Australia generated 588,000 tonnes of e-waste in 2023, and the amount is climbing faster than the amount recycled. This is a reference page for the key e-waste statistics for Australia and the world in 2026: how much we produce, how little is recovered, the value we bury, and the data and carbon cost behind the numbers. Every figure carries its source, and the full source list is at the end.
Australia generated 588,000 tonnes of e-waste in 2023, up 38% in a decade (Source: ABS). That works out to roughly 20 kg per person each year, about three times the global average (Source: DCCEEW). Globally, 62 million tonnes were generated in 2022 and only 22.3% was formally collected and recycled (Source: UNITAR). The materials buried rather than recovered are worth serious money: around $430 million is lost to Australian landfill in a single year of e-waste (Source: DCCEEW), and globally about $91 billion of metals sits in the stream with only $28 billion recovered (Source: UNITAR). The numbers below break each of these down.
A note on freshness, because it matters for a statistics page. The most recent national dataset is the Australian Bureau of Statistics Waste Account released in 2024, reporting 2023 figures, and the most recent government per-person figure was updated by the department in February 2026. Any page claiming newer "2026 e-waste statistics" is almost certainly citing these same datasets; the value is in citing them accurately and keeping the page current, which is what this one does. If you want the plain-English explanation behind the numbers, start with our guide to what e-waste is.
The figures people cite most, each from a named source. Full context follows below.
Australia generated 588,000 tonnes of e-waste in 2023, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Waste Account released in 2024. That is up from 511,000 tonnes in 2019, and up roughly 38% over the preceding decade. On current trends the figure is projected to reach about 657,000 tonnes by 2030. Per person, that is around 20 kg each year, which the department notes is about three times the global average, making Australia one of the highest per-capita generators of e-waste in the world.
| Australia: key figures | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| E-waste generated (2023) | 588,000 tonnes | ABS, Waste Account 2024 |
| E-waste generated (2019) | 511,000 tonnes | ABS |
| Projected generation (2030) | ~657,000 tonnes | ABS trend data |
| Growth over the decade | ~38% | ABS |
| Per person, per year | ~20 kg | DCCEEW, Feb 2026 |
| Materials lost to landfill, per year | ~$430 million | DCCEEW |
Why does the figure keep climbing? Three forces push it up year after year. The first is simply device density: Australian households and businesses own more electronics than ever, from multiple screens per person to a growing base of connected devices, and every one of them eventually retires. The second is shorter replacement cycles. Phones, laptops, and business hardware are refreshed faster than they used to be, and in 2026 the pace of technology change, including hardware upgraded to run new software and AI workloads, is compressing those cycles further. The third is that recycling capacity and participation have not kept up with the volume being generated, so the amount recovered lags the amount discarded.
That last point is the one worth dwelling on. The problem is not only how much e-waste Australia produces, but how much of it never reaches a proper recycler. Every device that goes into general waste, or sits forgotten in a drawer or storeroom, is both a lost opportunity to recover valuable material and, if it held data, an unmanaged security risk. The statistics on this page are national totals, but they are built from millions of individual decisions about what to do with one old device, which is where the numbers are actually won or lost.
The definitive global dataset is the UNITAR Global E-Waste Monitor 2024. It reports that the world generated 62 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022, and projects that will rise to 82 million tonnes by 2030. The uncomfortable part is the recovery rate: only 22.3% was formally collected and recycled in 2022. The report also notes that e-waste generation is rising about five times faster than documented recycling, so the gap is widening, not closing.
Australia sits well above the global average per person, at roughly 20 kg against about 7 kg globally. That is partly a wealth effect, more devices per household and shorter replacement cycles, and partly geography and recycling infrastructure. The direction, though, is the same everywhere: more generated each year, and recovery struggling to keep pace.
The reason e-waste is described as "urban mining" is that the discarded devices are denser in valuable metals than the ore dug out of the ground. UNITAR values the metals in the global e-waste stream at about $91 billion a year, of which only around $28 billion is recovered. The rest, roughly $63 billion, is lost. In Australia specifically, the department estimates about $430 million of materials is lost to landfill in a single year of e-waste, and separately that more than 90% of a typical device is recoverable material when it is recycled properly (Source: Clean Up Australia).
That recoverable value is exactly why proper IT disposal need not cost a business money, and can even return some through asset buyback. The value locked in retired equipment is the reason free business collection is economically possible at volume. Waste that has value behaves differently from waste that does not.
The statistics most businesses overlook are not about tonnes or dollars; they are about data. Retired devices carry information, and it does not leave just because the device did. In a widely cited study, data-recovery specialists found that 42% of second-hand drives bought online still contained recoverable data (Source: Blancco / Kroll Ontrack). Under Australian privacy law, that is not just embarrassing, it is a liability: serious or repeated interference with privacy under the Privacy Act 1988 can attract penalties of $50 million or more (Source: OAIC).
