Let’s unveil the thematic focus of the 2025 edition of EWWR. 🥁🥁🥁 Drum roll… waste electrical and electronic equipment (widely known as WEEE or e-waste).

But why WEEE?

The amount of WEEE generated every year in the EU is increasing rapidly. It is now one of the fastest-growing waste streams. It includes a wide range of devices such as mobile phones, computers, televisions, fridges, household appliances, lamps, as well as medical devices and photovoltaic panels.

This waste contains a complex mixture of materials, some of which are hazardous. If not managed properly, discarded devices can cause major environmental and health problems. Modern electronics also contain rare and expensive resources, including critical raw materials, which can be recycled and re-used if the waste is effectively managed.

Source: https://environment.ec.europa.eu

Some facts:

In the EU:
📌 14.4 million tonnes of electrical & electronic equipment are put on the market annually.
📌 5 million tonnes of WEEE are collected.
📌 11.2 kg of WEEE is collected per person.

The latest figures are from 2022 and can be found on Eurostat.

EWWR 2025

Our goal during EWWR 2025 is to raise awareness of the negative impacts of this type of waste. We aim to highlight the importance of reusing and repairing devices before discarding them but especially of reducing the demand for new electronic and electrical equipment fostering more sustainable and less-resource-demanding consumption and production patterns. By doing so, we can preserve valuable materials, which are costly not only for the environment but also for human health when extracted.

In an increasingly technological world, let’s be mindful of our footprint.