Display recycling sits within the wider e-waste system, but screens and monitors are tracked as their own category in major global assessments. In 2022, that category was estimated at 5.9 million tonnes worldwide, with 25% documented as formally collected and recycled; definitions vary, so collection, recycling, refurbishment and valorisation should be read separately.
Key Display Recycling Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- 5.9 million tonnes of screens and monitors were generated globally in 2022, according to the Global E-waste Monitor category estimate.
- 25% of global screens-and-monitors waste had documented formal collection and recycling in 2022, worldwide.
- 62 million tonnes of e-waste were generated globally in 2022, including screens and monitors.
- Global e-waste is forecast at 82 million tonnes in 2030, under the Global E-waste Monitor baseline outlook.
- Europe generated 13.838 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022, equal to 16.2 kg per person across the region.
- Europe’s documented formal e-waste collection and recycling rate was 40.2% in 2022, across all e-waste categories.
- Africa generated 3.551 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022, or 2.5 kg per person across 54 countries.
- The Americas generated 14.427 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022, or 14.1 kg per person across 36 countries.
- Asia generated 30.147 million tonnes of e-waste in 2022, or 6.4 kg per person across 49 countries.
- High-income countries averaged 3.5 screens and monitors in stock per person in 2022, including household, business and public-sector stock.
- Low-income countries averaged 0.1 screens and monitors in stock per person in 2022, using the same stock definition.
- The EU-wide WEEE collection rate was 40.6% in 2022, below the EU’s 65% target.
- EEE placed on the EU market reached 28 kg per person in 2022, up from 18 kg in 2015.
- The United States generated an estimated 2.7 million short tons of selected consumer electronics in 2018, a category that includes computer equipment and other products.
- The U.S. selected-consumer-electronics recycling rate was 38.5% in 2018, not a display-only rate.
- Santiago, Chile, discards approximately 315,000 LCD monitors annually, according to a municipal case study.
- The formal refurbishment and recycling sector managed an estimated 5% of discarded LCD monitors in the Santiago study, at the study baseline.
- A modeled Santiago cooperation scenario reached a 22% valorisation rate, rather than a measured citywide recycling result.
Contents
- Global display recycling volumes
- Regional display recycling data
- Global recycling rates and material recovery
- EU display and WEEE collection trends
- U.S. electronics recycling data relevant to displays
- LCD monitor recycling outcomes
Global Display Recycling Volumes
The Global E-waste Monitor estimated total global e-waste at 62 million tonnes in 2022, an 82% increase from 2010. That total covers every e-waste category, not just display equipment, while the screens-and-monitors category covers screens, monitors and equipment containing screens.
The same report estimated 5.9 million tonnes for screens and monitors in 2022. The category represented about 9.5% of the rounded 62-million-tonne global total, a derived share based on the report’s rounded figures; it should not be treated as a separately measured monitor-only series. The Global E-waste Monitor 2024
The report also recorded a 25% documented formal collection and recycling rate for screens and monitors in 2022. Its complement, about 75%, was not documented as formally collected and recycled, but that undocumented share does not prove that all of it went to landfill.
Global volume is still expected to rise. The report’s baseline projects 82 million tonnes of e-waste in 2030, 32% above the 2022 level; this is a forecast for all e-waste, not a screen-specific forecast.
UNCTAD provides a related but broader digitalization proxy: screens plus small information-technology and telecommunications waste reached 10.5 million tonnes in 2022, up 30% from 2010. Because the measure combines screens with small IT and telecommunications equipment, it is not interchangeable with the Global E-waste Monitor’s display category. Digital Economy Report 2024
For historical context, an earlier Global E-waste Monitor category series estimated 6.7 million tonnes of screens and monitors in 2019. The report cautions that category definitions should be checked before directly comparing this earlier figure with the 2022 estimate. The Global E-waste Monitor 2024
Regional Display Recycling Data
Regional figures below cover all e-waste categories unless explicitly stated otherwise. They show why a global display-recycling rate cannot be assumed to describe every market.
| Region and population | E-waste generated in 2022 | Per-capita amount | Documented formal collection and recycling |
|---|---|---|---|
| Africa, 54 countries | 3.551 million tonnes | 2.5 kg | 0.7% |
| Americas, 36 countries | 14.427 million tonnes | 14.1 kg | 30.0% |
| Asia, 49 countries | 30.147 million tonnes | 6.4 kg | 11.8% |
| Europe | 13.838 million tonnes | 16.2 kg | 40.2% |
The Americas documented 4.328 million tonnes as formally collected and recycled in 2022. Europe documented 5.341 million tonnes, while its 40.2% rate was the highest of the regional rates listed here; these are all-e-waste measures, not display-only results. The Global E-waste Monitor 2024
Screens-and-monitors stock also differs sharply by income group. Stock includes household, business and public-sector equipment, so it is not the same as annual waste generation or the number recycled.
