RT Report
T1 Future E-Waste Scenarios
A1 United Nations Environment Programme, 
A1 United Nations University, 
A2 Parajuly, Keshav
A2 Kuehr, Ruediger
A2 Awasthi, Abhishek Kumar
A2 Fitzpatrick, Colin
A2 Lepawsky, Josh
A2 Smith, Elisabeth
A2 Widmer, Rolf
A2 Zeng, Xianlai
K1 electronic waste
K1 waste management
K1 waste
K1 E-waste
K1 Waste management
PB Solving the E-waste Problem (StEP) Initiative; United Nations University; United Nations Environment Programme
SN 978-92-808-9106-5
SN 978-92-808-9107-2
YR 2019
FD 2019
LK https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/30809
UL https://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/30809
NO UNU-Vie SCYCLE, StEP Initiative, and UNEP IETC have been working on E-Waste issues greatly and initiated an activity to assess the foresight challenges in the E-Waste stream to develop policy-level discussions on the challenges and opportunities ahead. Under the business-as-usual scenario, the amount of E-Waste will be more than doubled by 2050; “The complicated nature of production, use, and disposal of electronics require significant changes in order for the processes to become sustainable”. This paper maps several dimensions of the e-waste problem and provides a snapshot into future challenges. It looks into what we can anticipate into how the use of e-products and management of e-waste could evolve. The goal is to initiate public discussions on these unforeseen challenges and opportunities, in order for the political agendas of governments and businesses to address such issues early on.
DS UN Environment Document Repository
RD Sep 16, 2026