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Learn Food loss and waste facts for kids

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Over 800 million people, most of which live in poor countries, do not have enough to eat. At the same time, so much of the food we produce in the world is wasted or lost. Given that how we produce food today has a huge impact on the environment, we should all be more mindful of what we eat and know that our choices affect people around us as well as our planet. Here are 10 interesting facts about food waste for kids to learn. -

1. We throw away almost one-third of the food we produce. That is more than 1 billion tons!

2. The food we waste is responsible for 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, way more than all the emissions we generate from flying and producing plastic!

3. Producing food requires a lot of water. To make one burger, we need almost 3,000 litres of water (or 660 gallons). This means that when you throw away one burger, you waste as much water as if you would shower for one and a half hours!

4. If food waste was a country, it would be the third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases after the US and China.

5. So many people around the world do not have enough food to eat on a daily basis. In fact, almost 800 million people are undernourished.

6. Just one-quarter of the food we currently waste could be enough to feed all undernourished people in the world.

7. The average European and North American throws away between 95kg and 115kg of food. That is almost the same weight as a giant panda! In comparison, Asians are doing much better, wasting 'only' 6kg to 11kg per person every year.

8. Fruit and vegetables are the most important food groups as they provide your body with a lot of very important nutrients. But they are also the type of food that is wasted the most. Every year, we throw away nearly half of the fruit and greens we grow.

9. Too often we throw away fresh produce because it looks "ugly". However, a bruise on an apple or a yellow leaf on our salad head does not immediately mean that we cannot eat them!

10. It might sound surprising but we actually do have enough food in the world to feed everyone! What is wrong is the way we distribute it and the food choices we make. It is important that we start to understand the impact that certain foods have on the environment to make better eating choices. Learning this while we are still young will make us more conscious adults in the future!

Check This Out Next: How Eating a Plant-Based Diet Can Help the Planet

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10 Food Waste Facts for Kids - Earth.Org Kids

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We should all be more mindful of what we eat. Here are 10 interesting facts about food waste for kids to learn.

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What Are the Causes of Food Waste? - The Environmental Literacy Council

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What Are the Causes of Food Waste? Food waste is a global issue of immense scale, impacting not only the […]

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Think about how many sweaters, scarves and other clothes were given as gifts this holiday season. How many times will people wear them before throwing them out?

Probably far fewer than you think. One garbage truck of clothes is burned or sent to landfills every second! The average consumer bought 60 percent more clothes in 2014 than in 2000, but kept each garment for half as long.

Gone are the days when people would buy a shirt and wear it for years. In a world of accelerating demand for apparel, consumers want-and can increasingly afford-new clothing after wearing garments only a few times. Entire business models are built on the premise of "fast fashion," providing clothes cheaply and quickly to consumers through shorter fashion cycles.

This linear fashion model of buying, wearing and quickly discarding clothes negatively impacts people and the planet's resources. Here's a look at the economic, social and environmental implications:

The Economics

According to the Ellen McArthur Foundation, clothing production has approximately doubled in the last 15 years, driven by a growing middle-class population across the globe and increased per capita sales in developed economies. An expected 400 percent increase in world GDP by 2050 will mean even greater demand for clothing.

This could be an opportunity to do better. One report found that addressing environmental and social problems created by the fashion industry would provide a $192 billion overall benefit to the global economy by 2030. The annual value of clothing discarded prematurely is more than $400 billion.

The Environmental Impacts

Apparel production is also resource- and emissions-intensive. Consider that:

Making a pair of jeans produces as much greenhouse gases as driving a car more than 80 miles.

Discarded clothing made of non-biodegradable fabrics can sit in landfills for up to 200 years.

It takes 2,700 liters of water to make one cotton shirt, enough to meet the average person's drinking needs for two-and-a-half years.

The Societal Impacts

Clothing production has helped spur growth in developing economies, but a closer look reveals a number of social challenges. For instance:

According to non-profit Remake, 75 million people are making our clothes today, and 80 percent of apparel is made by young women between the ages of 18 and 24.

Garment workers, primarily women, in Bangladesh make about $96 per month. The government's wage board suggested that a garment worker needs 3.5 times that amount in order to live a "decent life with basic facilities."

A 2018 U.S. Department of Labor report found evidence of forced and child labor in the fashion industry in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam and other countries.

Rapid consumption of apparel and the need to deliver on short fashion cycles stresses production resources, often resulting in supply chains that put profits ahead of human welfare.

So, What Do We Do?

So, what does a more sustainable apparel industry look like, and how do we get there? We're starting to see some early signs of an industry in transition. Business models based on longevity, such as Rent the Runway and Gwynnie Bee, are the beginnings of an industry that supports reuse instead of rapid and irresponsible consumption. Just as Netflix reimagined traditional film rental services and Lyft disrupted transportation, we are beginning to see options for consumers to lease clothes rather than buy and stash them in their closets. Ideally, an "end of ownership" in apparel will be implemented in a way that considers impacts on jobs, communities and the environment.

This is only the beginning of the radical transformation required. Apparel companies will increasingly have to confront the elephant in the boardroom and decouple their business growth from resource use.

To meet tomorrow's demand for clothing in innovative ways, companies will need to do what they have never done before: design, test and invest in business models that reuse clothes and maximize their useful life. For apparel companies, it's time to disrupt or be disrupted.

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By the Numbers: The Economic, Social and Environmental Impacts of "Fast Fashion"

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One garbage truck of clothes is burned or sent to landfills every second! This linear fashion model of buying, wearing and quickly discarding clothes negatively affects people and the planet's resources.

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Roughly 20 pieces of clothing per person are manufactured each year. Growth of the multi-trillion-dollar apparel industry has been fed by "fast fashion," which makes clothing cheaply and quickly with a low price-tag. These visuals illustrate why the apparel industry must embrace a new approach to sustainably meet demand in tomorrow's markets.

Increased Production and Consumption

Fast fashion uses innovative production and distribution models to dramatically shorten fashion cycles, sometimes getting a garment from the designer to the customer in a matter of a weeks instead of months. The number of fashion seasons has increased from two a year - spring/summer and fall/winter - to as many as 50-100 microseasons.

Fast-changing trends and low prices have allowed people to consume more. The average consumer is now purchasing 60 percent more items of clothing compared to 2000, but each garment is kept half as long.

Water Stress and Pollution

Cotton is the most common natural fiber used to make clothing, accounting for about 33 percent of all fibers found in textiles. Cotton is also a very thirsty crop, requiring 2,700 liters of water-what one person drinks in two-and-a-half years-to make one cotton shirt. In areas already facing water stress, cotton production can be particularly damaging. In Central Asia, for instance, the Aral Sea has nearly disappeared because cotton farmers draw excessively from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. (Check out WRI's Aqueduct tool to see where cotton production and water risks intersect.) Cotton farming is also responsible for 24 percent of insecticides and 11 percent of pesticides despite using about 3 percent of the world's arable land.

Water use and pollution also take place during clothing production. About 20 percent of industrial water pollution is due to garment manufacturing, while the world uses 5 trillion liters (1.3 trillion gallons) of water each year for fabric dyeing alone, enough to fill 2 million Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Climate Change

The carbon footprint of a garment largely depends on the material. While synthetic fibers like polyester have less impact on water and land than grown materials like cotton, they emit more greenhouse gasses per kilogram. A polyester shirt has a greater carbon footprint than a cotton shirt (5.5 kg vs. 4.3 kg, or 12.1 pounds vs 9.5 pounds). Polyester production for textiles released about 706 billion kg (1.5 trillion pounds) of greenhouse gases in 2015, the equivalent of 185 coal-fired power plants' annual emissions.

What's apparel's future?

Apparel spending is projected to grow tremendously. This is particularly true in Asia, as hundreds of millions of people in China and India enter the global middle class.

By 2030, there will be 5.4 billion people in the global middle class, up from 3 billion in 2015. We can expect increased demand for clothes and other goods that define middle-income lifestyles. If consumption continues at its current rate, we'll need three times as many natural resources by 2050 compared to what we used in 2000.

Assuming infinite resources in a finite world is not a sustainable business model. Beyond environmental concerns, unchecked consumption will undermine the world's economic and social goals. Some apparel companies will ignore those signals and continue with traditional take-make-waste business models. Others will embrace innovative new models that work within planetary boundaries and are a better fit for tomorrow's markets.

