Gestión y tratamiento de residuos | Waste Management & Treatment FuturEnviro | Julio-Septiembre July-September 2020 www.futurenviro.es 42 En concreto, según la ONU, en 2019 se generaron 53,6 millones de toneladas de residuos de aparatos eléctricos y electrónicos (RAEE) en todo el mundo, es decir 7,3 kilos per cápita, un 21% más que en 2014, todo un récord. Se estima que esta cifra alcanzará los 74 millones de toneladas en 2030, prácticamente el doble que hace cinco años. Por regiones, la mayor parte de los desechos electrónicos se generaron en Asia (24,9 millones de toneladas), pero Europa es el continente que genera más en kilos per cápita (16,2 kg). Sin embargo, en 2019 sólo el 17,4% de los desechos electrónicos mundiales se recogieron y reciclaron adecuadamente, lo que significa que 44,3 millones de toneladas de estos residuos se depositaron en vertederos, se incineraron o se comercializaron ilegalmente y se trataron de forma deficiente. Europa es el continente con el mayor índice de reciclaje de residuos electrónicos, el 42,5% de los generados en 2019. En el resto, esta cifra se reduce considerablemente: Asia, con un 11,7%, América y Oceanía con un 9,4% y 8,8%, respectivamente, mientras que África ocupó el último lugar con apenas un 0,9%. Esta fotografía se produce a pesar de que el 71% de la población mundial, según los últimos datos disponibles, reside en países que disponen de una legislación específica sobre residuos electrónicos. En 2014, esta ratio era del 44%. Sin embargo, esta cobertura de población sólo representa a 78 de los 193 países existentes, ya que incluye a China e India, dos de los más poblados del mundo. La conclusión, es que menos de la mitad de todos los países de nuestro frágil planeta cuenta con legislación en esta materia. According to the United Nations, 53.6 million tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) was generated worldwide in 2019. This is the equivalent of 7.3 kg per capita, 21% higher than in 2014, a new all-time high. The figure is estimated to reach 74 million tonnes by 2030, almost double the quantity of five years ago. By region, Asia produces the most e-waste (24.9 million tonnes) but Europe is the continent with the highest figure per capita (16.2 kg). In 2019, just 17.4% of e-waste worldwide was collected and recycled properly, meaning that 44.3 million tonnes of WEEE was landfilled, incinerated or illegally traded and inadequately treated. Europe is the continent with the highest e-waste recycling rate, 42.5% of WEEE produced in 2019. The figure is significantly lower in other continents. Asia has a recycling rate of 11.7%, America and Oceania have rates of 9.4% and 8.8% respectively, while Africa has the lowest rate, just 0.9%. And this occurs despite the fact that, according to the latest available data, 71% of the world population lives in countries where e-waste is governed by specific legislation, compared to 44% in 2014. However, this percentage of the population lives in just 78 of the 193 countries on the planet, including China and India, two of the world’s most populated countries. The conclusion is that less than half of the countries on our fragile planet have specific legislation in this area. The figure of 71% is also misleading because it may give the impression that little remains to be done in terms of regulating e-waste management. However, in many countries, policies are set out in texts that are merely roadmaps and not legally binding. Moreover, even in countries with legally binding policies, everything depends on the degree of enforcement, as well as on institutional stimulation for private investment in order to grow the recycling sector. In Europe, where the mandatory annual recycling target is 65% of the average weight of electronic equipment placed on the market in the three preceding years, compliance rates vary considerably, from 12% in Malta and 26% in Cyprus to 79% in Bulgaria and 82% in Estonia. The scenario described by the UN is, therefore, one in which there is a great loss of fundamentally important, and in many cases critical, raw materials for the supply chain. Indeed, the value of raw materials contained in the e-waste produced in 2019 amounts to roughly 50,800 million euro. It is a matter of urgency to RESIDUOS ELECTRÓNICOS: UN RECURSO CRECIENTE, INFRAUTILIZADO Y VALIOSO La velocidad con la que se suceden los avances tecnológicos y el modelo de consumo de “usar y tirar” han desbordado nuestra capacidad de asimilar los residuos electrónicos que generamos. Esta es la conclusión de la última edición del informe Global E-waste Monitor de la ONU, que vuelve a incidir, como ya lo hiciera en la anterior, en que estos residuos son un recurso creciente, infrautilizado y valioso. Por lo tanto, de su gestión depende que se conviertan en protagonistas de una crisis ambiental o en impulsores de un giro radical a nuestro actual sistema productivo y de consumo. ELECTRONIC WASTE: A GROWING, VALUABLE BUT UNDERUTILISED RESOURCE The speed of technological progress and a consumption model based on “use and throw” has overwhelmed our capacity to assimilate the electronic waste we produce. This is the conclusion of the latest UN Global E-waste Monitor report, which, like the previous report, again emphasises that e-waste is a growing, valuable but underutilised resource. Therefore, management of this waste will determine whether it plays a leading role in an environmental crisis or whether it becomes the driver of a radical turnaround in our current system of production and consumption.
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