About 6.9 million metric tons of e-waste was produced in the U.S. alone in 2019. That’s about the same weight as 19 Empire State Buildings. Of that, only about 15% was collected for recycling.
Until products like phones and tablets are made to last much longer, Apple, Google, Samsung and others could do more to fix this problem of e-waste, and consumers need to be more responsible when buying and discarding their devices.