computerlaptopbattery.com Laptop Power & Mobile Computing

Statistics

Computer Reuse and Recycling Statistics: Six Regional Snapshots

Computer reuse and recycling statistics from Japan, Europe, Ireland, UK government, Kenya and historical U.S. consumer electronics data.

November 12, 2026 8 min read computerlaptopbattery.com Editorial Team

Contents

Computer reuse and recycling statistics in Japan: producer take-back collection and recycling rates

Japan’s FY2024 producer take-back figures distinguish collection volume from the manufacturer recycling rate. Under the Resource Utilization Promotion Law, the reported collections included approximately 42,000 desktop computer bodies and approximately 130,000 notebook computers. The same system recorded approximately 4,000 CRT display units and approximately 104,000 LCD displays. These are units collected through the producer system, not a count of every computer or display recovered across Japan. (Japan Ministry of the Environment, FY2026 report)

Device collected in FY2024Approximate units
Desktop computer bodies42,000
Notebook computers130,000
CRT display units4,000
LCD displays104,000

For those manufacturers’ take-back flows, the reported recycling rates were 81.4% for desktop computer bodies and 74.2% for notebook computers. Display rates were 75.5% for CRT displays and 77.7% for LCD displays. The recycling-rate measure is the report’s manufacturer recycling rate (再資源化率); it should not be read as a national recovery rate for all devices. (Japan Ministry of the Environment, FY2026 report)

Device categoryManufacturer recycling rate in FY2024
Desktop computer bodies81.4%
Notebook computers74.2%
CRT displays75.5%
LCD displays77.7%

Japan’s report also notes that computers are collected under the Small Home Appliances Recycling Law. That means the producer take-back counts above describe a specific collection route. They do not include every channel, and the legal minimum recycling targets are thresholds rather than measured results. (Japan Ministry of the Environment, FY2026 report)

Computer reuse and recycling statistics in Europe: desktop and laptop or tablet disposal routes

Eurostat’s 2024 results describe what people said happened to an old device, so the percentages are shares of people rather than shares of device units. For old desktop computers in the EU, 15% reported recycling one, 9% giving it away or selling it, 19% keeping it in the household and 2% throwing it away. These reported routes do not have to sum to 100%. (Eurostat, Digitalisation in Europe – 2026 edition)

EU respondents’ reported route for an old desktop computer, 2024People
Recycled15%
Gave away or sold9%
Kept in household19%
Threw away2%

Country comparisons identify the Netherlands as having the highest reported share of people recycling old desktops, at 28%; Sweden followed at 26%. Those are country-level people-based responses, not device recovery rates. (Eurostat, Digitalisation in Europe – 2026 edition)

The laptop or tablet category is combined in this publication. Across the EU, 11% of people reported recycling an old laptop or tablet in 2024, 12% gave it away or sold it, 34% kept it at home and 1% threw it away. The high household-retention response describes storage or keeping; it does not establish what eventually happened to those devices. (Eurostat, Digitalisation in Europe – 2026 edition)

EU respondents’ reported route for an old laptop or tablet, 2024People
Recycled11%
Gave away or sold12%
Kept at home34%
Threw away1%

Greece had the largest reported EU share recycling an old laptop or tablet, at 20%, followed by Denmark at 19%. As with desktops, these country comparisons concern people’s reported routes and should not be interpreted as proportions of all laptops or tablets in circulation. (Eurostat, Digitalisation in Europe – 2026 edition)

Computer reuse and recycling statistics in Ireland: retention, resale and recycling of personal ICT devices

Ireland’s Central Statistics Office reports disposal responses among internet users. For old laptops or tablets, 58% of Irish internet users said they kept the device in the household, 9% said they sold or gave it away, and 15% reported electronic-waste recycling. The laptop/tablet measure combines the 2 device types. (CSO Ireland, Sustainability of Personal ICT Devices 2024)

For desktop computers, the available figure here is 24% of internet users reporting electronic-waste recycling. The infographic transcript supplies this desktop recycling figure separately, but does not provide the same three disposal routes for desktops in the checked observations. That difference in available categories means the desktop value should be read on its own, rather than as a complete desktop disposal profile. (CSO Ireland, Sustainability of Personal ICT Devices 2024)

