Tocco Report: Electronic Waste 2030

Mapping the Desirable Afterlife of Electronics

Electronic waste has become the dark twin of digital progress. For every smartphone sold, every server installed, and every upgrade demanded by modern life, there is a corresponding discard, heavier, more toxic, and harder to ignore. And the numbers don't lie: in 2022, the world generated 62 million tonnes of e-waste, yet barely 22% entered formal recycling channels. The rest was lost to informal handling, storage, or landfill.

Electronic waste is, therefore, quite a defining challenge of material intelligence. It is where circular promises face industrial limits. It is where innovation must prove itself at scale. And the stakes are high. By 2030, global e-waste will reach an estimated 82 million tonnes. Whether that future reads as a mounting liability or a reclaimed resource depends on choices now unfolding across boardrooms, policy circles, and design studios.This report by Tocco team maps those decisions, highlighting the signals that matter for manufacturers, investors, and policymakers.