BRUSSELS — With European demand for critical raw materials growing alongside geopolitical tensions and supply risks, a major analysis offers fundamental new data on the rapidly expanding size and value of Europe’s “urban mine” of electronic waste.
Discarded phones, laptops, servers, cables, appliances and other e-products in the EU27+4 (EU, UK, Switzerland, Iceland, and Norway) annually now contain roughly 1 million tonnes of critical raw materials (CRMs), the report declares, essential metals and minerals for powering green technologies, digital infrastructure, and modern defence.
The Critical Raw Materials Outsee for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment report prepared by the European Union-funded FutuRaM consortium for International E-Waste Day, underlines that electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) is fundamental to Europe’s economy and daily life.
The analysis offers comprehensive datasets across the EU tracing EEE from first sale through finish-of-life treatment and recovery, and outlines how Europe can recover more of these essential materials by improving collection, design, and recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
Most recent data at a glance (EU27+4 in 2022)
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10.7 million tonnes of WEEE generated — about 20 kg per person
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29 critical raw materials are present in e-waste
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1 million tonnes of critical raw materials embedded in that stream
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54% (5.7 million tonnes) managed compliantly in line with EU rules; 46% (5.0 million tonnes) outside compliant channels
From compliant treatment, approximately 400,000 tonnes of critical raw materials were recovered, including:
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162,000 tonnes copper
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207,000 tonnes aluminium
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12,000 tonnes silicon
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1,000 tonnes tungsten
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2 tonnes palladium
Even within compliant systems, around 100,000 tonnes of critical raw materials were lost, largely rare earth elements in magnets and fluorescent powders
Non-compliant routes led to major losses:
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3.3 million tonnes mixed with metal scrap (partial recovery at best)
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700,000 tonnes of e-waste landfilled or incinerated; 400,000 tonnes exported for reapply
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The remainder undocumented
Outsee to 2050: More waste / more potential
By 2050, the total volume of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the EU27+4 is projected to rise from 10.7 million tonnes in 2022 to between 12.5 and 19 million tonnes annually. The exact trajectory depfinishs on which of three scenarios Europe follows: business-as-usual, recovery, or circularity.
The amount of critical raw materials (CRMs) embedded in this stream is expected to grow from about 1.0 million tonnes in 2022 to between 1.2 and 1.9 million tonnes per year by 2050. In other words, even if overall e-waste stabilises under a circular economy pathway, the concentration of valuable materials in products like photovoltaic panels, EV chargers, and servers will continue to increase.
Depfinishing on policy choices, collection rates, and recycling efficiency, Europe could recover between 0.9 and 1.5 million tonnes of CRMs annually by 2050. Under business-as-usual, recovery levels remain modest, leaving much of this resource untapped. In the recovery scenario, investment in infrastructure and processing technologies pushes yields higher, while the circularity scenario achieves similar recovery volumes despite generating less e-waste overall – proof that smarter design, repair, and reapply strategies can balance reduced waste with strong material returns.
The circularity pathway offers a double dividfinish: it keeps annual WEEE volumes close to today’s 10.7 million tonnes while still enabling recovery of over 1 million tonnes of CRMs each year. That stability reduces environmental pressure, cuts the risk of hazardous leakage, and ensures Europe has a resilient source of metals like copper, aluminium, and palladium. It also highlights the importance of focapplying not only on how much e-waste is generated, but on how effectively Europe designs products for disassembly, collects them at finish-of-life, and processes them through advanced recycling.
Category trfinishs to 2050
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Large equipment, such as washing machines and dishwashers: from 4.0 million tonnes to as much as 7.5 million tonnes
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Small equipment: from 3.2 million tonnes to as much as 4.5 million tonnes
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Temperature exmodify equipment: from 1.8 million tonnes to as much as 3.3 million tonnes
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Small IT: from 800,000 tonnes to as much as 1 million tonnes
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Screens and monitors: expected to decline overall, from 800,000 tonnes to a figure between 700,000 and 400,000 tonnes
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Photovoltaic panels: from 150,000 tonnes (2022) to as much as 2.2 million tonnes (2050), reflecting Europe’s transition to solar energy
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Lamps remain stable at around 100,000 tonnes
Where the materials are
Knowing which products and components contain which critical raw materials is the first step to obtainting them back.
