ITAD – the rise of a new circular industry
As we discussed earlier in this chapter, e-waste is the most significant growing waste in the world. As the volume of electronic waste in 2021 reached roughly 57 million metric tons, which is the equivalent of the weight of the entire Great Wall of China (Gill 2021), and projections for 2030 are reaching 75 million metric tons, this is a huge concern. In particular, manufacturing electronic equipment requires high consumption of resources and creates high greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, incorrect disposal or informal recycling leads to the release of highly toxic substances.
As we saw in the previous section, both the Basel Convention and WEEE Directive regulate the proper collection, documentation, and recycling of e-waste. It is worth noting that the WEEE Directive has also been widely criticized for falling short in several areas. This is primarily due to the lack of controls in place to promote the reuse and recycling...