This is why e-waste and data security cannot be treated as separate problems for any organisation. An environmentally perfect recycling job that leaves recoverable data on the drives has solved the smaller risk and left the larger one intact. The real-world consequences, including a bank that paid US$95 million after decommissioned equipment left its control with data still on it, are documented in our IT disposal data breach case studies, and the fix is covered in our data destruction service.
| Data-security figure | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Used drives found with recoverable data | 42% | Blancco / Kroll Ontrack study |
| Maximum Privacy Act penalty (serious or repeated breach) | $50 million or more | OAIC, Privacy Act 1988 |
| Obligation to destroy data no longer needed | Australian Privacy Principle 11 | OAIC |
The final set of numbers explains why the waste hierarchy puts reuse above recycling. Most of a device's lifetime carbon is not spent while you use it; it is spent making it. A single laptop carries roughly 300 kg of CO2e of embodied production carbon, about 80% of it from manufacturing (Source: Circular Computing). Recycling recovers the materials, but reuse preserves everything that was already built, which is why keeping a working device in service is the single most effective thing you can do with it.
To put the laptop figure in everyday terms, roughly 300 kg of CO2e is about the same as driving a petrol car 1,200 km, or the amount around 14 trees absorb in a year. Keeping one laptop in use for an extra two years, instead of replacing it, avoids that manufacturing footprint entirely. That is the environmental case for the reuse-first approach we describe in our guide to recycling electronics in Australia.
Statistics drive policy, and Australia's e-waste rules have tightened as the numbers have grown. Australia has no single national landfill rule for e-waste, and the rules differ by state. Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia have banned e-waste from landfill. New South Wales has not introduced a blanket ban; instead it regulates business waste under the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997, and in 2025 passed the Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act, a product stewardship framework that extends responsibility across a product's life, including electronics.
Underpinning all of it nationally is the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme, the co-regulatory arrangement that funds free household recycling of televisions and computers and sets the recycling standard its recyclers must meet. For the detail on the standard that scheme uses, see our guide to the AS/NZS 5377 standard and e-waste certification.
| Rule or framework | What it does |
|---|---|
| National TV & Computer Recycling Scheme | Funds free household recycling of TVs and computers; sets the standard scheme recyclers must meet. |
| Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act 2025 (NSW) | Product stewardship framework extending lifecycle responsibility, including for electronics. Not an outright landfill restriction. |
| POEO Act 1997 (NSW) | Regulates how business waste, including e-waste, is stored, transported, and processed in New South Wales. |
| State landfill rules (VIC, SA, WA) | These states have banned e-waste from landfill outright. NSW has not. |
| Privacy Act 1988 (national) | Requires personal information no longer needed to be destroyed or de-identified, with penalties of $50 million or more for serious breaches. |
Behind the national totals sits every office refresh and every retired laptop. Three of these figures are really about your organisation.
Read together, the statistics make one argument: retired IT is simultaneously a data liability, a store of recoverable value, and a carbon decision, and handling it well addresses all three at once. That is what a certified disposal process is for. If you are turning any of these numbers into a policy, a board paper, or an ESG disclosure, the practical starting point is a documented, certified collection with per-device evidence, which is what our e-waste recycling service provides.
Every figure on this page comes from one of the following. We update the page as new datasets are published.
The e-waste figures people search for most, answered directly with sources.
Australia generated 588,000 tonnes of e-waste in 2023, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Waste Account released in 2024. That is up from 511,000 tonnes in 2019, growth of roughly 38% over the decade, and is projected to reach about 657,000 tonnes by 2030.
Around 20 kg per person each year, according to the department (DCCEEW, updated February 2026), which is about three times the global average of roughly 7 kg per person. That places Australia among the highest per-capita generators of e-waste in the world.
Globally, only 22.3% of e-waste was formally collected and recycled in 2022, according to the UNITAR Global E-Waste Monitor 2024. The report also notes that e-waste generation is rising about five times faster than documented recycling, so the recovery gap is widening.
The metals in the global e-waste stream are valued at about $91 billion a year, of which only around $28 billion is recovered (UNITAR 2024). In Australia, about $430 million of materials is lost to landfill in a single year of e-waste (DCCEEW). More than 90% of a typical device is recoverable material when recycled properly (Clean Up Australia).
Because retired devices still hold data. A Blancco and Kroll Ontrack study found 42% of second-hand drives bought online still contained recoverable data. Under Australia's Privacy Act 1988, failing to destroy personal information you no longer need can attract penalties of $50 million or more, which is why certified data destruction is essential before recycling.
Not nationally. Victoria, South Australia, and Western Australia have banned e-waste from landfill. New South Wales has not introduced a blanket ban; it regulates business waste under the POEO Act 1997 and passed the Product Lifecycle Responsibility Act in 2025, a product stewardship framework rather than an outright landfill restriction. Regardless of state rules, e-waste should never go to general waste.
A single laptop carries roughly 300 kg of CO2e of embodied production carbon, about 80% of it from manufacturing (Circular Computing). That is comparable to driving a petrol car around 1,200 km. Because most of the carbon is spent making the device, reusing a working laptop avoids far more emissions than recycling it for materials.
The Australian figures are from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. The global figures are from the UNITAR Global E-Waste Monitor 2024. Data-security and privacy figures are from the OAIC and a Blancco and Kroll Ontrack study, and carbon figures from Circular Computing and lifecycle analyses. Full source list is above.
ITC turns the numbers on this page into evidence for your organisation: certified data destruction, responsible recycling, and per-device certificates across Sydney and NSW.
