Electronic waste is no longer treated merely as an environmental problem resulting from the disposal of old devices; it has become a potential source of the metals and raw materials needed by technology industries. According to an analysis issued by the Information and Decision Support Center of the Cabinet, the economic value of the metals contained in e-waste generated worldwide in 2022 reached approximately $91 billion, while current management of this waste produced only an estimated $28 billion worth of secondary raw materials.
This type of waste includes smartphones, computers, televisions, household and medical equipment, and other electrical and electronic equipment that has reached the end of its operational life or that owners no longer wish to use. These devices combine potentially harmful materials, such as lead and mercury, with economically valuable metals, including gold, copper, nickel, and certain rare metals.
A Wide Gap between Value and Recovery
The world generated approximately 62 billion kilograms of e-waste in 2022, averaging 7.8 kilograms per person. However, a large proportion is still managed outside formal collection and recycling systems, resulting in the loss of recoverable metals, in addition to the risks of burning, landfilling, and unsafe processing.
The value of the iron contained in this waste is estimated at approximately $24 billion, aluminum at approximately $4 billion, and copper at approximately $2 billion, alongside precious metals and critical raw materials. Data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, based on estimates by the U.S. Geological Survey, indicate that recycling one million mobile phones can recover approximately 35,000 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium.
The importance of recycling is not limited to reducing environmental impact; it has become linked to resource security and raw-material supply chains. Under the Critical Raw Materials Act issued in 2024, the European Union aims to meet 25% of its annual needs for strategic raw materials through recycling by 2030. However, recycling activities for rare earth elements currently supply only approximately 1% of global demand for them, due to technical and economic challenges.
Small Devices and Limited Recycling Rates
Small devices, such as toys, microwave ovens, and vacuum cleaners, account for approximately one-third of global e-waste, equivalent to nearly 20 billion kilograms, but their formal recycling rate does not exceed 12%. Waste generated by small information and communication technology equipment amounts to approximately 5 billion kilograms, and only about 22% of it is officially documented as having been collected and recycled.
Regional differences reveal the scale of the gap: the formal collection and recycling rate in Europe reached 42.8% in 2022, compared with only 0.7% in Africa. In addition, 81 countries, representing approximately 42% of the world’s countries and covering nearly 72% of its population, have adopted policies, legislation, or regulations specifically addressing e-waste, while the growth of regulatory frameworks has slowed in recent years.
Egypt Builds a Local Value Chain Framework
In Egypt, Waste Management Regulation Law No. 202 of 2020 provides a basis for handling hazardous waste, regulating its circulation, treatment, and licensing, and requiring generating entities to keep records of disposal methods and the entities with which they contract. The Ministry of Environment has also formalized the status of a number of informal-sector facilities, bringing the infrastructure to 38 licensed e-waste recycling plants and five plants specializing in cable recycling.
Participation in government and private auctions for the sale of e-waste is limited to accredited entities, while in 2024 a $9.13 million grant from the Global Environment Facility was directed toward reducing emissions resulting from unsafe practices. Efforts also included reviewing and evaluating 27 plants to improve recycling efficiency.
To collect devices from consumers, Egypt launched the “E-Tadweer” application in 2021 as part of a partnership between the government, the United Nations Development Programme, and the private sector. The application encourages people to hand over old devices to safe collection points in exchange for economic incentives. Household waste accounts for approximately 23% of the total e-waste generated annually in Egypt.
What Is Changing in Practice?
The proposed transition focuses on a different sequence for handling a device after it is no longer in use: collecting it and tracking its path, then repairing or refurbishing it and extending its life, followed by recycling it and recovering its materials. In this context, Egypt participated in the “Switching to Circular Economy Value Chains” project (SWITCH2CE), funded by the European Union and the Government of Finland and implemented through the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and launched the “One Circle” pilot model in the telecommunications and information technology sector.
The model included a network-equipment repair line in cooperation with Nokia and a smartphone refurbishment center in cooperation with Orange Egypt. By 2025, the initiative had collected 10,222 kilograms of e-waste and directed it to licensed local recycling companies; helped avoid approximately 235,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide or carbon-dioxide equivalent; created more than 60 green jobs; and refurbished and reintroduced more than 1,300 smartphones with certified warranties.
The importance of this system is increasing with the expansion of clean energy: e-waste generated by photovoltaic panels is expected to rise from 0.6 billion kilograms in 2022 to 2.4 billion kilograms in 2030. The volume of e-waste and used electrical and electronic equipment shipped across borders reached 5.1 billion kilograms in 2022, of which 3.3 billion kilograms moved from high-income countries to middle- and low-income countries through uncontrolled or undocumented movements.
The most important takeaway for Egypt is that the existence of plants and regulatory rules alone is not sufficient to transform waste into an industrial resource. Returns depend on increasing formal collection, limiting leakage into informal channels, developing technologies to recover critical metals, and linking repair, refurbishment, and recycling operations to local electronics industries. The analysis provides a clear foundation for this direction, but it does not determine the volume of e-waste in Egypt or the value of metals that can be recovered locally—data needed to assess economic feasibility more accurately.