By its sheer population, it's not surprising China is one of the top e-wasters in the world, dumping six million tons of discarded mobile phones, refrigerators, TV sets and other devices with cords or batteries in 2014. It came second to the United States.

Despite the U.S. having a headcount lesser than China's one billion plus, the country's wealth and throwaway culture possibly explains why it has more e-waste than China. In 2014, Americans threw away 7.1 million tons of old electronic waste.

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Other nations with substantial e-junk are Japan, Germany and India, reports CBC.

Globally, the amount of e-waste thrown away in 2014 reached 41.8 million tons, but only about 15 percent or 6.5 million tons were brought for recycling, according to the United Nations University.

David Malone, the university's rector, pointed out that the e-waste is a virtual urban mine since it offers a vast amount of materials that could be reused. He reckoned these materials, which include valuable metals like copper, iron, silver and gold, could be worth about $52 billion.

It's not only potential wealth these e-wastes bring but also health risks as these items also contain used materials like lead and mercury considered hazardous and that need to be disposed properly.

Not surprisingly, it's the rich nations that have high per capita waste generated. Norwegians threw away an average of 28.3 kilograms, followed by Swiss, Icelanders, Danish and Britons.

Besides electronic junk, they also trashed smaller and even large appliances that comprised 60 percent of the total waste. The list includes electric shavers, vacuum cleaners, video cameras, solar panels, microwave ovens, washing machines and dishwasher

The report explained the large amount of e-waste generated to the availability of more electronic goods for domestic use and most of these modern gadgets having shorter life spans compared to their older models, reports BBC.

It warned the volume of electronic waste would further increase to a total of 50 million tons in 2018. And while many people are aware it has grown into a global issue, many ignore it on a micro level as people simply keep old mobile phones in drawers.

"People don't see it as an issue in their own households," explains Ruediger Kuehr, one of the study's authors.

Tagse-waste, recycling