$12 Billion
is spent annually
to identify new virgin
deposits
EPA, 2011
80%
of all platinum group metal &
rare earth mining
took place
in the last
30 Years
WRAP, 2012
In 2009, More Than
80%
of US consumer
e-waste was
land filled
EPA, 2010
Recycling metals
requires
10% of the
energy
used for
mining metals
UNU, 2009
Less Than
1%
of rare earth metals are
currently recycled
EPA, 2011
Every day,
US consumers dispose of
Enough TVs
to fill
more than
600 trucks
EPA, 2011
There are more
rare earth metals
in land filled electronics than in
all known
global reserves
Nature Materials, 2011
More than
a billion
cell phones
are sold
every year
Gartner, 2012
Sourcing metals for electronics
produces
more than
30 million
tons of CO2
every year
UN, 2009
One Third
of the silver and copper mined
globally
is used to
produce electronics
UN, 2009
1 ton
of cell phones contains
as much gold as
70 tons
of gold ore
UNU, 2009
Guiyu, the global capital of e-waste,
has the
highest ever
recorded levels
of dioxins
ES&T, 2007
Electronic waste is the
fastest growing
waste stream
in the world
EPA, 2008
Copper disposed
annually in
e-waste
is equivalent to
a third of
global copper
production
European Commission, 2009
Less than
15%
of global e-waste
undergoes
any form of
recycling
GIS Watch, 2010
Guiyu, China
receives
4000 tons
of e-waste
every hour
ES&T, 2009
81%
of the energy a
computer consumes comes from its
production
rather than
its use
UNU, 2004
Every day,
US consumers dispose of
enough cell phones
to cover
over 50
football fields
EPA, 2011
70% of all
toxic metals
in US
landfills
come from
e-waste
