Interactive World E-Waste Map Reveals Jump to 65.4 Million Tons by 2017

The world's e-waste is growing by leaps and bounds. Now, scientists have created a forecast of the volume of end-of the life electronics. It turns out that the total amount of this waste will be around 65.4 million tons by 2017, jumping by a staggering one-third in just five years.

By 2017, all of the years' end-of-life refrigerators, TVs, mobile phones, computers, monitors and other products with batteries or electrical cords could fill a line of 40-ton tricks end-to-end on a highway straddling three quarters of the Equator. While most of these used e-products are destined for disposal, it will be crucial in the future to recycle and reuse these products and design better systems to do so.

In order to make these predictions, though, the researchers compiled data in a partnership called the "Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP) Initiative." More specifically, the scientists created a map that graphically portrays the e-waste problem. This interactive map presents comparable annual data from 184 countries and shows that the amount of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) put on the market and how much resulting e-waste is eventually generated.

"Although there is ample information about the negative environmental and health impacts of primitive e-waste recycling methods, the lack of comprehensive data has made it hard to grasp the full magnitude of the problem," said Ruediger Kuehr, Executive Secretary of the StEP Initiative, in a news release. "We believe that this constantly updated, map-linked database showing e-waste volume by country together with legal texts will help lead to better awareness and policy making at the public and private levels."

In fact, the new map database shows that in 2012 China and the United States topped the world's total markets in market volume of EEE and e-waste. In addition, China put the highest volume of EEE on the market in 2012-11.1 million tons followed by the U.S. at 10 million tons.

Yet these positions were reversed when it came to the total volume of e-waste generated per year. In the end, the U.S. had the highest figure of 9. Million tons and China generated the second highest e-waste total of 7.3 million tons.

The newest map brings light to a growing problem. As we continue to create electronics, e-waste is continuing to expand. It's important to start putting policies in place that can deal with this waste now and into the future.

Want to see the map for yourself? You can find it here.