Hong Kong and Japan Produce the Most E-Waste per Capita

Every year, October 14th marks International E-Waste Day, an event established in 2018 to raise awareness about the growing issue of e-waste and promote its recycling. According to the most recent data from the Global E-Waste Monitor, 62 billion kilograms of e-waste were generated in the world in 2022, and only 22.3 percent of that waste was collected and recycled.

As shown in our infographic, the quantities of e-waste generated per capita in Asia varied strongly depending on the country. While Cambodia generated approximately 25 kilotons of e-waste in 2022, which corresponds to 1.5kg of waste per inhabitant, Hong Kong generated around 161 kilotons, or close to 22kg per capita, which placed the region amongst the biggest producers of e-waste per capita in Asia. Japan was close behind, with around 21.2kg of e-waste generated per inhabitant that same year. E-waste is becoming an increasingly bigger issue worldwide: the amount of e-waste generated globally has increased by 2.3 billion kg a year on average since 2010.