European households that produce the most e-waste

Christmas is right around the corner and Brits across the country have already begun shopping for their loved ones.

One of the most popular Christmas ‘gifts’ will be electronic products, but as people receive their new smartphones, TVs, and computers, ‘old’ models will undoubtedly contribute towards the growing problem that is e-waste (electronic waste).

In 2019 alone, there were 53.6 million tonnes (Mt) of electronic waste globally according to statistics from the United Nations (UN). This is equivalent to the weight of 350 cruise ships the size of the Queen Mary two!

Interested in electronic waste, Clearitwaste.co.uk utilised e-waste data from the Global E-Waste Statistics Partnership and household composition data from the United Nations to calculate, out of 39 European countries, who produces the most e-waste on average per household each year.

Which European Country Produces the Most E-Waste Per Household?

Clearitwaste.co.uk found that Norwegians are the biggest culprits in Europe when it comes to e-waste, as the average amount generated per household is 57kg annually. That is the same weight as six small business printers.

The UK is in the second position – British households are guilty of producing 55kg of e-waste per year. Considering that there are 27.8 million households in the UK, the collective e-waste in the country could potentially be 1,529,000,000kg – the equivalent weight of 1,174,347 city cars*!

Irish households produce an average of 52.4kg of e-waste every year and therefore are in third spot. Irish household e-waste is comparable to the weight of five adult bicycles.

In fourth place is Switzerland – the Swiss generate 51.5kg of e-waste per household. With 3.8 million private households in Switzerland, the overall household e-waste in the country could equate to 195,700,000kg – approximately the same weight as 11 submarines*.

Other European countries whose households produce more than 45kg of e-waste include Spain (49.4kg), Netherlands (47.5kg), Cyprus (47kg), France (46.2kg) and Luxembourg (45.4kg), respectively ranking fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth.

On the other end in 39th position is Moldova. Moldovans hold the crown of generating the least e-waste in Europe at an average of 11.6kg per household each year. The e-waste weight per household in Moldova is in proportion to the weight of nine empty 1.7 litre plastic kettles.

Additionally, Clearitwaste.co.uk consulted energy specialists SaveonEnergy.com/uk/ for their top tips on how YOU can reduce e-waste this Christmas:

1) Sell ‘old’ working electronics online

Many will undoubtedly get new electronic devices this Christmas. Instead of binning or letting the ‘old’ electronic devices be forgotten about in your cupboards until they no longer work properly, consider selling them online.

There are a vast number of reputable online selling platforms and recycling websites that could pay you a handsome sum for the electronics that you don’t intend to use again.

2) Repurpose old electronics

Just because you have been gifted the newest version of an electronic for Christmas, your old device doesn’t have to become redundant.

Think about how you can reuse it for some other purpose – for instance, why not use your old smartphone as a GPS, music player, or universal remote control. Overtime, repurposing old electronics could save you a fortune and reduce the harmful impact on our planet!

3) Make eco-conscious decisions when gifting

Retailer offers and discounts in the run-up to Christmas can be very enticing but always ask yourself ‘does the person I want to gift this item to really need it’?

This thought-process is especially important when considering electronic gift purchases because the ‘new’ model might not necessarily be better than the existing model. It may look and sound fancier, but if it doesn’t really improve the recipient’s experience by that much more, why buy it?

More about Irish Tech News and Business Showcase here.
FYI the ROI for you is => Irish Tech News now gets over 1.5 million monthly views, and up to 900k monthly unique visitors, from over 160 countries. We have over 860,000 relevant followers on Twitter on our various accounts & were recently described as Ireland’s leading online tech news site and Ireland’s answer to TechCrunch, so we can offer you a good audience!

Since introducing desktop notifications a short time ago, which notify readers directly in their browser of new articles being published, over 50,000 people have now signed up to receive them ensuring they are instantly kept up to date on all our latest content. Desktop notifications offer a unique method of serving content directly to verified readers and bypass the issue of content getting lost in people’s crowded news feeds.

Drop us a line if you want to be featured, guest post, suggest a possible interview or just let us know what you would like to see more of in our future articles. We’re always open to new and interesting suggestions for informative and different articles.

Contact us, by email, twitter or whatever social media works for you and hopefully, we can share your story too and reach our global audience. We are agile, responsive, quick and talented, we look forward to working with you!

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at [email protected] or on Twitter: @SimonCocking