Electrical and electronic equipment when becoming waste (e-waste) such as personal computers, printers, televisions, mobile phones, refrigerators and air-conditioning units is one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world today.

E-waste is categorized as hazardous waste due to the presence of toxic materials such as mercury, lead and brominated flame retardants are considered as hazardous waste according to the Basel Convention. E-waste may also contain precious metals such as gold, copper and nickel and rare materials of strategic value such as indium and palladium. These precious and heavy metals could be recovered, recycled and used as valuable source of secondary raw materials. It has been documented that e-wastes are shipped to developing countries where it is often not managed in an environmentally sound manner, thus posing a serious threat to both human health and the environment.

Related EPIs

Chemicals in products

Related people

Feng Wang
I work as a Programme Officer in UNEP in its Paris office. I manage projects in the areas of Life Cycle Thinking, Sustainable Consumption and Production and Circular Economy, to promote resource efficiency and pollution reduction in many sectors such as plastics, electronics, food and chemicals. In my current work, we develop methodologies and tools to quantify the environmental impacts of chemicals, to enable comparison and identification of alternatives.Feng holds a Doctorate Degree from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, on topics of eco-design and waste management of electronics products. Before joining UNEP, I worked as a researcher in
Llorenc Mila I Canals
I am a generalist environmental scientist passionately driven to reduce the environmental impacts of consumption and production systems. This includes driving the development of tools enabling the comprehensive assessment of environmental impacts of chemicals as they are used in products, over their entire life cycle (i.e. from the extraction of their raw materials, processing and manufacturing into products, their use, maintenance and operation phase, and finally at the end of use their repurposing into new products, or disposal).This kind of assessment helps us guide the selection of suitable alternatives to chemicals of concern while avoiding regrettable substitutions. With a PhD
RJR
Robert J. Reinhardt
I am a sustainable business consultant, researcher & cross-disciplinary strategist focusing on establishing the business case for sustainability by driving sustainable innovations in businesses and international organisations through a science based approach. With a PhD in Environmental Engineering on sustainable business model innovation perspectives (going beyond the circular economy) for the emerging electric vehicle battery second use industries, I was able to highlight shared sustainable value creations for multiple-stakeholders and thus I was able to prove the economically viable business case for sustainability in the electric vehicle industry. I apply my academic and industry background in business, environmental science, and
Ran Xie
I am working on sustainable consumption and production and circularity in sectors such as plastics, electronics and textiles.Through my work I aim to ensure chemicals of concern are taken into consideration along the value chains of these sectors, which is also one of the pillars of UNEP's approach to promote circularity.I provide technical support to the GEF-funded project "Circular Economy approaches for the electronics sector in Nigeria". Under this project, I work with Nigerian partners and international stakeholders to promote environmentally sound treatment of hazardous chemicals in e-waste, as well as advocate best practices on the eco-design of electronic products.
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Florisvindo Furtado

By contributing to the creation and enforcement of national and international legal framework on chemicals and hazardous wastes as well as the related guidelines for the main industry stakeholders and operators, dealing with chemicals or producing

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Leonard Tampushi
Publications on heavy metals in artisanal and small scale gold mining in Kenya in contributed alot on environmental distribution of heavy metals from ASGM.
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Related projects

Articles of interest

Emerging Policy Issues:
Hazardous chemicals in electronics (13) Chemicals in products (7)
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15 resources found

Policy document

Chemicals of Concern in electronics: List of Lists and Regulatory Frameworks

June 2020
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Chemicals in products and hazardous substances within the life cycle of electrical and electronic products have been longstanding emerging policy issues under the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). In order to track and control chemicals along the value chains of electrical and electronic products, stakeholders first must identify relevant chemicals to be addressed. Considering the complexity of the chemical world as well as the complexity of value chains in the electronics sector, this important step can be highly
Emerging Policy Issues: Hazardous chemicals in electronics Chemicals in products
Topics: E-waste Chemicals in electronics
Report

Regional Electronics Study and Circularity Roadmap in the LAC Region: Mapping of Existing Initiatives

by
SAICM , Universidad El Bosque
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September 2021
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Technological development has made electrical and electronic equipment (EEE1) essential parts of contemporary life and indispensable products in today’s societies. Information technology (IT) combined with the technological advances in recent decades, has resulted in EEE having a great influence on the daily life of consumers in aspects such as health, safety, knowledge, comfort information, among others. The global consumption of electronics is growing 2.5 million metric tons per year (Forti, Baldé, Kuehr, & Bel, 2020), because technology increases the living

Emerging Policy Issues: Hazardous chemicals in electronics
Topics: Chemicals in electronics Circularity E-waste
E-learning

The E-Waste Challenge

March 2020
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This course will help the participants to understand why and how to manage e-waste in an environmentally sound manner and how action on e-waste could be taken in their own life, business, or organization.The aims of the course are to:Show how sound management of e-waste can help reduce GHG emissions, mitigate climate change and prevent hazards to health and the environment in accordance with the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm conventions;Share best practices, technological innovations, and sustainable e-waste recovery and inclusive

Emerging Policy Issues: Hazardous chemicals in electronics Chemicals in products
Topics: E-waste Chemicals in electronics Knowledge Management
Report

Global Waste Management Outlook

by
UN Environment Programme ,
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January 2015
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Better waste management offers great potential to help us meet the sustainability challenges ahead. Targeting decision-makers and many other inter-connected sectors, the Global Waste Management Outlook (GWMO) was launched at the World Congress of The International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) in Belgium on 7 September, 2015 . The publication also contains two summary documents, making the information concise and accessible.Developed by UNEP in collaboration with ISWA in response to the UNEP Governing Council request of February 2013, its goal was
Emerging Policy Issues: Chemicals in products
Topics: E-waste Life Cycle Chemicals in building products
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