What to do?

Apparel is just one sector competing for natural resources, but it's important that clothing makers start transforming their business models now given the industry's strong growth trajectory. Many companies are aware of the environmental risks and are ready to act.

The first step is for companies to measure their environmental impacts and understand areas where they can improve. The Sustainable Apparel Coalition's Higg Index lets companies measure the environmental, social and labor impacts of their products and services, and work is being done on Science Based Targets guidance for the apparel industry.

Some companies are working to improve their resource efficiency. H&M and Zara, both purveyors of fast fashion, joined 33 other fashion companies in a pledge to increase their clothing recycling by 2020 and are collecting and recycling used clothing at many of their stores. Reformation, a smaller Los Angeles-based clothing brand that is gaining popularity, claims that it produces its clothing with far less water and emissions than typical clothing companies, and even publishes the spared water and emissions quantities on each product webpage.

The next step is to recognize that companies must do more than improve efficiency to sustainably meet demand in the years ahead. They must produce less stuff. Some companies have already acknowledged this and are testing new models, though these examples are still the exception rather than the rule. Patagonia's Worn Wear program offers a service to fix old clothes rather than only sell new ones. Companies like Mud Jeans, Rent the Runway and Gwynnie Bee are experimenting with rental models. Some companies, such as Zady's, are calling for a return to "slow fashion," promoting it as a key component to their business model.

To keep the apparel industry viable in tomorrow's markets, the issue of consumption must be brought to the forefront-and it must begin now.
Editor's note 1/16/2019: The sentence "A polyester shirt has more than double the carbon footprint of a cotton shirt (5.5 kg vs. 2.1 kg, or 12.1 pounds vs 4.6 pounds)" has been changed to "A polyester shirt has more carbon footprint than a cotton shirt (5.5 kg vs. 4.3 kg, or 12.1 pounds vs. 9.5 pounds)."

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The Apparel Industry's Environmental Impact in 6 Graphics

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Growth of the multi-trillion-dollar apparel industry has been fed by "fast fashion," which makes clothing cheaply and quickly with a low price-tag. Six graphics show how this trend and others can add to water stress, pollution and other environmental impacts.

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Clothing retailers like Zara, Forever 21, and H&M make cheap and fashionable clothing to satisfy the needs of young consumers. Yet, fast fashion has a significant environmental impact. According to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the industry is the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for about 10% of global carbon emissions - more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. Unfortunately, fast fashion problems are often overlooked by consumers.
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What Is Fast Fashion?

The term ' fast fashion ' has become more prominent in conversations surrounding fashion, sustainability, and environmental consciousness. The term refers to 'cheaply produced and priced garments that copy the latest catwalk styles and get pumped quickly through stores in order to maximise on current trends'.

The fast fashion model is so-called because it involves the rapid design, production, distribution, and marketing of clothing, which means that retailers are able to pull large quantities of greater product variety and allow consumers to get more fashion and product differentiation at a low price.

The term was first used at the beginning of the 1990s, when when Zara landed in New York. "Fast fashion" was coined by the New York Times to describe Zara's mission to take only 15 days for a garment to go from the design stage to being sold in stores. The biggest players in the fast fashion world include Zara, UNIQLO, Forever 21 and H&M.

The Dark Side of Fast Fashion

According to an analysis by Business Insider, fashion production comprises 10% of total global carbon emissions, as much as the European Union. It dries up water sources and pollutes rivers and streams, while 85% of all textiles go to dumps each year. Even washing clothes releases 500,000 tons of microfibres into the ocean each year, the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles.

The Quantis International 2018 report found that the three main drivers of the industry's global pollution impacts are dyeing and finishing (36%), yarn preparation (28%) and fibre production (15%). The report also established that fibre production has the largest impact on freshwater withdrawal (water diverted or withdrawn from a surface water or groundwater source) and ecosystem quality due to cotton cultivation, while the dyeing and finishing, yarn preparation and fibre production stages have the highest impacts on resource depletion, due to the energy-intensive processes based on fossil fuel energy.

According to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, emissions from textile manufacturing alone are projected to skyrocket by 60% by 2030.

The time it takes for a product to go through the supply chain, from design to purchase, is called a ' lead time '. In 2012, Zara was able to design, produce and deliver a new garment in two weeks; Forever 21 in six weeks and H&M in eight weeks. This results in the fashion industry producing obscene amounts of waste.

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Our non-profit newsroom provides climate coverage free of charge and advertising. Your one-off or monthly donations play a crucial role in supporting our operations, expanding our reach, and maintaining our editorial independence.

About EO | Mission Statement | Impact & Reach | Write for us

You Might Also Like: The 9 Essential Fast Fashion Statistics
Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact

1. Water

The environmental impact of fast fashion comprises the depletion of non-renewable sources, emission of greenhouse gases and the use of massive amounts of water and energy. The fashion industry is the second largest consumer industry of water, requiring about 700 gallons to produce one cotton shirt and 2 000 gallons of water to produce a pair of jeans. Business Insider also cautions that textile dyeing is the world's second-largest polluter of water, since the water leftover from the dyeing process is often dumped into ditches, streams or rivers.

2. Microplastics

Furthermore, brands use synthetic fibres like polyester, nylon and acrylic which take hundreds of years to biodegrade. A 2017 report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimated that 35% of all microplastics - tiny pieces of non-biodegradable plastic - in the ocean come from the laundering of synthetic textiles like polyester.

According to the documentary released in 2015, The True Cost, the world consumes around 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year, 400% more than the consumption twenty years ago. The average American now generates 82 pounds of textile waste each year. The production of leather requires large amounts of feed, land, water and fossil fuels to raise livestock, while the tanning process is among the most toxic in all of the fashion supply chain because the chemicals used to tan leather- including mineral salts, formaldehyde, coal-tar derivatives and various oils and dyes- is not biodegradable and contaminates water sources.

3. Energy

The production of making plastic fibres into textiles is an energy-intensive process that requires large amounts of petroleum and releases volatile particulate matter and acids like hydrogen chloride. Additionally, cotton, which is in a large amount of fast fashion products, is also not environmentally friendly to manufacture. Pesticides deemed necessary for the growth of cotton presents health risks to farmers.

To counter this waste caused by fast fashion, more sustainable fabrics that can be used in clothing include wild silk, organic cotton, linen, hemp and lyocell.
You might Also Like: How to Recognise Fast Fashion Brands and Which Ones to Avoid
The Social Impacts of Fast Fashion

Fast fashion does not only have a huge environmental impact. In fact, the industry also poses societal problems, especially in developing economies. According to non-profit Remake, 80% of apparel is made by young women between the ages of 18 and 24. A 2018 US Department of Labor report found evidence of forced and child labour in the fashion industry in Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Turkey, Vietnam and others. Rapid production means that sales and profits supersede human welfare.

In 2013, an eight-floor factory building that housed several garment factories collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 1,134 workers and injuring more than 2,500. In her project An Analysis of the Fast Fashion Industry, Annie Radner Linden suggests that 'the garment industry has always been a low-capital and labour intensive industry'.

In her book No Logo, Naomi Klein argues that developing nations are viable for garment industries due to 'cheap labour, vast tax breaks, and lenient laws and regulations'. According to The True Cost, one in six people work in some part of the global fashion industry, making it the most labour-dependent industry. These developing nations also rarely follow environmental regulations; China, for example, is a major producer of fast fashion but is notorious for land degradation and air and water pollution.
You might also like: The Danger of Sweatshops
Is Slow Fashion the Solution?

Slow fashion is the widespread reaction to fast fashion and its environmental impact, the argument for hitting the brakes on excessive production, overcomplicated supply chains, and mindless consumption. It advocates for manufacturing that respects people, the environment and animals.

The World Resources Institute suggests that companies need to design, test and invest in business models that reuse clothes and maximise their useful life. The UN has launched the Alliance for Sustainable Fashion to address the damages caused by fast fashion. It is seeking to 'halt the environmentally and socially destructive practices of fashion'.
You might also like: What Is Slow Fashion and How Can You Join the Movement?
One way that shoppers are reducing their consumption of fast fashion is by buying from secondhand sellers like ThredUp Inc. and Poshmark, both based in California, USA; shoppers send their unwanted clothes to these websites and people buy those clothes at a lower price than the original. Another solution is renting clothes, like the US-based Rent the Runway and Gwynnie Bee, the UK based Girl Meets Dress, and the Dutch firm Mud Jeans that leases organic jeans which can be kept, swapped or returned.

