COPENHAGEN: Environmental experts report shows that Denmark has produced 41.8 million tones of so-called e-waste in 2014, mostly fridges, washing machines and other domestic appliances at the end of their life — was dumped, it said. That’s the equivalent of 1.15 million heavy trucks, forming a line 23,000 kilometres (14,300 miles) long, according to the report, compiled by the United Nations University, the UN’s educational and research branch.
In 2013, the e-waste total was 39.8 million tonnes — and on present trends, the 50-million-tonne mark could be reached in 2018. Globally, Denmark produced the fourth-largest amount of per-capita waste last year, with 24 kilos per inhabitant. Topping the the list for per-capita waste last year was Norway, with 28.4 kilograms per inhabitant, followed by Switzerland (26.3 kg per capita) and Iceland (26.1 kilos).
The biggest producers after fourth-place Denmark were Britain (23.5 kilos), the Netherlands (23.4 kilos), Sweden (22.3 kilos), France (22.2 kilos) and the United States and Austria (22.1 kilos per person each). The region with the lowest amount of e-waste per inhabitant was Africa, with 1.7 kilos per person. It generated a total of 1.9 million tonnes of waste.
