The Regional E-waste Monitor for the Arab States 2021

The Regional E-waste Monitor for the Arab States 2021 provides an assessment of statistics, legislation, and management infrastructure of e-waste in Algeria, Bahrain, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, The State of Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

The e waste generation in the region increased by 61 per cent from 1.8 Mt (4.9 kg/inh) in 2010 to 2.8 Mt (6.6 kg/inh) in 2019. The largest e-waste generator is Saudi Arabia, with 13.2 kg/inh of e-waste, while the lowest is Comoros (0.7 kg/inh), which reflects the vast diversity of the region.

The Arab States collected and managed a total of 2.2 kt (0.01 kg/inh) of e-waste in 2019, which equates to a collection rate of 0.1 per cent. This takes place in Jordan, the State of Palestine, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Egypt has seven licensed treatment facilities for e-waste, but it was unable to provide official data on the amount of e-waste collected and managed.

No specific e-waste legislation is in place in any State in the region. However, most of the Arab States have well-developed legal and regulatory frameworks in the field of waste management and/or more specifically on hazardous waste, which should also apply to e-waste. The United Arab Emirates is the only country in the region that, as of 2021, applies the principle of extended producer responsibility for e-waste and batteries waste, and Jordan and Lebanon are in the process of establishing an EPR system for e-waste.

Managing e-waste presents an economic opportunity for the region as, in 2019, e-waste generated among Arab States represented a total value of USD 3 billion in secondary raw materials.

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Date: 2021.12.30

Location: Bonn and Geneva