Other retailers like Adidas are experimenting with personalised gear to cut down on returns, increase customer satisfaction and reduce inventory. Ralph Lauren has announced that it will use 100% sustainably-sourced key materials by 2025.

Governments need to be more actively involved in the fashion industry's damaging effects. UK ministers rejected a report by members of parliament to address the environmental effects of fast fashion. On the other hand, French president, Emmanuel Macron has made a pact with 150 brands to make the fashion industry more sustainable.
Featured image by EO Photographer Chin Leong Teo
The best advice on reducing the environmental impact of fast fashion comes from Patsy Perry, senior lecturer in fashion marketing at the University of Manchester, who says, "Less is always more."

This story is funded by readers like you

Our non-profit newsroom provides climate coverage free of charge and advertising. Your one-off or monthly donations play a crucial role in supporting our operations, expanding our reach, and maintaining our editorial independence.

About EO | Mission Statement | Impact & Reach | Write for us

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Fast Fashion: Its Detrimental Effect on the Environment

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Fast fashion has a massive environmental impact, it is the second-biggest consumer of water and is responsible for nearly 10% of global carbon emissions.

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The extremely -detrimental impact of fast fashion waste on the environment is no news. Besides being responsible for nearly 10% of global carbon emissions, the industry is also infamously known for the amount of resources it wastes and the millions of clothes ending up in landfills every day. Here are 10 highly concerning statistics about textile waste.
10 Statistics About Fast Fashion Waste

1. 92 million tonnes of textiles waste is produced every year

Of the 100 billion garments produced each year, 92 million tonnes end up in landfills. To put things in perspective, this means that the equivalent of a rubbish truck full of clothes ends up on landfill sites every second . If the trend continues, the number of fast fashion waste is expected to soar up to 134 million tonnes a year by the end of the decade.

2. The apparel industry's global emissions will increase by 50% by 2030

If a business-as-usual scenario prevails in the coming years - meaning that no action is taken to reduce fast fashion waste - the industry's global emissions will likely double by the end of the decade.

3. The average US consumer throws away 81.5lbs of clothes every year

In America alone, an estimated 11.3 million tons of textile waste - equivalent to 85% of all textiles - end up in landfills on a yearly basis. That's equivalent to approximately (37 kilograms) per person per year and around 2,150 pieces per second countrywide.

4. The number of times a garment is worn has declined by around 36% in 15 years

The throwaway culture has worsen progressively over the years. At present, many items are worn only seven to ten times before being tossed. That's a decline of more than 35% in just 15 years.

5. The fashion industry is responsible for 20% of global waste water

Dyeing and finishing - the processes by which colour and other chemicals are applied to fabrics - are responsible for 3% of global CO2 emissions as well as over 20% of global water pollution. Along with yarn preparation and fibre production, these two processes have the highest impacts on resource depletion , due to the energy-intensive processes based on fossil fuel energy.

6. It takes 20,000 litres of water to produce one kilogram of cotton

Besides being a huge source of water pollution, fast fashion also contributes to massive quantities of water being wasted every day. If this is difficult to picture, just think that about 2,700 litres of water are needed to make just one t-shirt, which would be enough for one person to drink for 900 days. Moreover, a single load of washing uses between 50 and 60 litres of water.
You might also like: Is Hong Kong's Avant-Garde Textile Recycling Facility a Real Solution to Fast Fashion Problems?
7. $500 billion is lost each year because of under-wearing and failure to recycle clothes

The worst aspect of our reckless thrown-away culture is that the vast majority of clothes being tossed each year is not recycled. Globally, just 12% of the material used for clothing ends up being recycled. Much of the problem comes down to the materials our clothes are made from and inadequate technologies to recycle them. "The fabrics we drape over our bodies are complex combinations of fibres, fixtures and accessories. They are made from problematic blends of natural yarns, man-made filaments, plastics and metals."

8. Nearly 10% of microplastics dispersed in the ocean each year come from textiles

Garments are a huge source of microplastics because so many are now made of nylon or polyester, both durable and cheap. Each wash and dry cycle, especially the latter, sheds microfilaments that move through our sewage systems and end up in waterways. It is estimated that half a million tons of these contaminants reach the ocean each year. That's the equivalent to the plastic pollution of more than 50 billion bottles.

9. 2.6 million tonnes of returned clothes ended up in landfills in 2020 in the US alone

Most of the items returned to retailers from consumers end up in landfill. This is mainly because it costs more to the company to put them back in circulation than to get rid of them. Reverse logistics company Optoro also estimates that in the same year, 16 million tonnes of CO2 emissions were created by online returns in the US in 2020 - the equivalent to the emissions of 3.5 million cars on the road for a year.

10. Fast fashion brands are producing twice the amount of clothes today than in 2000

This dramatic increase in production has also caused an increase in both pre- and post-production textile waste . Due to the number of cut outs for the clothing, a large number of materials get wasted as they cannot be used any further, with one study estimating that 15% of fabric used in garment manufacturing is wasted. Post-production, 60% of approximately 150 million garments produced globally in 2012 were discarded just a few years after production.

What Can I Do?

1. On A Personal Level

Ways to approach climate action within our personal lives (hint - it evolves personal action but is not focused on small behavioural changes, which whilst worthwhile will not get us there):

Joining a community can be one of the best ways to increase your impact.

First, it can enable you to make hundreds of connections in one go.

Second, a group of people working together can have more impact than individuals. If you are not already, take action by becoming an to support our mission to encourage a billion climate activists.

If you're a younger read ask your parents to take action by bringing your whole family on board as a Family Member.

Reflect on the concept of Effective Altruism , a project that aims to find the best ways to help others, and put them into practice.

Ways to approach climate action within the workplace:

Maintain your career path but consider donating a portion of your income to organisations that are focused on achieving meaningful & impactful goals and call out your boss if the company or organisation you work for does not have clear policies that will result in reduced harm to the environment and a pathway to Net Zero.

Ask your boss to support EO by bringing the whole team onboard with EO company membership - and take action together.

Reconsider your career path, with excellent advice .

Research for this article was conducted by Earth.Org research contributor Chloe Lam You might also like: Fast Fashion and Its Environmental Impact
3. On A Political Level

Ways to approach climate action as a voter or political actor (even if you can't vote):

Protest - make your feelings known - become a vocal and passionate advocate with friends and family (without being over pushy) of the need for climate action. We need a billion activists to turn this ship around.

Join organisations that are organising climate actions and protests locally, whether in your city, district, or even at school.

Vote (if you can) for politicians who will champion effective climate action by governments.

Vote for parties or organisations that espouse self-reform and the adoption of ' Ministers of the Future ' into government.

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10 Concerning Fast Fashion Waste Statistics | Earth.Org

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Besides being responsible for nearly 10% of global carbon emissions, the fashion industry is also infamously known for the amount of resources it wastes and the trash it produces. Here are 10 highly concerning statistics about fast fashion waste.

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400-fold increase in hazardous waste generationAlmost 60 kg of hazardous waste is generated a year for every single person in the world - and the amount i…

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7 Tips to Rid Your Home of Hazardous Household Waste

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No matter how hard we may try, every home still produces hazardous household waste. Safe disposal should be our top priority.

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Charissa Van Straalen / EyeEm/EyeEm/GettyImages

Hazardous waste refers to discarded waste materials that are harmful to human health or the environment, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act defines the term "hazardous waste" based on chemical characteristics or as wastes specifically listed in the regulations. Hazardous waste is created, or more precisely solid waste is classified, as different types of hazardous waste if it meets certain regulatory criteria. Hazardous waste may be sourced from materials used by industry or individuals.

Hazardous Waste Sites

Hazardous Waste Sites

In contrast to the above types of hazardous waste, the term "hazardous waste site" refers to the polluted subsurface environment rather than discarded and toxic solid wastes. A hazardous waste site can be caused by an uncontrolled release of pollutants from an abandoned facility or an industrial, commercial or dump site. Regardless of the original waste released into the environment, the soil or water removed during cleanup from a hazardous waste site will be analyzed for hazardous characteristics. Depending on the value of its hazardous characteristics, the waste soil and water may be classified as hazardous waste, in addition to being removed from a polluted hazardous waste site.

