Electronic waste is a growing problem. The Global E-waste Monitor 2024 reports that in 2022, the world produced over 62 million tons of e-waste, enough to fill 1.55 million 40-ton trucks. Only 22.3% of this waste was recycled correctly, leaving more than $62 billion in recoverable resources unused and raising pollution risks for communities everywhere. If nothing changes, e-waste could increase by another 32% to reach 82 million tons by 2030.
When you work with Dell Technologies, your business can turn old equipment into valuable resources. Recycling outdated technology helps protect the environment by reducing waste and can also save money by recovering materials and reselling assets to fund future tech needs. Responsible recycling is good for both the earth and your budget. Dell’s services make it easy to dispose of old technology securely while maximizing the value of your retired assets. Instead of letting unused equipment sit idle or adding to e-waste, we offer a secure process to recover materials, resell valuable parts, and return the proceeds to your technology budget. This approach helps you manage your technology lifecycle efficiently and supports your green targets.
Taking part in International E-Waste Day helps reduce pollution, save resources, and use less energy. Let us work together to make a positive difference for our planet.
As we enter 2026, artificial intelligence (AI) remains a major focus in the tech world, with significant investment. We can look forward to new trends this year that will trigger even more innovation.
We are no longer digitizing old processes. This year, automation will help change the foundations of industry, business, society, and more. Many of 2026’s top tech trends will show AI becoming a bigger part of our cities, workplaces, and even our health.
Below are the five trends that will shape important parts of both our digital and physical lives.
- The Era of Agentic AI
AI has recently shifted from being a passive assistant to taking a more active role. In the past, Generative AI mostly worked through chat interfaces and needed people to prompt it to create text, code, or images. Now, 2026 is shaping up to be the year when Agentic AI takes center stage.
This shift is possible because of new large-section models (LAMs). Let AI work directly with software and APIs, much like a person would. So, there is less separation between planning and action. As a result, Agentic systems today can reason, plan, and carry out challenging tasks with little human help.
For example, AI agents could suggest a travel plan, negotiate prices, book flights, handle visa paperwork, and update schedules. If there are delays in business, agentic workforces will become more common, with companies using different AI agents that work together. A marketing agent might spot a trend, tell a creative agent to design an ad campaign, and then work with a media buying agent to launch it, all while keeping the human manager updated on the process.
Gartner says the move towards agentic AI is a big step forward for both technology and business. The firm explains that agentic AI will provide new means to boost resource efficiency, automate complex tasks, and offer new business innovations beyond the capabilities of scripted automation bots and virtual assistants. Gartner also notes that major fintech companies are already adding agent-like features. The firm predicts that by 2028, agentic AI will make at least 15% of daily work decisions, up from none in 2024. Also, 30% of business software will include agentic AI by 2028, compared to less than 1% in 2024.
- Physical AI
For a long time, the most advanced AI existed only on screens. By 2026, artificial intelligence will have gained a physical form. Physical AI combines advanced machine learning with robotics and sensors, enabling AI to effectively sense, navigate, and interact with the real world.
The trend is clear: the rapid growth of general-purpose humanoid robots. Unlike the old stationary robotic arms, today’s humanoids use advanced world models or internal simulations to understand concepts such as physics, gravity, and space. These robots are now often found in logistics centers, handling tasks that used to require human workers, and in elder care facilities, helping with movement and daily routines.
Physical AI is also showing up in smart infrastructure. Bridges, electric grids, and water systems now have built-in edge AI that can spot signs of wear or chemical issues and initiate repairs or changes on their own, sometimes before people notice anything is wrong.
- Embedded Finance 2.0
By early 2026, Embedded Finance will go beyond payment buttons or buy now, pay later options. In the Embedded Finance 2.20 era, smart, personalized, and context-aware financial tools are integrated directly into user experiences on non-financial platforms.
This integration makes financial actions part of everyday tasks. For example, in early November, Visa and Transcard launched an embedded finance platform supporting payments and working capital solutions for the freight and logistics industry.
This alliance puts embedded credit and working capital solutions in the hands of freight forwarders and airline carriers on WebCargo by Freightos, and a leading digital booking and payment platform in the freight industry, VISA explained at the time. By combining VISA’s global expertise in commercial solutions with Transcard’s leading-edge payment orchestration technology, WebCargo users can now gain access to flexible credit terms, effortless onboarding, and automated reconciliation for air cargo transactions.
For instance, a construction company using a Logistics app can now have equipment insurance automatically calculated, offered, and settled using real-time telematics data. Platforms might also use behavioral signals to provide just-in-time capital. A merchant platform may detect a supply chain delay and proactively offer a liquidity bridge before the merchant becomes aware of a cash flow issue.
- Real-World Asset (RWA) Tokenization
Tokenizing real-world assets (RWAs) is no longer just a crypto experiment. It is now widely used in both institutional and retail finance. Most asset types, such as U.S. Treasuries and private credit funds, can be represented digitally on the blockchain. This allows people to trade, settle, and use these assets as collateral at any time. Transactions happen almost instantly.
As DeFi (Decentralized Finance) matures, protocols and investors are increasingly seeking real-world yield sources, such as US Treasury bills or money market funds, to diversify exposure and improve capital efficiency within ideal funds, according to specialized blockchain intelligence firm Arkham Intelligence. By tokenizing these instruments, issuers can make traditionally liquid or institution-only assets accessible to a global on-chain audience while offering near instant settlement and transparent ownership tracking.
By 2026, these tokens will be even more programmable. For example, a tokenized bond could automatically send its yield to another savings account or quickly be used as collateral in a busy trading account environment. This eliminates the manual paperwork that was once required.
We are likely to see more asset types tokenized and divided into smaller pieces. Large projects, such as solar farms or commercial bridges, can now be split into digital tokens. This lets a pension fund own 5% of a project, while a retail investor could own as little as 0.001 percent. This way, more people can invest in major global projects, thereby boosting financial inclusion.
- Green Computing
In recent years, the tech industry has faced growing pressure to address its significant carbon footprint. The high energy use of global AI clusters and data centers has driven a strong push for more sustainable IT practices. As a result, several important innovations now focus on improving energy efficiency.
Neuromorphic computing is developing new processors that work like the brain’s neural networks. This approach uses much less power for complex AI tasks than traditional GPUs. Data centers are also working to lower their carbon impact. By shifting computing and AI workloads across locations and time zones, operators can use more renewable energy, such as solar or wind, when it is most available. This strategy, known as following the sun, helps reduce the total carbon emissions from electricity use.
With e-waste becoming a bigger problem, 2026 could be a key year for modular, easily recyclable hardware. Many major manufacturers now offer hardware-as-a-service (HaaS), in which parts are returned, refurbished, and reused in the supply chain.
HaaS is built to be recyclable and sustainable. It supports a circular economy by moving from single-use purchases to managed services, where providers handle recycling, refurbishment, and material recovery. At the end of a product’s life, this approach greatly reduces e-waste and helps meet environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals. Over time, it should also reduce the need to mine new materials.
Source:https://internationalbanker.com/technology/five-significant-tech-trends-that-will-feature-in-2026/
