ai data centers to generate 617m metric tons of e-waste by 2050

a new report by the basel action network warns that the ai boom will lead to a massive increase in electronic waste, with 395 to 617 million metric tons of e-waste generated by 2050. this is attributed to the enormous amount of highly specialized hardware required to support ai models, including servers, gpus, power supply and distribution systems, cooling systems, and networking equipment. the report notes that less than a quarter of the 68.3 million tons of e-waste created each year worldwide is formally collected and recycled, and that most e-waste is ultimately dumped into informal waste collection, posing serious environmental and health risks. the us, with far more data centers than any other country, has yet to ratify the basel convention established to limit the international trade of hazardous wastes.