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Hazardous waste refers to discarded waste materials that are harmful to human health or the environment, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Hazardous waste is waste with properties that make it hazardous or capable of having a harmful effect on human health or the environment. It ranges from industrial manufacturing process waste to domestic items such as batteries.

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PPE and the Planet - Disposing of Medical Waste During COVID

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Paper is a popular material used in our daily domestic and working lives even as we move to a more digital world. We still produce and use more than 414 million tonnes of paper every year. This includes everything from printing and writing paper to envelopes, toilet paper, and paperboard.

There are many benefits of paper as it's from a renewable resource, is sustainable, and can be recycled several times. Almost all paper comes from trees, so planting new ones helps contribute to a circular economy. However, responsible recycling and disposal of paper waste is essential for this to happen.

Unfortunately, not all waste paper is recycled and discarded properly. Find out more about how much paper we use and throw away with these paper waste facts and statistics.

Examples of paper waste

Any items you no longer need made from paper are examples of paper waste. This could be a takeaway menu you're throwing out at home, old client documents that need shredding at work, or scrap paper your pupils have been drawing on at school. Another example of waste paper is mill broke - trimmings and offcuts of paper from the manufacturing process.

Some more common examples of waste paper are:

What causes paper waste?

Businesses are a big cause of paper waste. Around 50% of all waste that businesses produce is paper. This is due to factors such as printing errors, disposing of company documents, and throwing away packaging from deliveries. Some of it is unavoidable but other causes like errors can be reduced with effective action.

Households throw away lots of waste paper as well. This includes junk mail, bills and letters, packaging, writing, and drawing paper. Manufacturing paper products also creates some level of waste due to offcuts and trimmings. However, this is normally recycled and reused at the mill to create new paper-based items.

How to reduce paper waste

Paper waste statistics

There are loads of stats and facts about paper waste and recycling out there. To help you see the wood for the trees we've compiled some of the most relevant ones here and filed them under different sections. Explore these general paper waste statistics:

The world produces more than 414 million metric tonnes of paper every year

42% of global wood harvest is used to create paper

About 4 billion trees are cut down for the annual global paper supply

93% of paper comes from trees

24 trees are used to make one tonne of paper

Five litres of water are required to make one sheet of A4 paper

Around 26% of waste in landfill worldwide is paper - despite most paper waste being recyclable

About 50% of business waste is paper products

Producing recycled paper uses 30% less energy than making new paper

Recycling one tonne of paper can save 17 trees

It also saves between 3000 to 4000 kWh of electricityand around 30,000 litres of water - enough to sustain an average three-bedroomed house for a year

Most paper is recyclable between five and seven times

UK paper waste statistics

Paper is a popular product in the UK and the country has a good recycling for it compared to other materials. Understand how much we use and dispose of in businesses and homes across the country with these paper waste facts and statistics for the UK:

10 million tons of paper are used and disposed of in the UK annually

Around 20% of all UK waste is paper

The number of trees needed to create all the paper we use in the UK would cover an area of 21,000 square km - almost the size of Wales

Almost 4 million tonnes of packaging waste in the UK are made from paper and cardboard

8 million tonnes of paper packaging waste are recycled in the UK

According to government statistics, the UK has a recycling rate of 70.6% for paper and cardboard collected from households

It's estimated that around 5 million tonnes of paper end up in UK landfill sites every year

Which countries recycle
the most paper?

Working out which country recycles the most paper isn't straightforward as the materials can overlap with other waste types. For example, packaging waste recycling figures include plenty of paper products. There are also differences between the amount of paper collected and recycled from households and businesses.

Paper is recycled an average of 3.8 times in Europe, which is higher than the global average of 2.4 times. The continent leads the way for paper recycling rates, but the USA isn't far behind as it recycles 68% of waste paper. The countries with the best paper recycling rates are:

Germany - 74%

Sweden - 71%

Norway - 70%

UK - 70%

Japan - 68%

Office paper waste facts

There's been a noticeable decline in printing within offices as we transition to a more digital world, which means less paper is wasted. However, offices are still a big source of waste paper due to printing, photocopying, storing documents, packaging materials, and general daily work. Find out more with these office paper waste facts and stats:

Around 70% of the total waste created by offices is paper

An average office uses 50 sheets of paper a day through unnecessary printing

30% of printed papers in offices are never picked up

About 75% of sheets used in offices end up in the paper recycling bin

Office workers get through around 10,000 sheets of A4 paper every year

One sheet of A4 paper requires five litres of water to produce, which means about 50,000 litres are used by office workers annually just for paper

Offices in the USA get through around 12 trillion sheets of paper annually

Office waste management

School paper waste statistics

Schools across the world are a big source of waste paper. Think of all the exercise books, worksheets, letters, posters, and other resources used in classrooms. At the end of the term or year, most of these are thrown away. Educational establishments still get through mountains of paper even as schools become more tech-focused.

Swot up on these school paper waste statistics to see how much recycling pupils and teachers could do:

At least a quarter of every school bin is filled with paper that can easily be recycled

The average primary school student produces about 45kg of waste paper

Every secondary school student creates around 22kg of paper waste

Schools in the USA use up to 32 billion sheets of paper a year

Around one million sheets of paper are used per school, per year in the UK

About £60,000 is spent on photocopying by schools

One study found 80% of staff working in education admit the sector has the most trouble reducing its paper use

Toilet paper waste facts

Traditional toilet paper was only invented in the late 19 th century in Albany, New York by Seth Wheeler. Since then it's become common in bathrooms across the world. Today it's estimated the average person flushes away the equivalent of 384 trees' worth of toilet paper in their lifetime.

Explore some more toilet paper waste facts:

42 million tons of toilet paper are used globally each year

Across the world, we get through around 184 billion rolls of toilet paper annually

All the toilet paper in the world laid out is roughly 22 billion kilometres long - 50,000 times the Earth's circumference

Around 10% of paper discarded daily is toilet paper

It takes nearly 700g of wood and3 kilowatt/hours (KWh) of electricity to make just one toilet roll

Producing all the toilet paper the world uses requires 712 million trees, 1,165 million tonnes of water, and 78 million tonnes of oil

On average everyone gets through 100 rolls of toilet paper per year - more than 20,000 sheets annually

Americans use the most toilet paper in the world and wipe their way through 34 million rolls a day

Paper waste statistics at home

Households across the UK generate lots of waste paper every day. Most homes can simply place clean and dry paper in their domestic recycling bins. This includes everything from envelopes and leaflets to packaging materials and scrap paper. Discover some fascinating domestic waste paper statistics:

The average family in the UK throws out the equivalent of six trees worth of paper every year

The average person gets through 38kg of newspapers each year

All newspapers produced in the UK are made from 100% recycled paper

4 million tonnes of junk mail go to landfill annually

The UK's third-highest recycling rate is for paper - after metal and glass respectively

How should I get rid
of my waste paper?

You can responsibly get rid of most waste paper at home by placing it in your household recycling bin if it's clean and dry. Most local councils and authorities accept paper in domestic bins, bags, or containers. If you've got lots of scrap paper you can also take it to your nearby household waste recycling centre (HWRC).

Businesses must arrange commercial waste collection of any paper. This involves separating and storing paper away from any other waste materials and booking removal by licensed waste carriers. They'll transport it to a recycling facility for sorting, processing, and recycling.

At Business Waste we can provide free paper bins for your organisation anywhere in the UK - you just pay for collection. You'll receive a free duty of care certificate confirming the safe, legal, and responsible disposal of the paper. Call 0800 211 8390 or contact us online today for a free no-obligation quote for commercial paper waste collection.

Learn about paper recycling

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More than 400 million metric tons of paper is produced every year but it's not all recycled. Find out more with these paper waste facts and statistics.

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We may seem to have made progress ditching paper for the digital world, but if paper wastage facts are anything to go by, it is still very much a part of our lives.

Paper is still convenient, but that convenience comes with a lot of environmental effects. Paper accounts for about 26% of total waste at landfills, it causes deforestation, air pollution, and waste problems.

