Consumers binning 'enormous' amount of recyclable TVs, phones, PCs

Billions of dollars worth of valuable resources are being dumped every year in the form of ewaste, according to new research. — Photo: Sebastian Willnow/dpa

GENEVA: Around 62 million tonnes of old or unwanted gadgets were thrown out in 2023, enough to circle the Earth in 40-tonne trucks packed full and parked bumper-to-bumper.

The volume of so-called ewaste, which includes mobile phones, TVs and vapes, is "rising five times faster than documented recycling," according to the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).