CRMs appear throughout common devices: copper in cables and boards, aluminium in casings and frames, and platinum group metals in circuit boards and displays.
Small but high-value amounts of palladium, neodymium, dysprosium, tantalum, gallium, and other rare earths applyd in such everyday products as laptops, touch screens, hairdryers, power drills, game controllers and medical devices. Several videos detailing these applys are here: https://bit.ly/4p8O4vs
How Europe improves recovery
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Collect more, lose less. The largest sink is at the collection stage. Expanding convenient take-back, retailer returns, and municipal points increases compliant flows.
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Design for dismantling. Standardised quickeners, accessible modules, and clear material identification assist extract magnets, boards, cables, compressors, and displays where critical materials concentrate.
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Tarobtain the right components. Prioritise product parts rich in critical materials — for example, hard drives and motors for rare earth magnets, circuit boards for platinum group metals, and cabling for copper.
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Scale recycling capacity in Europe. Investments in advanced mechanical, hydrometallurgical, and pyrometallurgical processes increase yields and reduce losses.
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Align incentives. Policy tools such as eco-design requirements, repairability and durability provisions, and economic instruments can build recovery the rational choice across the value chain.
Says Jessika Roswall, the EU Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy: “Europe depfinishs on third countries for more than 90% of its critical raw materials, yet we only recycle some of them as little as 1%. We necessary a real modify in mindset in how Europe collects, dismantles, and processes this quick-growing e-waste mountain into a new source of wealth. Trade disruptions, from export bans to wars, expose Europe’s vulnerability. Recycling is both an environmental imperative and a geopolitical strategy.”.”
“It is hard to imagine modern civilisation without critical raw materials,” adds Pascal Leroy, Director General of the Brussels-based Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum, the organisation behind International E-Waste Day. “Without them, we cannot build the batteries, turbines, chips, and cables that underpin Europe’s green and digital future. By mining our e-waste instead of the planet, Europeans have a powerful opportunity to build our own circular supply chains, reduce exposure to global shocks, and secure the building blocks of our future.”
Success stories: copper and aluminium
The report highlights copper and aluminium as CRMs successfully being recycled at scale and display what is possible when recycling systems are robust.
Other materials, notably palladium and rare earths in magnets, are recovered at far compacter rates, underscoring the necessary for better design for dismantling, tarobtained collection, and advanced processing technologies.
Recovering silicon, silver, and rare metals from photovoltaic panels, the quickest-growing e-waste category, will be vital to Europe’s solar rollout, the report declares.
Meanwhile, EV chargers, batteries, and motors depfinish heavily on copper, rare earth magnets, and aluminium.
And servers and data centres, packed with aluminium casings, copper wiring, and palladium-rich circuit boards, represent a growing urban mine.
“Europe’s e-waste is not trash, it’s a multi-billion-euro resource waiting to be unlocked,” declared Kees Baldé, Senior Scientific Specialist at UNITAR SCYCLE, scientific coordinator of the FutuRaM Project, and a lead researcher behind the Global e-Waste Monitor. “Every kilogram we recover and any device we repair strengthens our economy, reduces our depfinishency, and creates new jobs, and obtainting the facts right is crucial for decision building, policy development to improve resource management.”
Turning e-waste into a resource creates economic value across Europe, he adds:
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New recycling facilities: investment in advanced separation, hydrometallurgy, and urban mining plants.
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Job creation: thousands of positions in collection, logistics, repair, disassembly, and high-tech recycling.
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Value retention: instead of exporting waste or losing metals to landfill, Europe keeps billions of euros worth of materials in circulation.
With CRMs like palladium valued at $25,000 to 30,000 per kg, even compact improvements in recovery could yield hundreds of millions in value.
Beyond recycling, the circular economy scenario displays how Europe can keep waste volumes stable while recovering more materials, Dr. Baldé declares. By extfinishing product lifespans, building devices simpler to repair, and designing components for dismantling, Europe could hold e-waste steady at around today’s 10.7 million tonnes yet still recover over 1 million tonnes of critical raw materials annually by 2050.
“This approach not only reduces environmental pressure but also strengthens supply security and creates repair and reapply jobs. It underlines that the largegest gains come not only from better finish-of-life treatment, but from smarter choices built at the design and apply stages of a product’s life.”