Together, the laptop/tablet observations show that household retention was the most commonly reported of these three listed routes, with sale or giveaway and e-waste recycling also reported. The figures are percentages of internet users, not percentages of device units, and they do not establish the later fate of devices kept at home. (CSO Ireland, Sustainability of Personal ICT Devices 2024)

Computer reuse and recycling statistics in UK government: ICT waste, reuse and recycling

UK government reporting covers ICT waste broadly, rather than computers alone. Reported total waste volume was 1,722 tonnes in 2020 to 2021, 2,322 tonnes in 2021 to 2022, 1,800 tonnes in 2022 to 2023, 1,491 tonnes in 2023 to 2024 and 955 tonnes in 2024 to 2025. The series gives the reported amount of ICT waste for departments in scope; it does not by itself explain why the totals changed between periods. (UK Government, Greening Government Commitments ICT Annual Report 2024 to 2025)

Reporting periodTotal government ICT waste volume
2020 to 20211,722 tonnes
2021 to 20222,322 tonnes
2022 to 20231,800 tonnes
2023 to 20241,491 tonnes
2024 to 2025955 tonnes

The report’s outcome shares track reuse and recycling separately. In 2020 to 2021, 51% of reported ICT waste was reused and 41% recycled. In 2021 to 2022, the shares were 54% reused and 39% recycled. The 2022 to 2023 figures were 41% reused and 50% recycled. (UK Government, Greening Government Commitments ICT Annual Report 2024 to 2025)

In 2023 to 2024, 34% was reported as reused and 63% as recycled; in 2024 to 2025, 37% was reused and 62% recycled. The reuse measure excludes reuse within government, as described in the report. These percentages concern government ICT waste broadly, not only computer equipment. (UK Government, Greening Government Commitments ICT Annual Report 2024 to 2025)

Reporting periodICT waste reusedICT waste recycled
2020 to 202151%41%
2021 to 202254%39%
2022 to 202341%50%
2023 to 202434%63%
2024 to 202537%62%

For 2024 to 2025, the report’s category breakdown records 1,599 laptop donations, 21,988 laptop resales and 28,764 laptops recycled among departments providing that breakdown. These unit counts are not a complete inventory: the report says not all departments can provide category-level figures, and the breakdown totals do not align with the overall totals. The report describes the figures as best estimates. (UK Government, Greening Government Commitments ICT Annual Report 2024 to 2025)

Computer reuse and recycling statistics in Kenya: personal computer e-waste generation

The Global E-waste Monitor 2024 cites studies estimating Kenya’s annual e-waste generation from personal computers at 2.5 million kg. The same passage reports annual estimates of 500 thousand kg from printers and 150 thousand kg from mobile phones. These are separate device categories and mass estimates presented from cited studies; the passage does not state a reference year for the annual figures. (ITU and UNITAR, The Global E-waste Monitor 2024, p. 68)

Kenya annual e-waste categoryReported mass
Personal computers2.5 million kg
Printers500 thousand kg
Mobile phones150 thousand kg

The personal computer estimate is the directly computer-specific observation in this group. Printer and mobile-phone values provide context from the same passage, but do not represent additional computer waste. Because the monitor attributes the figures to other studies and gives no reference year in the cited passage, they should be described as annual estimates reported by the 2024 monitor, not as measured totals for 2024. (ITU and UNITAR, The Global E-waste Monitor 2024, p. 68)

Computer reuse and recycling statistics in the United States: historical consumer electronics recovery

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s municipal solid waste series reports 2018 generation of 2,700 thousand U.S. tons for selected consumer electronics and recycling of 1,040 thousand U.S. tons. EPA’s selected category includes computer equipment alongside other consumer electronics, so neither quantity isolates computers. The unit is thousands of U.S. tons, and the values are historical 2018 observations. (U.S. EPA, Durable Goods: Product-Specific Data)

EPA separately reports a 38.5% recycling rate for selected consumer electronics in 2018. That rate also belongs to the multi-product category, which includes computer equipment but is not computer-specific. The series ends in 2018, so these figures should not be presented as current U.S. computer recycling statistics. (U.S. EPA, Durable Goods: Product-Specific Data)

Sources

Written by

computerlaptopbattery.com Editorial Team

Editorial team

Independent editorial coverage of laptop power & mobile computing.

More to Explore