Estimation of the Generation and Value Recovery from E-waste Printed Circuit Boards: Bangladesh Case Study

This article analyses Bangladesh export–import data to quantify historically generated e-waste from four types of discarded electronic devices (mobile phones, TVs, tablets, and computers/laptops) and uses the trends to predict the generation of e-waste from these devices up to 2030. From this data, together with estimated redundancy rates, printed circuit board (PCB) masses, metal content, and value based on characterisation of indicative samples, the potential value of e-waste was evaluated. Through processing the PCBs in Bangladesh, metals including Cu, Ag, Au, Pd, and Sn worth more than US$2.4 billion till 2020 could be recovered. This value could reach US$7 billion when forecasted to 2030. The potential value varies mainly with the fluctuating metal prices in the international market.