World Environment Day
- 5 June
India is the fifth biggest producer of ewaste in
the world, discarding 1.7 million tonnes (Mt) of electronic and electrical
equipment in 2014, a UN report has said warning that the volume of global
e-waste is likely to rise sharply by 21% in next 3 years.
The `Global E-Waste Monitor 2014', compiled by UN
think tank United Nations University (UNU), said at 32%, the US and China
produced the most e-waste overall in 2014.
India came in fifth, behind the US, China, Japan
and Germany, the report said.
Most e-waste in the world in 2014 was generated
in Asia at 16 Mt or 3.7kg per inhabitant.
The top three Asian nations with the highest
e-waste generation in absolute quantities are China (6.0Mt), Japan (2.2Mt) and
India (1.7Mt).
The top per capita producers by far are the
wealthy nations of northern and western Europe, the top five being Norway ,
Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, and the UK.
The lowest amount of ewaste per inhabitant was
generated in Africa (1.7kg inhabitant). The continent generated 1.9Mt of
e-waste in total. In 2014, people worldwide discarded all but a small fraction
of an estimated 41.8Mt of electrical and electronic equipment -mostly
end-of-life kitchen, laundry and bathroom equipment like microwave ovens,
washing machines and dishwashers.
The volume of e-waste is expected to rise by 21%
to 50Mt in 2018, said the report, which details the location and composition of
the world's fast-growing ewaste problem.
The 41.8 Mt weight of last year's e-waste is
comparable to the distance from New York to Tokyo and back.
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