Rising Toxic Piles of E-Waste Amid Rapid Technology Obsolescence Raises a Red Flag, Prodding Regulatory Authorities to Take Timely Action & Tighten Recycling Norms

The global market for Electronics Recycling is projected to reach US$42.9 billion by 2025, driven by rapid technology obsolescence and shorter product replacement cycles, concerns pertaining to environmental degradation and health due to e-waste, urgent need for stringent end-of-life regulations and the ensuing tightening of recycling norms.

Since electronic waste (e-waste) or e-scrap represents one of the world’s fastest growing waste streams, its recycling is being promoted with the promise of reclaiming valuable materials such as platinum, gallium, gold, silver and copper from the recycled electronics. While e-waste has been a part of the waste management industry for a long time, the speed and volume of discarding old devices has increased at alarming proportion only in the recent years, thanks mainly to the shortened product lifecycles of electronic devices. Continuously evolving technology and emerging innovations are driving proliferation of consumer electronics, including smartphones and tablets, and consumers are persistently looking to upgrade their devices by either trading for new ones or discarding the old ones. Also with the entry of low manufacturing cost countries such as India, China and Brazil into electronics production and the subsequent slump in cost of portable devices, replacement of consumer electronics has become more frequent than ever leading to multifold rise to e-waste. Other growth promoting factors for e-recycling include growing concern among people with regard to hazardous electronic wastes, encouragement from governments across the world for proper recycling of e-waste and increased certification in the area of e-waste management.

Recycling of e-waste that generally consists of recycling processes that convert disposed obsolete electronic products such as computers, television sets, mobile phones, refrigerators and other electronic entertainment products, from energy-based downstream processes or other traditional recycling processes that convert equipment into raw form, constitute the crux of the industry working. There is fast adoption of innovative technologies due to industrialization and rapid urbanization in developed as well as developing economies. Advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) are resulting in increased use of electronic devices in almost every human activity. Consequently, electronic devices are being produced in large numbers, which would lead to generation of significant amount of waste, in turn driving the electronic recycling market. Medical complications such as Wilson’s disease, bronchitis, and kidney damage are on the rise due to improper discharge of toxic substances from incineration of electronic scrap. This issue is expected to drive the need for more efficient techniques for electronic scrap management. Moreover, possibility to reclaim precious metals from recycling of electronic scrap is a feasible and attractive option that is poised to influence growth of the market positively. The growth in the market will also benefit from the formulation of eScrap guidelines by several governments across the world. Growing number of environmental initiatives is also a major growth factor.

As stated by the new market research report on Electronics Recycling, Europe represents the largest market worldwide, supported by stringent government policies pertaining to e-waste management. Asia-Pacific ranks as the fastest growing market with a CAGR of 13.8% over the analysis period. Increasing disposable income in the region’s developing and developed economies, and growing adoption of electronic devices are the key growth market drivers in the Asia-Pacific region. Several tons of electronic waste is generated in all major developing countries in the region, including Singapore, South Korea, India and China, on a daily basis.

Major players in the market include AERC Recycling Solutions, Aurubis AG, Boliden Group, Dlubak Glass Company, Enviro-Hub Holdings Ltd., Cimelia Resource Recovery Pte Ltd., Exitcom Recycling GmbH, Fortune Group, Good Point Recycling, MBA Polymers, Inc., Sims Metal Management Ltd., Stena Technoworld AB, Ultromex Ltd., Umicore N.V., URT, and Zak Enterprises, among others.

The research report titled “Electronics Recycling - Market Analysis, Trends, and Forecasts” announced by Global Industry Analysts Inc., provides a comprehensive review of market trends, issues, drivers, mergers, acquisitions and other strategic industry activities of global companies. The report provides market estimates and projections for Electronics Recycling in value terms for all major geographic markets such as United States, Canada, Japan, Europe (France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain, Russia and Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Rest of World.

Global Industry Analysts, Inc. 6150 Hellyer Ave., San Jose CA 95138, USA, All Rights Reserved.

For enquiries e-mail us at rsd@strategyr.com or info411@strategyr.com.

For cutting edge analyst reviews on top industries, follow us on Twitter and connect with us on LinkedIn