of-life responsibility are effectively transferred to the receiving country while the financing, regulation and … Continue reading The circular economy cannot stop at the border
Category: e-waste
Energy in Demand News, September 20-21, 2026
Multilateral development banks are under pressure from the United States to scrap climate finance targets. “The UN agreement to provide $1.3tn in climate finance is under threat, as multilateral lenders are expected to follow the World Bank in dumping green targets after intense US pressure,” the Financial Times reports. “At least two multilateral development banks, … Continue reading Energy in Demand News, September 20-21, 2026
Europe has the metals it needs — in its waste
In an article on The Conversation website, Nils Pauliks, PhD Candidate, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University, writes that Europe already possesses significant quantities of the critical metals it worries about importing—it is simply throwing many of them away. This is as much a resource-security story as a recycling story. Europe’s e‑waste is a … Continue reading Europe has the metals it needs — in its waste
How to minimise environmental impact when scrapping e-bikes
Yvonne Ryan, Associate Professor in Environmental Science, University of Limerick writes on The Conversation website on the need to focus on making e-bikes last longer and use less resources. E-bikes are becoming e-waste – here’s how to reduce the environmental cost Electric e-bikes make cycling easier, faster and more accessible. They are already playing … Continue reading How to minimise environmental impact when scrapping e-bikes
There is a lot of low-hanging fruit that the EU can pick when it comes to making waste rules more effective
Sam Morgan writes on the Engineering & Technology website about the current situation in the EU concerning e-waste and what can be done to improve effectiveness. View from Brussels: Make e-haste not e-waste EU efforts to collect and recycle electronic waste are among the most effective in the world but there is plenty of … Continue reading There is a lot of low-hanging fruit that the EU can pick when it comes to making waste rules more effective
Our laptops and smart phones have a terrible ecological footprint
Charli Shield discusses the environmental impact of our electronic equipment in an article on the Deutsche Welle website. Currently only 17.4 % of our electronic equipment is formally collected and recycled. Any good suggestions how we change this? The invisible waste behind our laptops and smartphones We tend to focus on household garbage as … Continue reading Our laptops and smart phones have a terrible ecological footprint
Record 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste dumped globally last year, says UN report
A record 54m tonnes of “e-waste” was generated worldwide in 2019, up 21% in five years. Worryingly, just 17.4% of the world's discarded electronics was recycled. Damian Carrington discusses the report in an article on The Guardian website. Surely these trends are not sustainable. What are your views? $10bn of precious metals dumped each … Continue reading Record 53.6 million tonnes of e-waste dumped globally last year, says UN report
Our throwaway society is unsustainable
Unrepairable phones and laptops are one of the scandals of our throwaway society. But the pushback is building – and the coronavirus crisis has added more pressure for change. John Harris explains in an article on The Guardian website. Planned obsolescence: the outrage of our electronic waste mountain ‘Imagine you showed someone a smartphone … Continue reading Our throwaway society is unsustainable
Start-up makes products from waste materials, then ensuring they’re recyclable when consumers have finished with them
Can you imagine that the gold medals at this year’s upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo will be made from e-waste? Well, they will be. Alex Lawson writes in the London Evening Standard about a business venture about closed loop manufacturing. What are your views? The duo using waste to take the climate change fight upmarket … Continue reading Start-up makes products from waste materials, then ensuring they’re recyclable when consumers have finished with them
Smart devices and the challenge for recycling
E-waste is a global problem, while the mining of fresh resources for electronics leaves devastation in its wake. And yet, the more cutting-edge our devices, the harder they are to recycle. Greg Norman discusses the issues in an article on the Deutsche Welle website. Smart devices score poor marks on recycling Tucked away inside … Continue reading Smart devices and the challenge for recycling
