International E-Waste Day returns on 14 October with a call to reuse and recover the scarce materials inside our electronic products.
The WEEE Forum has confirmed that the eighth International E-Waste Day will spotlight critical raw materials (CRMs) — the scarce elements needed for smartphones, electric vehicles, solar panels and printers. “These elements can be recovered from unused or broken electronic products sleeping in our drawers and attics,” the organisers explained.
A growing challenge
Global e-waste has reached record levels. In 2022, the world generated 62 million tonnes, of which less than a quarter was properly collected and recycled. The trend continues upward, fuelled by demand for new technology and short product lifecycles.
In Europe, the new Critical Raw Materials Act sets ambitious targets for 2030: 10% of CRM consumption is to be sourced domestically, 40% processed within the EU, and 25% supplied through recycling. A study by TNO, the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, suggests that selective recovery from e-waste could already contribute up to 31% of EU demand. But current WEEE legislation is weight-based, prioritising bulk materials such as plastics over trace elements. As a result, gold, palladium, rare earths and other CRMs are often lost.
The role of cartridges
For the imaging sector, the link is direct. Toner and inkjet cartridges contain plastics, aluminium, copper, chips and small amounts of rare metals. Quantities are tiny per unit, but across the hundreds of millions of cartridges sold each year, the CRM footprint is significant.
Remanufacturing preserves these materials. Each reused cartridge keeps plastics, circuitry, and contacts in circulation for another cycle. When reuse is no longer possible, high-standard European recycling can recover copper, aluminium, gold and palladium. Rare earth recovery is not yet commercially viable at scale in Europe, but policy pressure is driving investment in pilot plants.
This is why industry voices argue that cartridges show the principle clearly: reuse first, then recover. Exporting empties for low-grade shredding squanders valuable materials and undermines Europe’s CRM goals.
European capacity
Europe already has strong refining capacity for precious metals, through companies such as Umicore in Belgium, Aurubis in Germany and Boliden in Sweden. These plants can efficiently capture gold, silver, copper and palladium from e-waste streams. Aluminium recovery is long established.
The weaker spots are rare earths, cobalt and antimony. These are present in small quantities in cartridges but are difficult to extract economically. Most recovery today takes place in Asia, often with lower environmental standards. By contrast, keeping cartridges in Europe supports both compliance and the development of future recovery technology.
Consumers hold the key
The organisers of International E-Waste Day stress that legislation and technology alone are not enough. A joint WEEE Forum and UNITAR study found households own an average of 74 electrical items, of which many are unused or broken. The total weight of hoarded equipment is estimated at 10 million tonnes across Europe.
Most people have old phones, laptops, chargers and cartridges sitting in drawers. By returning them through official collection channels, consumers play a direct role in keeping CRMs in circulation.
Opportunity for the sector
For imaging consumables and equipment remanufacturers, International E-Waste Day presents an opportunity to highlight the industry’s role in the circular economy. Cartridges are one of the few waste streams with an established reuse system, proving that reuse is both practical and profitable.
The message is simple: keep cartridges in Europe, remanufacture where possible, and recover when reuse ends. In doing so, the sector contributes to Europe’s resource security and demonstrates that reuse-first is the most effective path to a circular economy.
Organisations, schools and businesses are invited to register their initiatives at weee-forum.org.
