Meanings
- uncountableDiscarded electrical and electronic equipment.
2 more examples
Following up news articles and e-mails from mainland China, BAN was directed to an e-waste processing area known as Guiyu on the Longdong River near the city of Shantou in the northeast [of] Guangdong Province, four hours by car from Hong Kong. In the course of three intensive days in and around Guiyu's four villages, the small investigative team witnessed firsthand what passes for recycling of e-waste in Asia.
2002, Jim Puckett, 5:35 from the start, in Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia, spoken by Mary Ryan, Basel Action Network, →OCLCIn June of last year, the Thai Ministry of Industry announced with great fanfare the ban on foreign e-waste. The police made a series of high-profile raids on at least 10 factories, including New Sky Metal. […] Since the e-waste ban, 28 new recycling factories, most dealing with electronic refuse, began operations in one province east of Bangkok, Chachoengsao, where Koh Khanun is located, according to provincial statistics.
2019 December 8, Hannah Beech, Ryn Jirenuwat, “The Price of Recycling Old Laptops: Toxic Fumes in Thailand’s Lungs”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 11 Jan 2021 - derogatoryuncountableElectrical and electronic equipment of poor quality.
Origin
From e- (electric) + or e- (digital) + waste.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans e-afval
- e-afvaldiscarded electrical and electronic equipment
Chinese Mandarin 電子廢棄物 /电子废弃物, 電子垃圾 /电子垃圾
- 電子廢棄物 /电子废弃物 (diànzǐ fèiqìwù)discarded electrical and electronic equipment
- 電子垃圾 /电子垃圾 (diànzǐ lājī)discarded electrical and electronic equipment
Danish elektronikaffald
- elektronikaffalddiscarded electrical and electronic equipment
Finnish elektroniikkaromu
- elektroniikkaromudiscarded electrical and electronic equipment
German Elektronikschrott, Elektroschrott
- Elektronikschrottdiscarded electrical and electronic equipment
- Elektroschrottdiscarded electrical and electronic equipment
Italian rifiuto elettronico
- rifiuto elettronicodiscarded electrical and electronic equipment
Swahili taka ya kielektroniki
- taka ya kielektronikidiscarded electrical and electronic equipment
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with e-waste
Cite this entry
e-waste. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/e-waste
“e-waste.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/e-waste. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “e-waste,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/e-waste.
Source: e-waste on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.