The Hidden Human Cost of Weak E‑Waste Legislation
By: Sarah Wejman
Edited by: Valerie Lane and Tulsi Patel
Electronic waste (EW) is the world’s fastest-growing waste stream, with 62 million tons generated annually. [1] Fueled by consumer demands for new devices and a lack of recycling infrastructure to adequately process it, the rapid development of this crisis has outpaced the international community’s ability to ensure compliance with new regulation. EW constitutes a widespread, hazardous, and predominantly Western‑driven problem, and existing international regulations are insufficient. Ultimately, stronger, coordinated global action is required to prevent severe environmental and human‑health harm.
There are two primary reasons EW should be recycled rather than discarded with regular trash. First, many electronic devices contain highly dangerous materials such as mercury, lead, and cadmium, all of which pose risks to human health and the environment if not properly processed at a facility. Health risks include cancers, miscarriages, birth defects, and neurological damage, especially in children. [2] These chemicals can also seep into soil or groundwater and release gases that pollute the air, thereby disrupting ecosystems when ingested or absorbed by living organisms. Additionally, many electronic devices contain valuable metals such as gold, silver, and copper that could be recovered and reused rather than being dumped in landfills.
However, only about 20% of global EW is formally recycled. [3] Many developed countries, such as the U.S, Australia, and EU members, do not have the capacity or will to properly recycle electronics, due to the cost of the process. As a result, they export the majority of their EW to developing countries in Africa, Asia, and South America, where dangerous and illegal methods are used to dispose of old devices. Such methods include open-air burning, acid baths, and landfill dumping, which are used to maximize profits by salvaging valuable metals but, in turn, expose workers to toxic chemicals. [4] Another alarming aspect of informal EW disposal is the population of children who are exploited for their small hands to manually dismantle devices. Of the 30 million people working in the informal EW industry, roughly 60% of whom are children. [5] Although health-related studies are limited because EW is a developing problem, it is estimated that 200 million people are put at risk as a result of these hazardous informal processes. [6]
The main international governing body is the Basel Convention, created by the United Nations Environment Program. Adopted in 1989 and enforced in 1992, it is a comprehensive global agreement governing hazardous wastes, including EW. Unlike other UN treaties, where members are obligated to ratify it, the Basel Convention is voluntary. With 190 member countries ratifying this treaty, its importance is widely agreed upon; the U.S. is one of the few countries to not ratify it, as well as Haiti and Afghanistan. The main factor for the U.S.’s absence is a lack of agreement within Congress to unite and vote to pass legislation that would ratify it.
One of the key provisions of the Basel Convention requires written consent from a receiving country before exporting hazardous waste abroad, known as Prior Informed Consent (PIC). [7] Parties are banned from exporting such waste to countries that have banned imports. On January 1, 2025, EW amendments introduced these PIC changes, requiring that every EW item be approved before international shipment. For several decades, black markets and loose monitoring have allowed EW shipments to developing countries to run rampant. These policies are certainly a step in the right direction toward mitigating illicit exports. However, the U.S’s absence from the Basel Convention considerably dampens the policy’s effects, given it is one of the leading EW producers globally, with 7 million metric tons produced annually. [8] As a non-member state, the U.S. can freely export EW without consequences.
A challenge the U.S. has encountered when processing EW is its inadequate domestic recycling capacity. Currently, 15 to 20% of EW in the U.S. is properly recycled. [9] It would take many years and significant financial investment to create the infrastructure capable of handling EW consumption. However, the U.S. is not alone in this technology deficit; consider the EU, which only recycled 43% of its generated EW in 2022, led by countries including Germany, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands. [10] This dilemma is due in part to theU.S. having the highest average number of devices per household, sitting at 20. [11] Although the U.S. leads here, less populous European nations like Norway and Denmark produce the most EW per capita. At its core, the global EW crisis is driven by overconsumption of electronics, leading to overwhelmed facilities and thus mass exports to offload the burden.
Despite the dire state, the fact that this is a new and developing issue means there is room to pivot before these practices become the norm. The U.S. ought to join the Basel Convention to incentivize more domestic recycling and more global investment in EW recycling facilities. Although EW is ultimately a policy issue, solutions can start at the consumer level. Instead of buying a device whenever new materialist trends emerge, consumers can make good use of what they already have and only purchase new technology when absolutely necessary. Producers and consumers alike should dispose of old technology at designated EW drop-off sites. With stricter regulations and societal changes in consumer and producer behavior, EW can be properly handled so as to enable the use of electronic devices without risking the health of millions of people around the world.
NOTES
United Nations Institute for Training and Research, “Global E-Waste Monitor 2024: Electronic Waste Rising Five Times Faster than Documented E-Waste Recycling,” March 20, 2024, https://unitar.org/about/news-stories/press/global-e-waste-monitor-2024-electronic-waste-rising-five-times-faster-documented-e-waste-recycling.
Sarker Parvez, “Health Consequences of Exposure to E-Waste: An Updated Systematic Review,” The Lancet Planetary Health 5, no. 12 (December 2021): e905–20, https://doi.org/10.1016/s2542-5196(21)00263-1.
United Nations Institute for Training and Research, “Global E-Waste Monitor 2024.”
World Health Organization, “Electronic Waste (E-Waste),” October 1, 2024, https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/electronic-waste-(e-waste).
United Nations Children's Fund, “Children and E-Waste: Key Messages | Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative,” Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative, November 7, 2022, https://ceh.unicef.org/events-and-resources/knowledge-library/children-and-e-waste-key-messages.
Sailaja Priyadarsini, Alok Prasad Das, and V. P. Sharma, “Impact of Electronic Waste on Environmental Pollution and Its Sustainable Management through Circular Economy,” Sustainable Environmental Waste Management Strategies, 2026, 365–91, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-90287-1_18.
International Aerospace Environmental Group. Global Basel Convention Meeting: Amendments to Annexes II, VIII and IX on E‑Waste. July 2024. https://www.iaeg.com/documents/iaeg-newsletters/2024/07/global_basel-convention-meeting_amendments-to-annexes-ii-viii-and-ix-on-e-waste.pdf.
Prescient Strategic Intelligence, “U.S. Electronic Waste Recycling Market Size, and Growth Report, 2032,” 2024, https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/us-electronic-waste-recycling-market.
Bob Woods, “Erasing Personal Data from the Devices You Discard Is a Booming Business,” CNBC, August 20, 2025, https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/20/erasing-data-from-the-devices-you-discard-is-a-booming-business.html.
Valentine Fourreau, “Infographic: Europe Generates the Most Electronic Waste,” Statista, October 13, 2025, https://www.statista.com/chart/35289/e-waste-generated-and-recycled-by-region/.
Collin Blinder, “Average Number of Smart Devices in a Home 2024,” ConsumerAffairs, April 23, 2024, https://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/average-number-of-smart-devices-in-a-home.html.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blinder, Collin. “Average Number of Smart Devices in a Home 2024.” ConsumerAffairs, April 23, 2024. https://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/average-number-of-smart-devices-in-a-home.html.
Fourreau, Valentine. “Infographic: Europe Generates the Most Electronic Waste.” Statista, October 13, 2025. https://www.statista.com/chart/35289/e-waste-generated-and-recycled-by-region/.
International Aerospace Environmental Group. Global Basel Convention Meeting: Amendments to Annexes II, VIII and IX on E‑Waste. July 2024. https://www.iaeg.com/documents/iaeg-newsletters/2024/07/global_basel-convention-meeting_amendments-to-annexes-ii-viii-and-ix-on-e-waste.pdf.
Parvez, Sarker. “Health Consequences of Exposure to E-Waste: An Updated Systematic Review.” The Lancet Planetary Health 5, no. 12 (December 2021): e905–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2542-5196(21)00263-1.
Prescient Strategic Intelligence. “U.S. Electronic Waste Recycling Market Size, and Growth Report, 2032,” 2024. https://www.psmarketresearch.com/market-analysis/us-electronic-waste-recycling-market.
Priyadarsini, Sailaja, Alok Prasad Das, and V. P. Sharma. “Impact of Electronic Waste on Environmental Pollution and Its Sustainable Management through Circular Economy.” Sustainable Environmental Waste Management Strategies, 2026, 365–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-90287-1_18.
United Nations Children's Fund. “Children and E-Waste: Key Messages | Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative.” Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative, November 7, 2022. https://ceh.unicef.org/events-and-resources/knowledge-library/children-and-e-waste-key-messages.
United Nations Institute for Training and Research. “Global E-Waste Monitor 2024: Electronic Waste Rising Five Times Faster than Documented E-Waste Recycling,” March 20, 2024. https://unitar.org/about/news-stories/press/global-e-waste-monitor-2024-electronic-waste-rising-five-times-faster-documented-e-waste-recycling.
Woods, Bob. “Erasing Personal Data from the Devices You Discard Is a Booming Business.” CNBC, August 20, 2025. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/08/20/erasing-data-from-the-devices-you-discard-is-a-booming-business.html.
World Health Organization. “Electronic Waste (E-Waste),” October 1, 2024. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/electronic-waste-(e-waste).