Paper Wastage Facts

Let's look at some paper wastage facts:

1. You can save 17 trees if you recycle one ton of paper

Recycling paper facts show that recycling a ton of paper saves 17 trees, 7,000 gallons of water, three cubic yards of landfill space, 60 pounds of air pollutants, and saves enough energy to power an average home for six months.

2. Only half the amount of paper produced is recycled

Only about 200 million metric tons of paper produced each year is recycled. This is about half the amount of the total amount of paper produced.

3. Deforestation us worse than transportation

Deforestation causes more climate change emissions than global transport.

4. 6 trees per family

According to paper consumption facts, the average family uses 6 trees worth of paper each year.

5. Paper wastage accounts for 16% of landfill solid waste

Paper waste statistics show that paper waste makes up 16% of landfill solid waste (26 million metric tons).

Related article: Zero Waste Lifestyle

6. Paper production is the third most energy-intensive process

Making a ton of paper from wood requires 98 000 kilograms of other resources. This makes paper production the third most energy-intensive of all manufacturing industries.

7. Paper is one of the biggest polluters

30% - 40% percent of municipal waste is paper while 50% of office waste landing in landfills is paper.

8. Americans and Europeans use the most paper

North Americans and Europeans use more than 200 kg of paper each per year.

9. 7% of office paper waste is recyclable

The average American office worker uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper every year. 77% of this office paper waste is recyclable.

Related article: Electronic Waste Statistics

10. Recycling a piece of paper only causes 5% of the pollution

Paper pollution facts reveal that only 5% of pollution is caused when recycling a piece of paper and saves about 50% of the amount of energy that is needed to create a new paper.

11. The junk mail industry destroys about 100 million trees annually

Every year, the junk mail industry destroys approximately 100 million trees. Every year, American households receive a total of 104.7 billion pieces of junk mail, which requires 6.5 million metric tons of paper.

12. Too much paper wasted over the holidays

Paper waste facts show that an estimated 2.6 billion holiday cards are sold each year in the U.S. These cards can fill a football field 10 stories high.

Related article: 10 Shocking Facts About Waste to Inspire You to Live More Sustainably

13. 500,000 trees are required to produce each week's Sunday newspapers

To produce each week's Sunday newspapers, 500,000 trees must be cut down. If we were to recycle all our newspaper about 250,000,000 trees could be saved each year!

14. A supermarket uses 6 million paper bags per year

Paper wastage statistics indicate that a single supermarket can use over 6 million paper bags each year.

15. High-grade paper is the most wasted type of paper

High-grade paper is of very good quality and would be quite useful if recycled. However, it is often thrown straight into the trash instead of the recycling box.

16. You can't recycle receipts

Receipts are not recyclable or compostable because they are coated with BPA. don't ask for a receipt if you don't need one.

17. You cannot recycle parchment paper

Parchment paper cannot be recycled but it can be reused which is even better than recycling it.

18. Paper production requires LOTS of water

The pulp and paper industry is the largest industrial consumer of water. To produce a single A4-sheet of paper, you need 10 liters of water.

19. 4th largest greenhouse emitter

The paper and pulp industry is the fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the manufacturing sector. Paper also produces one of the most potent greenhouse gases, methane, as it decomposes in a landfill. Methane is 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

20. 13,000 paper thrown away per household

The average household trashes 13,000 separate pieces of paper each year. Most is packaging and junk mail.

More Paper Wastage Facts & Statistics

How much paper is recycled each year?

About 44.2 million tons of paper are recycled each year.

How much paper is wasted each year?

Paper wastage facts show that 85 million tons of paper waste are created each year. This is about 680 pounds of paper waste per person.

How many trees are cut down each year for paper?

Nearly 4 billion trees worldwide are cut down each year for paper.

How does paper affect the environment?

Paper causes deforestation, uses enormous amounts of energy and water to produce, causes air pollution and waste problems. Paper also accounts for around 26% of total waste at landfills.

Conclusion

It's difficult to cut paper off completely in your life. However, you can reduce your paper waste by simply using only what you need the most and by reusing as much paper as possible. This will go a long way to make these paper wastage facts take a positive trend.
Sources:

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Paper Wastage Facts: Statistics About Paper Waste You Must Know

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We may seem to have made progress ditching paper for the digital world, but if paper wastage facts are anything to go by, it is still very much a part of our lives. Paper is still convenient, but that convenience comes with a lot of environmental effects.

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It's tough to imagine modern life without paper. However, the number of adverse environmental effects associated with its manufacture, usage, and disposal is alarming.

Paper production is the third most energy-intensive of all manufacturing industries and hence puts stress on our natural resources, which is only a part of the problem.

Below are 43 facts about paper waste that will enlighten you about the issue.
1. The world currently uses around 400 million tons of paper per year.
It is typically used to make money, cardboard boxes, receipts, coffee cups, stick-on notes, baking paper, egg cartons, birthday cards, straws, wrapping paper, and so on (Gorvett, 2019).

2. The total amount of paper and paperboard generated in the US municipal solid waste (MSW) was 67.4 million tons in 2018.

This amount represented 23.1% of MSW generation that year (US EPA, 2022).
3. In 2018, the US landfills received 17.2 million tons of MSW paper and paperboard.
This represented 11.8% of MSW landfilled in 2018 (US EPA, 2022).

4. Americans use 85,000,000 tons of paper a year.

This is approximately 680 pounds per person (University of Southern Indiana, 2022).
5. The average American uses seven trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees.
This amounts to about 2,000,000,000 trees per year (University of Southern Indiana, 2022).
6. Approximately 1billion trees worth of paper are thrown away every year in the US (University of Southern Indiana, 2022). 7. In 1993, US paper recovery saved more than 90,000,000 cubic yards of landfill space (University of Southern Indiana, 2022).
Paper recovery also helped reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change by avoiding methane emissions and reducing the energy required for many paper products (US EPA, 2016).

8. Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water.

This is equivalent to 64% energy savings, a 58% water savings, and 60 pounds less air pollution (University of Southern Indiana, 2022).
9. If you had a 15-year-old tree and made it into paper grocery bags, you would get about 700 of them. A busy supermarket could use all of them in under an hour!
This means in a single year, one supermarket can go through over 6 million paper bags. Imagine how many supermarkets there are in the United States (University of Southern Indiana, 2022).
10. Paper makes up 40% of waste landfilled in the US.
This means nearly half of US landfills are recyclable. Yet, paper is still trashed with the non-recyclables (Lanier, 2021).
11. One document is photocopied 19 times in its lifespan.
Businesses rely on delivering paperwork in a timely fashion. This implies photocopying important documents and mailing them out to recipients.

While this is the conventional way of doing business, it's quickly becoming a negative impact on our planet.

Nineteen times photocopied during its lifespan: a lot of paper is created per document, especially when there are more sustainable ways of sending out paperwork. By far, the most efficient way is to scan and email documents instead of photocopying and mailing them (Lanier, 2021).
12. 4 million tons of junk mail go to landfills every year in the US.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sees this as an issue to resolve, stating that more than 50% of junk mail ends up in landfills every year. One solution to this problem would be companies coming up with a personalized approach to their marketing strategy that does not involve paper (Lanier, 2021).

13. American businesses use 21 million tons of paper annually.

In America, businesses produce 21 million tons of paper waste each year (Lanier, 2021).
14. 380 gallons of oil are used for every ton of paper produced.
Many countries and businesses are looking for ways to lessen their carbon footprint by switching to green alternatives (Lanier, 2021).
15. More than 199 tons of paper is produced in 15 seconds (The World Counts, 2022).
The demand for global paper consumption is expected to double by 2030 (Yusoff et al, 2022).
16. 324 liters of water is used to make 1 kilogram of paper (The World Counts, 2022).
10 liters of water is required to make one piece of A4 paper (The World Counts, 2022).

17. It requires 75,000 trees to print a Sunday edition of the New York Times (The World Counts, 2022).

Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would hence save 75,000 trees. Moreover, it takes 12 trees to create one ton of newspaper for paper used for newspaper (Ford, 2019).

18. US offices use 12.1 trillion sheets of paper a year (The World Counts, 2022).

That is a lot of unnecessary waste. We can eliminate paper from office processes by introducing digital workflows, content management systems and cloud-based storage (Docusign, 2020).

