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Circular Economy 2022, 1(2): 100011 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cec.2022.100011
Original Research | Open Access | Issue | Published: 16 September 2022

Disentangling the worldwide web of e-waste and climate change co-benefits

Show Author's Information Narendra Singha,  Oladele A. Ogunseitanb,c( )
Environmental Science Center, Decarbonisation and Resource Managemental, British Geological Survey, Nottinghamshire, Keyworth, NG12 5GG, UK
Department of Population Health & Disease Prevention, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
World Institute for Sustainable Development of Materials (WISDOM), University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
Keywords:
Sustainability, Carbon emissions, Public health, Electronic waste, Materials life cycle
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Singh N, Ogunseitan OA. Disentangling the worldwide web of e-waste and climate change co-benefits. Circular Economy, 2022, 1(2): 100011. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cec.2022.100011
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

The benefits of consumer electronic products have transformed every societal sector worldwide. However, the adverse impacts of electronic waste (e-waste) disproportionately affect low-income communities and marginalized ecosystems in nations with economies in transition. The embodied carbon footprint of new electronic products, especially information and communications technology (ICT) devices, is an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for 67% ± 15% of total lifetime emissions, instigated by mineral mining, manufacturing, and supply chain transportation. We estimate that between 2014 and 2020, embodied GHG emissions from selected e-waste generated from ICT devices increased by 53%, with 580 million metric tons (MMT) of CO2e emitted in 2020. Without specific interventions, emissions from this source will increase to ~852 MMT of CO2e annually by 2030. Increasing the useful lifespan expectancy of electronic devices by 50%–100% can mitigate up to half of the total GHG emissions. Such outcomes will require coordination of eco-design and source reduction, repair, refurbishment, and reuse. These strategies can be a key to efforts towards climate neutrality for the electronics industry, which is currently among the top eight sectors accounting for more than 50% of the global carbon footprint.


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About this article

Disentangling the worldwide web of e-waste and climate change co-benefits

Show Author's information Narendra Singha, Oladele A. Ogunseitanb,c( )
Environmental Science Center, Decarbonisation and Resource Managemental, British Geological Survey, Nottinghamshire, Keyworth, NG12 5GG, UK
Department of Population Health & Disease Prevention, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA
World Institute for Sustainable Development of Materials (WISDOM), University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA

Abstract

The benefits of consumer electronic products have transformed every societal sector worldwide. However, the adverse impacts of electronic waste (e-waste) disproportionately affect low-income communities and marginalized ecosystems in nations with economies in transition. The embodied carbon footprint of new electronic products, especially information and communications technology (ICT) devices, is an important source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for 67% ± 15% of total lifetime emissions, instigated by mineral mining, manufacturing, and supply chain transportation. We estimate that between 2014 and 2020, embodied GHG emissions from selected e-waste generated from ICT devices increased by 53%, with 580 million metric tons (MMT) of CO2e emitted in 2020. Without specific interventions, emissions from this source will increase to ~852 MMT of CO2e annually by 2030. Increasing the useful lifespan expectancy of electronic devices by 50%–100% can mitigate up to half of the total GHG emissions. Such outcomes will require coordination of eco-design and source reduction, repair, refurbishment, and reuse. These strategies can be a key to efforts towards climate neutrality for the electronics industry, which is currently among the top eight sectors accounting for more than 50% of the global carbon footprint.

Keywords: Sustainability, Carbon emissions, Public health, Electronic waste, Materials life cycle

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Publication history

Received: 26 June 2022
Revised: 01 August 2022
Accepted: 22 August 2022
Published: 16 September 2022
Issue date: December 2022

Copyright

© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Tsinghua University Press.

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

Narendra Singh acknowledges support from the School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, where he was associated from 2018 to 2021. Oladele Ogunseitan acknowledges support from Lincoln Dynamic Foundation's World Institute for Sustainable Development of Materials (WISDOM) which he co-directs.

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This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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