Global quantities of e-waste are rising around five times faster than efforts to recycle e-waste, figures from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) show.

A record 62 million tonnes (Mt) of e-waste was produced in 2022, up 82% from 2010. This is forecast to rise another 32%, to 82Mt, by 2030.

With even low-cost electricals containing precious materials such as gold, aluminium and lithium, billions of dollars of valuable resources are squandered by the failure to properly collect and process e-waste.

Less than one quarter (22.3%) of the year’s e-waste mass was documented as having been properly collected and recycled in 2022, leaving $62bn of recoverable natural resources unaccounted for and increasing pollution risks to communities worldwide.

The move towards renewable energy and electric vehicles is drastically increasing the need for batteries. Currently, key elements such as lithium and cobalt are extracted from mines that inflict massive amounts of damage on...