19. With the amount of paper wasted each year, a 12 foot high wall of paper can be built from New York to California (The World Counts, 2022).

Most of this paper ends up in landfills as municipal waste (Wipebook, 2018).

20. Lessening of paper was predicted due to the electronic revolution. It did not happen.

Demand for paper is expected to double before 2030 (The World Counts, 2022).

21. Every tree produces enough oxygen for 3 people to breathe (The World Counts, 2022).

A mature leafy tree produces as much oxygen in a season as 10 people in a year. A single mature tree can absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 48 pounds per year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support two human beings (Helmenstine, 2019).
22. The land is being deforested at a rate of 6.5 million hectares per year (Melo, 2019).
Between 1990 and 2015, 129 million hectares of forest were lost globally, an area about the size of South Africa (Kilgore, 2022).

23. North Americans and Europeans use more than 200kg of paper each per year (Melo, 2019).

Africa's per capita paper consumption was 8kg in 2016 (Statista, 2021).
24. Recycling paper requires 30% of the electrical energy and 70% of the water that would typically be needed to produce it from wood (Melo, 2019).
25. Global loss of tropical forests contributed about 4.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year (Melo, 2019).

This is equivalent to about 8-10% of annual human emissions of carbon dioxide (Climate Council, 2018).

26. Paper production is the third most energy-intensive of all manufacturing industries, using over 12% of all energy in the industrial sector (Melo, 2019).
27. Families in the UK throw away 6.3 million tons of paper each year (West Lothian Council, nd).
28. The average person in the UK gets through 38 Kg of newspaper every year (West Lothian Council, nd).

According to an independent report, the recycled content of newsprint used to publish local and national newspapers stood at 71% in 2016 (News Media Association, 2016).

29. Only 7 days is required to recycle a newspaper into a new one (West Lothian Council, nd).
30. Every year, people in the UK use 12.5 million tons of paper and cardboard.
That is the same weight as 3 million African elephants (West Lothian Council, nd).

31. In the UK, a forest the size of Wales is needed to produce all the paper being used (West Lothian Council, nd).

32. Paper and cardboard account for one-fifth of all waste produced in the UK (West Lothian Council, nd).
33. Around 40% of all deforestation is caused by the paper and pulp industries (Chamunorwa, 2022).
China is the largest paper producer worldwide. The country produced 110 million metric tons of paper and cardboard in 2018 and has been producing the largest volume of paper worldwide each year ever since 2009 (Statista, 2021). The United States is the second-largest paper producer country globally (World Wildlife Fund, 2022).
34. High-grade paper comprises most of the paper waste in the US.
It also requires most trees to produce (Green Journal, 2021).

35. 40% of the UK population still use paper-based communication.

Most electronic formats complement hard copies instead of replacing them (Rinkesh, 2022).

36. The United States alone, with less than 5% of the global population, uses 30% of the planet's paper ( Rinkesh, 2022).
37. 71% of the world's paper comes from timber harvested from forests instead of tree farms (Gaille, 2017). 38. More than 1.4 million hectares of natural forest have been replaced by tree plantations and farms since 1989 (Gaille, 2017).
Adverse effects of tree plantations include the fact that they generally produce low-quality timber for making disposable paper products. They also take away local people's land, destroy diversity, deplete water resources and pollute streams and wetlands with pesticides and other agrochemicals (Global Forest Coalition, 2022).
39. When paper rots, it emits methane gas.
Methane is 25 times more toxic than carbon dioxide (The World Counts, 2022).

40. China, one of the leading players in the paper trade, used 3.35 billion tons (about 3 trillion liters) of water in 2014 for the paper production process.

That is enough for about 37 billion baths (Gorvett, 2019).
41. One study revealed that the global paper industry uses 6.4 exajoules (EJ) of energy each year.
That is enough to make 87 trillion cups of tea. All that energy also means that paper contributes 2% of the world's total carbon footprint (Gorvett, 2019).
42. The world made 25% more paper and paperboard in 2017 than in 2000.
The amount of energy used went up by 5%. This is partly due to new technologies and the increase in recycling (Gorvett, 2019).
43. An ordinary sheet of paper made from cellulose fibers derived from wood can be recycled 4 to 6 times only.
The EPA puts the figure at 5 to 7 times (Ray, 2010).
Conclusion
The paper manufacturing process uses tons of natural resources every day, and we must find ways to use and waste less paper.

Simple actions like emailing a document instead of sending out a hardcopy or buying recycled paper instead of non-recycled paper go a long way. Together, we can reduce the amount of paper reaching landfills globally.

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43 Paper Waste Facts That Everybody Should Know

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It's tough to imagine modern life without paper. However, the number of adverse environmental effects associated with its manufacture, usage, and disposal is

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17 Ways to Reduce Paper Waste - The Tech Edvocate

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Spread the loveIntroduction: Paper waste has become a significant environmental concern, with countless trees being cut down every year to meet our growing demand for paper products. Reducing paper waste is crucial for preserving our planet’s natural resources and fostering a more sustainable future. Here are 17 simple yet effective ways to reduce paper waste in your daily life. 1. Go digital: Switch to using digital copies and paperless billing instead of printed documents, newspapers, and magazines. 2. Opt for double-sided printing: If you need to print documents, print on both sides of the paper whenever possible. 3. Reuse scrap […]

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The problem with plastic pollution - National Geographic Kids

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Learn all about plastic pollution. How much plastic is in the ocean? Why is plastic pollution dangerous? What can we do to reduce it?

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What Are the Causes of Plastic Pollution? - The Environmental Literacy Council

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What Are the Causes of Plastic Pollution? Plastic pollution, a ubiquitous and alarming environmental issue, has reached a crisis point. […]

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Hannah Ritchie and Veronika Samborska and Max Roser

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How much plastic ends up in the ocean? Where does it come from?

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Electronic waste, or E-waste is electronic equipment that is being thrown away. It includes phones, computers, and other electronics that have passed their time and are not used any more.

E-waste is an ongoing concern for every country in the 21st century. Because of Moore's law, the rule that states transistor numbers double every two years, most people need to keep up to speed by upgrading computers every 3 years on average. People usually throw away their old laptops, cameras, computers, cell phones and televisions. This creates a large amount of practically useless waste. Most countries have methods to combat e waste and find a use for obsolete technology. When you take in to account all the computer users in the world, over 30 million tons of e-waste is created nearly every year.

Amount of electronic waste worldwide

Rapid changes in technology, changes in media (tapes, software, MP3), falling prices, and planned obsolescence have resulted in a fast-growing surplus of electronic waste around the globe. Technical solutions are available, but in most cases, a legal framework, a collection, logistics, and other services need to be implemented before a technical solution can be applied.

Display units (CRT, LCD, LED monitors), processors (CPU, GPU, or APU chips), memory (DRAM or SRAM), and audio components have different useful lives. Processors are most frequently out-dated (by software no longer being optimized) and are more likely to become "e-waste" while display units are most often replaced while working without repair attempts, due to changes in wealthy nation appetites for new display technology. This problem could potentially be solved with modular smartphones or Phonebloks. These types of phones are more durable and have the technology to change certain parts of the phone making them more environmentally friendly. Being able to simply replace the part of the phone that is broken will reduce e-waste. An estimated 50 million tons of E-waste are produced each year. The USA discards 30 million computers each year and 100 million phones are disposed of in Europe each year. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that only 15-20% of e-waste is recycled, the rest of these electronics go directly into landfills and incinerators.

In 2006, the United Nations estimated the amount of worldwide electronic waste discarded each year to be 50 million metric tons. According to a report by UNEP titled, "Recycling - from E-Waste to Resources," the amount of e-waste being produced - including mobile phones and computers - could rise by as much as 500 percent over the next decade in some countries, such as India. The United States is the world leader in producing electronic waste, tossing away about 3 million tons each year. China already produces about 2.3 million tons (2010 estimate) domestically, second only to the United States. And, despite having banned e-waste imports, China remains a major e-waste dumping ground for developed countries.

