The AI data center e-waste problem is huge — and getting bigger

<figure> <img alt="Photo collage of a server room with data visualizations." data-caption="" data-portal-copyright="Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge; Getty Images" data-has-syndication-rights="1" src="https://platform.theverge.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/04/STKS528_DATA_CENTERS_C.jpg?quality=90&#038;strip=all&#038;crop=0,0,100,100" /> <figcaption> </figcaption> </figure> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">E-waste from the AI boom has been vastly underestimated, a new <a href="https://wiki.ban.org/images/1/16/AI_Waste_Wave_Part_1.pdf">report</a> warns. By 2050, it could become enough trash to fill 23 million shipping containers - roughly enough 40-foot containers to circle the world six times if lined up in a row. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">It's a significantly higher estimate of AI's e-waste than previous studies have found because the authors of the new report factor in all the infrastructure needed to support servers in data centers. The broader scope provides a clearer picture of junk AI leaves behind, according to the nonprofit <a href="https://www.ban.org/">Basel Action Network (BAN)</a>, which published the paper today. </p> <p class="wp-block-paragraph">"AI may feel weightless, but every model dep …</p> <p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/996470/ai-data-center-e-waste-ban">Read the full story at The Verge.</a></p>