Global flows of e-waste 2019, by scenario
An estimated 53.6 million metric tons of electronic waste was generated worldwide in 2019. Of this total, just 9.3 million metric tons, or 17 percent, was documented to be collected and properly recycled. Meanwhile, some 83 percent of e-waste was not documented, meaning it most likely ended up dumped, traded, burned, or recycled in a non-environmental manner. An estimated 0.6 million metric tons of e-waste ended up in waste bins in European Union countries.