E-Waste: Where Your Old Electronics Actually Go
Not "away." A global tracking effort has followed the trail, and it's less "recycling plant" and more "wherever no one's watching" than most people assume.
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The scale of the problem
The world generated about 62 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022 — roughly the weight of every commercial airliner ever built, several times over. According to the UN's Global E-waste Monitor, only about 22% of it was formally collected and properly recycled.
Where the Other 78% Ends Up
The rest is landfilled, incinerated, or processed informally — often by hand, in countries with little regulation, exposing workers (sometimes children) to lead, mercury, and cadmium in the process.
Source: UN Global E-waste Monitor 2024 (UNITAR/ITU), 2022 data.
The frustrating part: that unrecycled e-waste contains real recoverable value — gold, copper, and other materials the UN estimates at over $60 billion a year globally, sitting in landfills instead of being recovered.
What to actually do with your old electronics
- Still works? Sell it or donate it. This is the single highest-value option — it skips the recycling process entirely by keeping the device in use.
- Broken, but a known brand? Check the manufacturer's take-back program (Apple, Best Buy, and others run their own certified recycling).
- Batteries specifically? Call2Recycle has drop-off locations at many retailers and never belongs in household trash.
- Everything else? Look for an R2 or e-Stewards certified recycler near you — these certifications specifically require safe, traceable processing instead of exporting the problem elsewhere.
Before it becomes e-waste...
Check if it's worth selling first — a working device is worth more in someone else's hands than in any recycling stream.
Check What It's Worth on eBayGood enough, not perfect
You don't need to research certifications for every gadget. Just remember the order: sell or donate first, manufacturer take-back second, certified recycler last resort — and never household trash.