Society today revolves around technology and by the constant need for the newest and most high-tech products we are contributing to mass amount of e-waste. Since the invention of the iPhone, cell phones have become the top source of e-waste products because they are not made to last more than two years. Electrical waste contains hazardous but also valuable and scarce materials. Up to 60 elements can be found in complex electronics. As of 2013, Apple has sold over 796 million iDevices (iPod, iPhone, iPad). Cell phone companies make cell phones that are not made to last so that the consumer will purchase new phones. Companies give these products such short life spans because they know that the consumer will want a new product and will buy it if they make it. In the United States, an estimated 70% of heavy metals in landfills comes from discarded electronics.

While there is agreement that the number of discarded electronic devices is increasing, there is considerable disagreement about the relative risk (compared to automobile scrap, for example), and strong disagreement whether curtailing trade in used electronics will improve conditions, or make them worse. According to an article in Motherboard, attempts to restrict the trade have driven reputable companies out of the supply chain, with unintended consequences.

Global trade issues

One theory is that increased regulation of electronic waste and concern over the environmental harm in nature economies creates an economic disincentive to remove residues prior to export. Critics of trade in used electronics maintain that it is still too easy for brokers calling themselves recyclers to export unscreened electronic waste to developing countries, such as China, India and parts of Africa, thus avoiding the expense of removing items like bad cathode ray tubes (the processing of which is expensive and difficult). The developing countries have become toxic dump yards of e-waste. Proponents of international trade point to the success of fair trade programs in other industries, where cooperation has led to creation of sustainable jobs and can bring affordable technology in countries where repair and reuse rates are higher.

Defenders of the trade in used electronics say that extraction of metals from virgin mining has been shifted to developing countries. Recycling of copper, silver, gold, and other materials from discarded electronic devices is considered better for the environment than mining. They also state that repair and reuse of computers and televisions has become a "lost art" in wealthier nations and that refurbishing has traditionally been a path to development.

South Korea, Taiwan, and southern China all excelled in finding "retained value" in used goods, and in some cases have set up billion-dollar industries in refurbishing used ink cartridges, single-use cameras, and working CRTs. Refurbishing has traditionally been a threat to established manufacturing, and simple protectionism explains some criticism of the trade. Works like "The Waste Makers" by Vance Packard explain some of the criticism of exports of working product, for example, the ban on import of tested working Pentium 4 laptops to China, or the bans on export of used surplus working electronics by Japan.

Opponents of surplus electronics exports argue that lower environmental and labor standards, cheap labor, and the relatively high value of recovered raw materials leads to a transfer of pollution-generating activities, such as smelting of copper wire. In China, Malaysia, India, Kenya, and various African countries, electronic waste is being sent to these countries for processing, sometimes illegally. Many surplus laptops are routed to developing nations as "dumping grounds for e-waste".

Because the United States has not ratified the Basel Convention or its Ban Amendment, and has few domestic federal laws forbidding the export of toxic waste, the Basel Action Network estimates that about 80% of the electronic waste directed to recycling in the U.S. does not get recycled there at all, but is put on container ships and sent to countries such as China. This figure is disputed as an exaggeration by the EPA, the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, and the World Reuse, Repair and Recycling Association.

Independent research by Arizona State University showed that 87-88% of imported used computers did not have a higher value than the best value of the constituent materials they contained, and that "the official trade in end-of-life computers is thus driven by reuse as opposed to recycling".

Guiyu in the Shantou region of China is a massive electronic waste processing community. It is often referred to as the "e-waste capital of the world." Traditionally, Guiyu was an agricultural community; however, in the mid-1990s it transformed into an e-waste recycling center involving over 75% of the local households and an additional 100,000 migrant workers. Thousands of individual workshops employ laborers to snip cables, pry chips from circuit boards, grind plastic computer cases into particles, and dip circuit boards in acid baths to dissolve the precious metals. Others work to strip insulation from all wiring in an attempt to salvage tiny amounts of copper wire. Uncontrolled burning, disassembly, and disposal has led to a number of environmental problems such as groundwater contamination, atmospheric pollution, and water pollution either by immediate discharge or from surface runoff (especially near coastal areas), as well as health problems including occupational safety and health effects among those directly and indirectly involved, due to the methods of processing the waste.

A number of studies have been conducted to measure a number of chemicals associated with informal e-waste recycling in the populations. One study enrolled children from Guiyu and a control site 50 km away to measure blood lead levels (BLLs). The average BLL in Guiyu was 15.3 ug/dL compared to 9.9 ug/dL in the control site. In the United States, the CDC has set a reference level for blood lead at 5 ug/dL. High levels of lead in young children can impact IQ and the development of the central nervous system. The highest concentrations of lead were found in the children of parents whose workshop dealt with circuit boards and the lowest was among those who recycled plastic.

Six of the many villages in Guiyu specialize in circuit-board disassembly, seven in plastics and metals reprocessing, and two in wire and cable disassembly. Greenpeace, an environmental group, sampled dust, soil, river sediment, and groundwater in Guiyu. They found very high levels of toxic heavy metals and organic contaminants in both places. Lai Yun, a campaigner for the group found "over 10 poisonous metals, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium."

Guiyu is only one example of digital dumps but similar places can be found across the world in Nigeria, Ghana, and India. With amounts of e-waste growing rapidly each year urgent solutions are required. While the waste continues to flow into digital dumps like Guiyu, there are measures that can help reduce the flow of e-waste.

A suggested preventative step involves the major electronics firms removing the worst chemicals in their products in order to make them safer and easier to recycle.

Guiyu is likely one of the oldest and largest informal e-waste recycling sites in the world, however, there are many sites worldwide, including India, Ghana, Nigeria, and the Philippines. Most research involving informal e-waste recycling has been done in Guiyu, but there are a handful of studies that describe exposure levels in e-waste workers, the community, and the environment. Bangalore, located in southern India, is often referred as the "Silicon Valley of India" and has a growing informal e-waste recycling sector. Hair samples were collected from workers at an e-waste recycling facility and an e-waste recycling slum community in Bangalore. Levels of V, Cr, Mn, Mo, Sn, Tl, and Pb were significantly higher in the workers at the e-waste recycling facility compared to the e-waste workers in the slum community. However, Co, Ag, Cd, and Hg levels were significantly higher in the slum community workers compared to the facility workers. A study in Ghana found higher levels of urinary PAH-metabolites in e-waste workers compared to unexposed controls. They also found a greater frequency of complaints of cough, chest pain, and vertigo from those exposed to emissions from the e-waste recycling processes.

Environmental impact

The processes of dismantling and disposing of electronic waste in developing countries led to a number of environmental impacts as illustrated in the graphic. Liquid and atmospheric releases end up in bodies of water, groundwater, soil, and air and therefore in land and sea animals - both domesticated and wild, in crops eaten by both animals and human, and in drinking water.

One study of environmental effects in Guiyu, China found the following:

Airborne dioxins - one type found at 100 times levels previously measured

Levels of carcinogens in duck ponds and rice paddies exceeded international standards for agricultural areas and cadmium, copper, nickel, and lead levels in rice paddies were above international standards

Heavy metals found in road dust - lead over 300 times that of a control village's road dust and copper over 100 times

The environmental impact of the processing of different electronic waste components

E-Waste Component

Process Used

Potential Environmental Hazard

Information security

E-waste presents a potential security threat to individuals and exporting countries. Hard drives that are not properly erased before the computer is disposed of can be reopened, exposing sensitive information. Credit card numbers, private financial data, account information, and records of online transactions can be accessed by most willing individuals. Organized criminals in Ghana commonly search the drives for information to use in local scams. Electronic files about government contracts have been discovered on hard drives found in Agbogbloshie. Multimillion-dollar agreements from United States security institutions such as the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the Transportation Security Administration, and Homeland Security have all resurfaced in Agbogbloshie.

E-waste management

Audiovisual components, televisions, VCRs, stereo equipment, mobile phones, other handheld devices, and computer components contain valuable elements and substances suitable for reclamation, including lead, copper, and gold.

One of the major challenges is recycling the printed circuit boards from the electronic wastes. The circuit boards contain such precious metals as gold, silver, platinum, etc. and such base metals as copper, iron, aluminum, etc. One way e-waste is processed is by melting circuit boards, burning cable sheathing to recover copper wire and open- pit acid leaching for separating metals of value. Conventional method employed is mechanical shredding and separation but the recycling efficiency is low. Alternative methods such as cryogenic decomposition have been studied for printed circuit board recycling, and some other methods are still under investigation. Properly disposing of or reusing electronics can help prevent health problems, reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, and create jobs. Reuse and refurbishing offer a more environmentally friendly and socially conscious alternative to downcycling processes.

