National Geographic: Each U.S. Family Trashes 400 iPhones’ Worth of E-Waste a Year
According to "The Global E-Waste Monitor 2017", a collaborative initiative between the United Nations University, the International Telecommunications Union, and the International Solid Waste Association, e-waste will grow 17% by 2021 to 52.2 million metric tonnes. E-waste will become the fastest growing part of Earth's domestic waste. To put this in perspective, the average American household's contribution would be a pile of 176 pounds of electronics waste in your living room. Collectively, the world throws away at least $55 billion in recoverable materials by failing to recycle e-waste. This means we are essentially wasting a lot of nonrenewable and valuable materials like gold, silver, copper, platinum, and more.
US News: More Than 260,000 Tons of E-Waste Collected in New York
According to the NY Department of Environmental Conservation, more than 260 thousand tons of electronic waste has been collected in the first six years of New York's e-waste recycling program. New York has also given over $3 million in grants to help local communities cover their recycling expenditure. New York has also made putting electronics in the trash illegal to discourage citizens from contributing to the growing e-waste problem. Moreover, it has tried to make recycling easier by coordinating local collection events, drop-off locations, pick-ups, and more.