Smartphones, tablets and laptop computers play a major role in the lives of billions of people in the world, but when it's time to upgrade to the latest model, what happens when you get rid of your outdated device?

A new study and interactive map produced by the United Nations-backed Solving the E-Waste Problem Initiative (StEP) details where electronic waste is coming from, where it ends up and makes predictions on the volume of e-waste we are likely to see in the future.

The amount of e-waste produced today is staggering. In 2012 almost 48.9 million metric tons of e-waste was generated globally, the StEP researchers found, an amount that averages out to about 7 kilograms per person.

In three years' time, the StEP study predicts that there will be enough e-waste - things like end-of-life televisions, refrigerators, mobile phones, computers, electronic toys or anything else with a battery or electrical cord - to fill 40-ton trucks in a line that could nearly wrap around the equator.

By 2017 the researchers predict the total annual volume of e-waste to be 65.4 million metric tons - nearly a 33 percent volume increase over what was generated in 2012. The weight of all those discarded electronics is nearly equivalent to 200 Empire State buildings or 11 Great Pyramids of Giza.

"Although there is ample information about the negative environmental and health impacts of primitive e-waste recycling methods, the lack of comprehensive data has made it hard to grasp the full magnitude of the problem," said United Nations University's Ruediger Kuehr, the executive secretary of the StEP Initiative.

"We believe that this constantly updated, map-linked database showing e-waste volume by country together with legal texts will help lead to better awareness and policy making at the public and private levels."

The e-waste produced and disposed of in the US was a large element of the study. Along with China, the US is a top contributor to e-waste as both a producer and a consumer of electronic goods. On average, each American is responsible for almost 30 kilograms of e-waste each year, compared to China's per capita figure of 5.4 kg.

Mobile phones made up the largest percentage of any one US e-waste item, and televisions and computer monitors make up the bulk of the weight of US e-waste.

The researchers said their work highlights ongoing challenges in collecting data on e-waste "such as a lack of consistent definitions for categorizing and labeling used electronics and their components, minimal regulatory oversight, and limited agreement on the definitions of end uses (i.e., reuse vs. recycling)."

Four top recommendations by the study authors are:

  • Create trade codes for used electronic products to enable better tracking and distinction of shipments for example only for repair
  • More open access to shipment level trade data to enable more accurate analyses of export flows
  • Greater reporting of re-export destinations to improve the accuracy of final destinations
  • Track flows over multiple years to discern trends.