Processing techniques

In many developed countries, electronic waste processing usually first involves dismantling the equipment into various parts (metal frames, power supplies, circuit boards, plastics), often by hand, but increasingly by automated shredding equipment. A typical example is the NADIN electronic waste processing plant in Novi Iskar, Bulgaria -the largest facility of its kind in Eastern Europe. The advantages of this process are the human's ability to recognize and save working and repairable parts, including chips, transistors, RAM, etc. The disadvantage is that the labor is cheapest in countries with the lowest health and safety standards.

In an alternative bulk system, a hopper conveys material for shredding into an unsophisticated mechanical separator, with screening and granulating machines to separate constituent metal and plastic fractions, which are sold to smelters or plastics recyclers. Such recycling machinery is enclosed and employs a dust collection system. Some of the emissions are caught by scrubbers and screens. Magnets, eddy currents, and Trommel screens are employed to separate glass, plastic, and ferrous and nonferrous metals, which can then be further separated at a smelter.

Leaded glass from CRTs is reused in car batteries, ammunition, and lead wheel weights, or sold to foundries as a fluxing agent in processing raw lead ore. Copper, gold, palladium, silver and tin are valuable metals sold to smelters for recycling. Hazardous smoke and gases are captured, contained and treated to mitigate environmental threat. These methods allow for safe reclamation of all valuable computer construction materials. Hewlett-Packard product recycling solutions manager Renee St. Denis describes its process as: "We move them through giant shredders about 30 feet tall and it shreds everything into pieces about the size of a quarter. Once your disk drive is shredded into pieces about this big, it's hard to get the data off". An ideal electronic waste recycling plant combines dismantling for component recovery with increased cost-effective processing of bulk electronic waste. Reuse is an alternative option to recycling because it extends the lifespan of a device. Devices still need eventual recycling, but by allowing others to purchase used electronics, recycling can be postponed and value gained from device use.

Benefits of recycling

Recycling raw materials from end-of-life electronics is the most effective solution to the growing e-waste problem. Most electronic devices contain a variety of materials, including metals that can be recovered for future uses. By dismantling and providing reuse possibilities, intact natural resources are conserved and air and water pollution caused by hazardous disposal is avoided. Additionally, recycling reduces the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by the manufacturing of new products. Another benefit of recycling e-waste is that many of the materials can be recycled and re-used again. Materials that can be recycled include "ferrous (iron-based) and non-ferrous metals, glass, and various types of plastic." "Non-ferrous metals, mainly aluminum and copper can all be re-smelted and re-manufactured. Ferrous metals such as steel and iron can be also be re-used." Due to the recent surge in popularity in 3D printing, certain 3D printers have been designed (FDM variety) to produce waste that can be easily recycled which decreases the amount of harmful pollutants in the atmosphere. The excess plastic from these printers that comes out as a byproduct can also be reused to create new 3D printed creations.

Benefits of recycling are extended when responsible recycling methods are used. In the U.S., responsible recycling aims to minimize the dangers to human health and the environment that disposed and dismantled electronics can create. Responsible recycling ensures best management practices of the electronics being recycled, worker health and safety, and consideration for the environment locally and abroad. In Europe, metals that are recycled are returned to companies of origin at a reduced cost. Through a committed recycling system, manufacturers in Japan have been pushed to make their products more sustainable. Since many companies were responsible for the recycling of their own products, this imposed responsibility on manufacturers requiring many to redesign their infrastructure. As a result, manufacturers in Japan have the added option to sell the recycled metals.

Electronic waste substances

Some computer components can be reused in assembling new computer products, while others are reduced to metals that can be reused in applications as varied as construction, flatware, and jewelry. Substances found in large quantities include epoxy resins, fiberglass, PCBs, PVC (polyvinyl chlorides), thermosetting plastics, lead, tin, copper, silicon, beryllium, carbon, iron, and aluminium. Elements found in small amounts include cadmium, mercury, and thallium. Elements found in trace amounts include americium, antimony, arsenic, barium, bismuth, boron, cobalt, europium, gallium, germanium, gold, indium, lithium, manganese, nickel, niobium, palladium, platinum, rhodium, ruthenium, selenium, silver, tantalum, terbium, thorium, titanium, vanadium, and yttrium. Almost all electronics contain lead and tin (as solder) and copper (as wire and printed circuit board tracks), though the use of lead-free solder is now spreading rapidly. The following are ordinary applications:

E-Waste Component

Electric Appliances in which they are found

Adverse Health Effects

The radioactive source in smoke alarms.

It is known to be carcinogenic.

Solder, CRT monitor glass, lead-acid batteries, some formulations of PVC. A typical 15-inch cathode ray tube may contain 1.5 pounds of lead, but other CRTs have been estimated as having up to 8 pounds of lead.

Adverse effects of lead exposure include impaired cognitive function, behavioral disturbances, attention deficits, hyperactivity, conduct problems, and lower IQ. These effects are most damaging to children whose developing nervous systems are very susceptible to damage caused by lead, cadmium, and mercury.

Found in fluorescent tubes (numerous applications), tilt switches (mechanical doorbells, thermostats), and flat screen monitors.

Health effects include sensory impairment, dermatitis, memory loss, and muscle weakness. Exposure in-utero causes fetal deficits in motor function, attention, and verbal domains. Environmental effects in animals include death, reduced fertility, and slower growth and development.

Found in light-sensitive resistors, corrosion-resistant alloys for marine and aviation environments, and nickel-cadmium batteries. The most common form of cadmium is found in Nickel-cadmium rechargeable batteries. These batteries tend to contain between 6 and 18% cadmium. The sale of Nickel-Cadmium batteries has been banned in the European Union except for medical use. When not properly recycled it can leach into the soil, harming microorganisms and disrupting the soil ecosystem. Exposure is caused by proximity to hazardous waste sites and factories and workers in the metal refining industry.

The inhalation of cadmium can cause severe damage to the lungs and is also known to cause kidney damage. Cadmium is also associated with deficits in cognition, learning, behavior, and neuromotor skills in children.

Hexavalent chromium
Used in metal coatings to protect from corrosion.

A known carcinogen after occupational inhalation exposure.

Found in lead-acid batteries.

Health effects include liver damage, kidney damage, heart damage, eye and throat irritation. When released into the environment, it can create sulphuric acid through sulphur dioxide.

Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)

Used as an antistatic additive in industrial applications and found in electronics, also found in non-stick cookware ( PTFE). PFOAs are formed synthetically through environmental degradation.

Studies in mice have found the following health effects: Hepatotoxicity, developmental toxicity, immunotoxicity, hormonal effects and carcinogenic effects.

Beryllium oxide

Filler in some thermal interface materials such as thermal grease used on heatsinks for CPUs and power transistors, magnetrons, X-ray-transparent ceramic windows, heat transfer fins in vacuum tubes, and gas lasers.

Occupational exposures associated with lung cancer, other common adverse health effects are beryllium sensitization, chronic beryllium disease, and acute beryllium disease.

Other health effects

DNA breaks can increase the likelihood of developing cancer (if the damage is to a tumor suppressor gene)

DNA damages are a special problem in non-dividing or slowly dividing cells, where unrepaired damages will tend to accumulate over time. On the other hand, in rapidly dividing cells, unrepaired DNA damages that do not kill the cell by blocking replication will tend to cause replication errors and thus mutation

Elevated Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) levels can cause damage to cell structures (oxidative stress)

Generally non-hazardous

Images for kids

Electronic waste at Agbogbloshie, Ghana

In Spanish: Chatarra electrónica para niños

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E-waste is one of the fastest growing solid waste streams in the world. In 2022, an estimated 62 million tonnes of e-waste were produced globally, but less than a quarter was recycled appropriately. When recycled using unsound, informal activities e-waste can produce many hazardous toxicants that may pollute the air, soil, water and dust. These hazardous toxicants include lead, mercury and dioxins, chemicals that are known to have adverse health effects. Children and pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to e-waste. WHO is working to raise awareness of the risks of informal e-waste recycling activities, and methods to reduce and prevent childhood exposure.