"GENEVA - The world is losing the battle against electronic waste, a U.N. expert said on Wednesday, after a report found 62 million metric tons of mobile phones and devices were dumped on the planet in just one year - and this is expected to increase by a third by 2030.
Electronic waste, also known as e-waste, consists of any discarded items containing an electric plug or a battery. It can contain toxic additives and hazardous substances such as mercury, and represents an environmental and health hazard.
"These goods are often not easy to repair. They easily become waste and hence global waste generation is increasing," said Kees Baldé, senior scientific specialist for the Sustainable Cycles Programme at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).
"The increases of the e-waste mountain are faster than the increases in the recycling efforts of this e-waste ... We are simply losing the battle.""
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