UN Report names top 10 countries with highest per-capita E-waste rates

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): The United Nations report on global e-waste indicates that Norway topped the list of countries with highest per-capita e-waste rates in 2014. The US was eighth in the list. The report titled “The Global E-Waste Monitor” also notes that nearly 90% of the world’s electronic waste is illegally traded or dumped.

Norway generated nearly 161,000 tons of e-waste during 2014. The e-waste weight generated per inhabitant in the country amounted to 62.4 pounds. The country that was ranked second in terms of per-capita e-waste generated during 2014 was Switzerland. The per-capita e-waste generation by Switzerland totaled 58.0 pounds per person. The country generated 235,000 tons of e-waste during 2014. In third place was Iceland with a very tiny population. The country generated 10,000 tons of e-waste during 2014, resulting in per-capita e-waste generation of 57.3 pounds during the year.

In fourth place is again a European nation, Denmark with total e-waste volumes of 149,000 tons during the year with a per-capita rate of 52.9 pounds per person. The UK featured in the fifth slot, generating 1.665 million tons of e-waste volumes and recording a per-capita rate of 51.8 pounds per person.

The Netherlands’ per-capita e-waste rate during the year stood at 51.4 pounds per inhabitant. With total volumes of e-waste at 434,000 tons, the Netherlands was the sixth country with the highest per-capita rate for electronic waste. In seventh place was Sweden with e-waste volume of 237,000 tons and per-capita rate of 48.9 pounds.

The US generated 7.8 million tons of e-waste during 2014. The county, with a per-capita e-waste generation rate of 48.7 pounds per person, was eighth in the list. In ninth spot was France with per-capita rate of 48.7 pounds. The country generated over 1.5 million tons of e-waste during the entire year. Austria also found place in the top ten list by producing around 207,000 tons of e-waste during 2014 with a per-capita e-waste rate at 48.5.