The short answer. The world produced a record 62 million metric tons of e-waste in 2022 and documented the proper recycling of just 22.3% of it, and Georgia's 2005 statewide waste study found electronics made up about 2% of what went into its landfills. American Resources collects and recycles electronics from businesses across metro Atlanta.
Every figure on this page is stated in one sentence with its source, in the units the source uses. The Global E-waste Monitor reports its figures in metric tons. EPA and the Georgia sources report theirs in US tons, and the two are never combined on this page.
#The world
In 2022 the world produced 62 million metric tons of e-waste, the most ever recorded. The Global E-waste Monitor 2024 puts it as "A record 62 million tonnes (Mt) of e-waste was produced in 2022."
Only 22.3% of that mass was documented as properly recycled: "less than one quarter (22.3%) of the year's e-waste mass was documented as having been properly collected and recycled in 2022."
The Monitor projects 82 million metric tons in 2030, "on track to rise another 32%, to 82 million tonnes, in 2030."
Generation is outrunning recycling: "The world's generation of electronic waste is rising five times faster than documented e-waste recycling."
The yearly increase is 2.6 million metric tons: "the annual generation of e-waste is rising by 2.6 million tonnes annually."
The materials not recovered in 2022 had a value the Monitor states as "US$ 62 billion worth of recoverable natural resources unaccounted for."
Recycling supplies almost none of the rare earth elements that electronics need: "Just 1% of rare earth element demand is met by e-waste recycling."
#The United States
EPA's most recent product-specific figures are for 2018. That year the United States generated 2.7 million tons of what EPA calls selected consumer electronics, meaning "TVs, VCRs, DVD players, video cameras, stereo systems, telephones and computer equipment," a figure EPA describes as "2.7 million tons, representing less than 1 percent of all MSW generation."
Of that, 38.5% was recycled: "In 2018, the rate of selected consumer electronics recycling was 38.5 percent."
Where the rest went is not recorded: "EPA does not currently have information on the amount of selected consumer electronics that facilities combusted with energy recovery or sent to landfills in 2018."
#Georgia
Georgia's population was 11,302,748 on July 1, 2025, by the Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate.
The most recent statewide study of what goes into Georgia's landfills that we found is the Georgia Statewide Waste Characterization Study, published June 22, 2005. Its Table 4-2, on page 4-9, gives the statewide composition of landfilled municipal solid waste in tons disposed a year, based on 2004 EPD facility reports.
| Material, as the 2005 study lists it | Tons disposed | Share of landfilled MSW |
|---|---|---|
| Televisions | 3,785 | 0.1% |
| Computers | 8,720 | 0.1% |
| Other Electronics | 117,286 | 1.8% |
| All landfilled MSW in the study | 6,685,002 | 100.0% |
Together the three electronics rows come to 129,791 tons, about 2% of the 6,685,002 tons the study counted; the percentage is computed from the printed tons, and the study itself prints 0.1%, 0.1% and 1.8%.
One estimate, and the only derived figure on this page. EPA counted 2.7 million tons of selected consumer electronics generated nationally in 2018, and the Census Bureau put the U.S. population at 327,167,434 on July 1, 2018, which works out to about 16.5 pounds per person that year. At the same rate, Georgia's 11,302,748 people in 2025 would generate about 93,000 tons of selected consumer electronics a year. That applies a 2018 national rate to a 2025 state population, it covers only EPA's "selected consumer electronics," a narrower set than the three electronics rows of the 2005 study, and so the two Georgia figures are not comparable.
Georgia's landfill bans cover lead-acid batteries, whole tires and yard trimmings; electronics are not on the list., The Department of Natural Resources rule says no landfill may accept "lead acid batteries, radioactive waste, or regulated quantities of hazardous waste," and names no electronics.
Georgia adopts the federal universal waste rule, which covers batteries and lamps among other things, by reference: the federal regulation "is incorporated into §391-3-11-.18 of the Georgia Rules for Hazardous Waste Management by reference."
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs says that "about 40 percent of what Georgians set out as 'garbage' could have been recycled." That figure is for all recyclable material, not electronics alone.
The same page puts a cost on it: "Georgians collectively pay more than $100 million to bury raw materials worth nearly $300 million to manufacturers," according to the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, on a page that carries no date.
#Batteries and fire
EPA's 2021 study of battery fires in the waste stream "found 64 waste facilities that experienced 245 fires that were caused by, or likely caused by, lithium metal or lithium-ion batteries." In the report's words, "The included fires occurred between 2013 and 2020 in 28 states and in all 10 EPA Regions."
EPA's position on the batteries themselves: "Most lithium-ion batteries when discarded would likely be considered ignitable and reactive hazardous wastes (carrying the waste codes D001 and D003, respectively)."
#Data destruction
The reference document for wiping or destroying data-bearing media is NIST Special Publication 800-88 Revision 2, Guidelines for Media Sanitization, published September 26, 2025, which supersedes Revision 1 of December 2014. It describes three levels of sanitization: Clear, Purge and Destroy. It is guidance, not a law.
#What the numbers mean for an Atlanta business
Most of the world's e-waste is never documented as recycled, and no Georgia landfill ban names electronics, so what happens to a retired device depends on who a business hands it to. American Resources provides electronics recycling with hard drive destruction for businesses across metro Atlanta. The guides on this site cover the Georgia rules and the practical steps, device by device.
