International E-Waste Day
14th October
International E-Waste Day was decided and adopted in 2018 by the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) Forum with the support of its members. The Day is aimed at raising awareness among the public about the impact of e-waste on the environment if not recycled properly.
The participation of 112 organisations from 48 countries, signaled the importance of this event since its second anniversaty on 14th October 2019. The celebration of this event included activities ranging from conferences to social media campaigns to educate people on this delicate theme and thus to act with responsibility.
It is important stressing that a record 53.6 million metric tonnes of electronic waste was generated worldwide in 2019 only, which is up 21 per cent in just five years, according to the UN’s Global E-Waste Monitor 2020 when last data was avaiable. It is estimated that by 2030 this amount of e-waste will reach 74 metric tones, and this is alarming for the consequences this e-waste can have on the environment. A mere 17.4 per cent of 2019’s e-waste was collected and recycled and this is very sad because we are also wasting resources which can be extracted from this waste. Consequences for not managing properly e-waste include tremendous losses to valuable supply chain materials.
Click the following categories to find events for the current year