Africa formally recycles less than 1% of its e-waste
Share of e-waste documented as formally collected and recycled, by region, 2022.
Africa's documented e-waste collection and recycling rate in 2022, the lowest of any region.
Only 13.8 of the world's 62 million tonnes of e-waste was documented as recycled in 2022.
On current trends the global rate falls to 20% by 2030 as e-waste climbs to 82 million tonnes.
the numbers
| Documented recycling rate (%) | |
|---|---|
| Europe | 42.8 |
| Oceania | 41.4 |
| Americas | 30.0 |
| World | 22.3 |
| Asia | 11.8 |
| Africa | 0.7 |
source notes & method
Documented formal collection and recycling only; informal recycling (large in Africa and Asia) is not counted. Regional rates and the 2030 business-as-usual projection from the GEM 2024 highlights and UNITAR press release: https://unitar.org/about/news-stories/press/global-e-waste-monitor-2024-electronic-waste-rising-five-times-faster-documented-e-waste-recycling. Latest edition; data year 2022. 13.8 Mt recycled is derived (22.3% × 62 Mt). 2030 figure is the GEM 2024 business-as-usual projection.
Published 3 Nov 2026
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