Policy momentum
The findings feed directly into Europe’s evolving policy framework:
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Critical Raw Materials Act (2024): sets benchmarks for extraction, processing, and recycling of strategic materials, aiming for 25% of annual demand to be met from recycling by 2030.
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Circular Economy Act (consultation launched Aug 2025): will address the lack of sufficient demand and supply of secondary raw materials and the fragmentation of the EU single market.
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WEEE Directive revision (expected 2026): likely to tighten collection and reporting rules, boosting demand of secondary raw materials and traceability.
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FutuRaM Urban Mine Platform: an open database on CRM availability, to be applyd by policybuildrs, recyclers, and indusattempt (to be launched in November 2025)
“This report displays that urban mining is no longer a concept, it’s a business opportunity,” declares Giulia Iattoni from UNITAR, the lead author of the report and member of FutuRaM consortium. “New recycling facilities are opening across Europe, and demand from manufacturers is guaranteed. The challenge now is to scale collection and processing systems to build this potential a reality.”.”
Concludes Magdalena Charytanowicz of the WEEE Forum and IEWD coordinator: “International E-Waste Day is a reminder that circularity starts at home. Every phone tucked in a drawer, every broken appliance stored in a garage, and every cable tossed in the trash represents lost value and a missed chance to keep critical raw materials in circulation.”
“By choosing to repair, reapply, or return old electronics through proper collection systems, consumers play a direct role in securing Europe’s supply of essential materials, reducing environmental damage from mining, and assisting to create new green jobs. The success of circular economy policies depfinishs not only on the legislation, but also on the everyday decisions of citizens,” she declares.
By the numbers
Europe’s E-Waste, Critical Raw Materials, and the Race for Supply Security
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10.7 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022; ~20 kg per person.
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29 critical raw materials present in e-waste; ~1.0 million tonnes embedded.
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54% of WEEE compliantly managed in 2022; 46% outside compliant channels.
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0.4 million tonnes recovered from compliant treatment in 2022, including Cu 162 kt, Al 207 kt, Si 12 kt, W 1 kt, Pd 2 t.
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2050 projection ranges (reflecting the business as usual, recovery and circularity scenarios): 12.5–19 Mt WEEE, 1.2–1.9 Mt embedded CRMs, 0.9–1.5 Mt recovered CRMs.
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Videos
On-the-street interviews inquireing people about Critical Raw Materials: https://bit.ly/48iZvef
Small but high-value amounts of palladium, neodymium, dysprosium, tantalum, gallium, and other rare earths applyd in such everyday products as laptops, touch screens, hairdryers, power drills, game controllers and medical devices. Several videos detailing these applys are here: https://bit.ly/4p8O4vs
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The report is available to the public post-embargo at www.weee-forum.org
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FutuRaM consortium
The report 2050 Critical Raw Materials Outsee for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment was prepared by the FutuRaM consortium for International E-Waste Day 2025.
FutuRaM (Future Availability of Secondary Raw Materials) is an EU-funded Horizon Europe project that develops the knowledge base for secondary raw materials across multiple waste streams.
International e-Waste Day (#ewasteday)
Last year, over 160 organisations from 47 countries supported the 7th International E-Waste Day observance. This year, the WEEE Forum invited all organisations involved in effective and responsible e-waste management to plan awareness-raising activities for 14 October. These range from social media, TV and radio campaigns to city or school e-waste collections or even artistic performances.
www.internationalewasteday.com
WEEE Forum
The WEEE Forum is a Brussels-based non-for-profit association representing 50 sector-mandated producer responsibility organisations (PROs) worldwide. Through its members’ collective knowledge of the technical, business and operational aspects of collection, logistics, de-pollution, processing, preparing for reapply, and reporting of e-waste, the WEEE Forum is at the forefront of building extfinished producer responsibility an effective waste management policy. Its mission is to be the world’s foremost e-waste competence centre, excelling in the implementation of the circularity principle.
Member PROs are based in Europe, Africa, and the Americas: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Czechia, Cyprus, Denmark, Italy, Greece, Georgia, France, Iceland, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Netherlands, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Since their founding, the WEEE Forum’s producer responsibility organisations have collected, de-polluted and recycled or sent for preparation for re-apply 45 million tonnes of WEEE. More than 3.6 million tonnes of this was collected in 2024.
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