E-waste in the circular economy
- Submission status
- Open
- Submission deadline
Discarded electronic components, also known as e-waste, represent the majority of the hazardous solid waste produced worldwide. According to the United Nations University, 53,6 million metrics tons of e-waste were generated in 2019, and a 30% increase is expected by 2030. E-waste recycling is an important part of the Economy in developing countries and is key to increase the sustainability of electronic devices that often rely on the exploration of rare earth elements. Data shows however that more than 80% of e-waste is not adequately treated, which negatively impacts the surrounding environment and the health of exposed populations, thus highlighting the need to reduce e-waste and improve its management.
This Collection welcomes original research on new strategies to recycle and re-utilize e-waste, as well as sustainable alternatives to the current electronic components.
This Collection supports and amplifies research related to SDG 11 and SDG 12.
Editors
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Abhishek Kumar Awasthi
Nanjing University, China
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Giuseppe Granata
KU Leuven - Group T, Belgium
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Benjamin P. Wilson
Aalto University, Finland
Abhishek Kumar Awasthi is an Associate Research Scientist at the School of Environment, 
Nanjing University, China. His academic and major research interests include sustainable waste management, electronic waste & circular economy, and question linked how to solve the informal sector issues in waste management. Dr Awasthi has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2021.
Giuseppe Granata is an Associate Professor at KU Leuven Group T. 
His research focuses on the development of technologies to recover inorganic values from primary and secondary resources. Specifically, he applies concepts of hydrometallurgy, electrochemistry and mechanochemistry to achieve the extraction and recovery of inorganic values. As part of his research activities, he also performs techno-economic assessments of chemical/hydrometallurgical processes via flowsheet simulation. Dr Granata has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2023.
Benjamin P. Wilson is a Staff Scientist at the School of Chemical Engineering of Aalto University, Finland. 
He has over 20 years of experience in the areas of materials, sustainability, and the circular economy of metals. His areas of interest include battery recycling and process waste valorisation. Dr Wilson has been an Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports since 2022.
