By 2050, up to 19m tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) could be generated each year in Europe – around one-third more than today. This growing waste stream is expected to contain between 1.2m and 1.9m tonnes of critical raw materials (CRMs), according to a new report published by the EU-funded research project FutuRaM together with the WEEE Forum on the occasion of International E-waste Day on 14 October.
The share of photovoltaic (PV) panels in total e-waste volumes is expected to rise particularly sharply – from 150,000 tonnes in 2022 to as much as 2.2m tonnes in 2050. Large pieces of equipment such as washing machines and data servers are also projected to increase significantly, while monitors, lamps and small devices are expected to remain largely stable or even decline slightly.
Today, discarded electrical and electronic equipment in the EU, the UK, Switzerland, Norway and Iceland already contains about one million tonnes of metals and minerals that are critical for future technologies – from copper and aluminium to silicon, rare earths and platinum group metals. Yet, nearly half of all e-waste generated in Europe still escapes formal collection and recycling systems which operate in compliance with the WEEE Directive and other EU rules. As a result, large quantities of valuable materials are lost when devices aretreated in adequate processes, exported or managed together with metal scrap, the study notes.
"Europe depends on third countries for more than 90 per cent of its critical raw materials, yet we only recycle some of them as little as 1 per cent", EU Environment Commissioner Jessika Roswall said in the press release issued by the WEEE Forum. She pointed out that the increasing disruption of global trade flows was exposing Europe’s vulnerability in terms of raw material supply. Recycling is therefore "both an environmental imperative and a geopolitical strategy", Ms Roswall said, calling for "a real change in mindset in how Europe collects, dismantles, and processes this fast-growing e-waste mountain into a new source of wealth".
Depending on policy choices and investment levels, between 900,000 and 1.5m tonnes of critical raw materials could be recovered annually from WEEE by 2050, according to the FutuRaM report. In the "Circularity” scenario, the total amount of e-waste generated remains roughly at current levels, but the share of recovered materials rises significantly. This would require longer-lasting and repairable products, improved collection systems and "ambitious" technological advancement in recovery. The authors emphasise that such measures could reduce resource consumption without limiting material recovery.
The report highlights several ways to increase recovery rates: expanding and simplifying collection options, improving product design for dismantling, targeting components that contain high concentrations of critical raw materials, and investing in European recycling capacity. At the same time, policy frameworks should strengthen economic incentives – for example through eco-design rules, reparability and durability requirements, or economic incentives.
For Pascal Leroy, director-general of the WEEE Forum, unterlined the geopolitical and economic importance of CRM recovery. Without critical raw materials " we cannot build the batteries, turbines, chips, and cables that underpin Europe’s green and digital future. By mining our e-waste instead of the planet, Europeans have a powerful opportunity to build our own circular supply chains, reduce exposure to global shocks, and secure the building blocks of our future."
The report’s authors recommend integrating the findings into ongoing policy processes. They point to the EU Critical Raw Materials ACT (CRMA), which aims to cover one-quarter of demand through recycling by 2030, as well as the forthcoming revision of the WEEE Directive and the planned Circular Economy Act (CEA). "This report shows that urban mining is no longer a concept, it’s a business opportunity,” says Giulia Iattoni from Unitar (United Nations Institute for Training and Research), the lead author of the report and member of FutuRaM consortium. "New recycling facilities are opening across Europe, and demand from manufacturers is guaranteed. The challenge now is to scale collection and processing systems to make this potential a reality."