| Income group | Screens and monitors in stock per person, 2022 |
|---|---|
| High income | 3.5 |
| Upper middle income | 0.9 |
| Lower middle income | 0.4 |
| Low income | 0.1 |
These stock estimates help explain why future waste pressures and collection systems may differ between economies, but they do not measure replacement rates, ownership by household or display recycling performance. The Global E-waste Monitor 2024
Global Recycling Rates and Material Recovery
The documented formal rate for screens and monitors was 25% in 2022. For comparison, the corresponding global rates for other e-waste groups were 34% for large equipment excluding photovoltaic panels, 27% for temperature-exchange equipment, 22% for small IT and telecommunications equipment, 12% for small equipment, 5% for lamps and 17% for photovoltaic panels.
| Global e-waste category | Documented formal recycling rate, 2022 |
|---|---|
| Screens and monitors | 25% |
| Large equipment, excluding photovoltaic panels | 34% |
| Temperature-exchange equipment | 27% |
| Small IT and telecommunications equipment | 22% |
| Small equipment | 12% |
| Lamps | 5% |
| Photovoltaic panels | 17% |
These are comparison categories, not substitutes for a display-only rate. Across all e-waste categories combined, the global documented formal recycling rate was 22.3% in 2022. The Global E-waste Monitor 2024
Material recovery potential is broader than realized display recycling output. The 2022 global e-waste stream contained about 31 million tonnes of metals, valued at approximately $91 billion; the valuation covers all e-waste metals and is not reported recycling revenue.
The same global stream contained about 17 million tonnes of plastic and about 14 million tonnes of glass, composite materials or other non-metal, non-plastic fractions in the UN summary. Only about 1% of demand for 17 rare-earth elements was met by e-waste recycling in 2022, a broader demand measure rather than a display-specific recovery rate. The Global E-waste Monitor 2024
EU Display and WEEE Collection Trends
EU statistics measure WEEE collection across electrical and electronic equipment, not screen-only recycling. The EU-wide collection rate rose from 38.6% in 2014 to 48.6% in 2019, then fell to 40.6% in 2022.
| EU measure | Earlier period | Later period |
|---|---|---|
| WEEE collection rate | 38.6% in 2014 | 48.6% in 2019; 40.6% in 2022 |
| EEE placed on market | 18 kg per person in 2015 | 28 kg per person in 2022 |
| WEEE collected | 11.6 million tonnes in 2014 | About 5 million tonnes in 2022* |
The historical WEEE comparison and the 2022 collected total come from different presentation tables; both cover all WEEE categories and should not be interpreted as a simple annual trend without checking the underlying methodology.
The 2022 EU collection rate was 24.4 percentage points below the 65% target under the WEEE Directive. EEE placed on the market increased 80% from 2015 to 2022, from 18 to 28 kg per person, while WEEE collected increased 54.7% over the same period. Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) collection rate
Eurostat reported about 5 million tonnes of e-waste collected in the EU in 2022, or 11.2 kg per person. For 2019, EU WEEE generated was 12 million tonnes, or 16.2 kg per person; the Commission’s historical comparison puts 2014 collected WEEE at 11.6 million tonnes, or 15.6 kg per person. Waste statistics – electrical and electronic equipment
U.S. Electronics Recycling Data Relevant to Displays
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s selected-consumer-electronics category is broader than displays. It includes televisions, VCRs, DVD players, video cameras, stereos, telephones and computer equipment, so its figures provide context for computer displays rather than a monitor-only recycling rate.
In 2018, the category generated an estimated 2.7 million U.S. short tons, less than 1% of U.S. municipal solid-waste generation. Its recycling rate was 38.5%.
| Year | Selected consumer-electronics generation | Selected consumer-electronics recycling |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 1.9 million tons | 190,000 tons |
| 2005 | — | 360,000 tons |
| 2010 | 3.12 million tons | 650,000 tons |
| 2015 | 3.10 million tons | 1.23 million tons |
| 2017 | 2.84 million tons | 1.02 million tons |
| 2018 | 2.7 million tons | 1.04 million tons |
The EPA table reports unavailable pathways with dashes rather than zeros. The series shows category-level changes in generation and recycling, but it cannot establish how many monitors were recycled in any year. Durable Goods: Product-Specific Data
LCD Monitor Recycling Outcomes
A peer-reviewed study of Santiago, Chile, supplies a more specific LCD example. It estimated that the city discards approximately 315,000 LCD monitors annually, while the formal refurbishment and recycling sector managed 5% of discarded LCD monitors at the study baseline.
The study modeled a cooperation scenario rather than measuring a citywide outcome. That scenario reached a 22% valorisation rate, and its environmental benefits averaged 10 times those of the current scenario across the study’s environmental assessment.
Formal treatments outperformed informal treatments in all 18 environmental impact categories evaluated. Refurbishment supplied between 76% and 99% of modeled environmental benefits across the study’s scenarios.
These findings distinguish several outcomes that are often conflated: valorisation is not identical to recycling, refurbishment is not identical to material recovery, and a modeled scenario is not the same as an observed collection rate. The Santiago results are a municipal case study and should not be generalized to all LCD monitors or all countries. Environmental assessment of formal and informal waste treatment of liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors