WEEE is discarded electronic items with a battery or plug that are no longer wanted, not functional, or obsolete. It includes products such as laptops, phones, TVs, and appliances. WEEE represents a large share of overall toxic waste and poses environmental and health risks. The objective of the WEEE Directive is to promote collection of WEEE and recovery, recycling and preparation for reuse of this waste, in order to reduce the quantity disposed.

The EUROSTAT shows the trends in the amount of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) put on the market and in WEEE collected, treated, recovered, recycled and prepared for reuse in the EU from 2012 to 2020. It also compares the performance of different EU Member States in achieving the WEEE collection target, which changed in connection with the revised monitoring introduced from 2016 onwards.

Some of the key statistics and facts are:

  • The amount of EEE put on the market in the EU evolved from 7.6 million tons in 2012 to a peak of 12.4 million tons in 2020.
  • The amount of WEEE collected in the EU increased from 3.3 million tons in 2012 to 5.7 million tons in 2020.
  • The collection rate of WEEE in the EU was 45.9 % in 2020 (measured as the weight of WEEE collected relative to the average weight of EEE put on the market in the three preceding years).
  • In 2020, 10.5 kg of WEEE were collected per inhabitant in the EU.
  • In 2020, Bulgaria, Croatia and Finland achieved the 65 % target for collection of WEEE. Slovakia, Poland, Estonia, Austria and Ireland also came close to reaching this target.
  • In 2020, Germany was the largest producer of WEEE in absolute terms (1.8 million tons), followed by France (1.1 million tons) and Italy (0.9 million tons).
  • In 2020, Luxembourg had the highest per capita generation of WEEE (28 kg), followed by Denmark (24 kg) and Sweden (23 kg).
  • In 2019, countries covered by electronic waste legislation, policy, and regulation accounted for only 78 % of global e-waste generation.

The EUROSTAT concludes that there is still room for improvement in collecting and recycling WEEE in the EU, as well as in harmonizing data reporting across countries. It also highlights that e-waste is a global challenge that requires international cooperation and coordination.

(Source: EUROSTAT)