65 per cent of Europe's electronic waste is stolen or mismanaged
Electronic Waste Recycling
A two-year investigation found 65 percent of Europe’s electronic waste is stolen, mismanaged or illegally traded, costing the EU up to 1.7 billion euros a year in lost metals.
A two-year investigation into Europe’s electronic waste found that most of it is stolen, mismanaged, illegally traded, or just plain thrown away. The European Union has guidelines on how to correctly dispose of unwanted electronics, but according to a report by the United Nations University and INTERPOL, only 35 per cent of electronic waste was disposed of correctly in 2012.
Criminals absconded out of Europe with 1.3 million tonnes of undocumented equipment, such as laptops, circuit boards and refrigerators. The loss of functional components or the precious metals inside cost the European Union up to 1.7 billion euros each year, the researchers said.
An additional 4.7 million tonnes of electronics were mismanaged or illegally traded inside Europe. That means toxic materials that can be harmful to the environment or to people’s health, such as lead, cadmium and mercury, are not being disposed of safely.
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E-Waste Recycling Systems
Europe loses up to 1.7 billion euros a year in precious metals to stolen and mismanaged e-waste. Klean recovers those metals — and the plastics — through safe, licensed e-waste recycling that keeps value in the formal economy.
Klean recovers gold, copper, rare earth and other high-value metals from electronic waste with safe, compliant deconstruction.
Why Choose Klean Industries’ E-Waste Recycling?
✅ Maximum Metal Recovery – Capturing precious metals otherwise lost to theft and dumping.
✅ Safe & Compliant Processing – Removing lead, cadmium and mercury without harm to people or environment.
✅ Circular Economy Solutions – Returning recovered materials to the supply chain.
✅ Industry-Leading Recycling Technology – Deconstruction and metal recovery at commercial scale.
Looking to recover the metals locked in your electronic waste?
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