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Why Junk Electronics Should Be Big Business
An anonymous reader writes "We've heard before about the problem of e-waste — computers and other high-tech gadgets that are tossed into landfills or shipped off to third-world countries when they reach end-of-life. But this article makes the case that there's a huge business opportunity here, with billions of dollars going to waste in the form of metals that could be reclaimed from these old and broken devices. 'At current rates of production, $16 billion (or 320 tons) in gold and $5 billion (7500 tons) in silver are put into media tablets, smartphones, computers, and other devices annually. With growth in demand for smartphones and media tablets showing little sign of diminishing in the next few years, the flow of gold and silver from deposit to waste facilities is only likely to accelerate. ... StEP claims that, in developing nations, 50 percent of the gold in e-waste is lost due to "crude dismantling processes" and only 25 percent of the remainder is recoverable due to the rudimentary technology to hand. In contrast, 25 percent of gold is lost to electronics dismantling in developed nations, and modern facilities are able to recover 95 percent of the rest.'"
Not a single figure in TFA to say how much it would cost to recover a few grams of gold from each device. Or what toxic sludge would be left and how much it would cost to deal with that.
People dealing with e-waste KNOW THERE IS GOLD IN IT. They're not idiots. If they could recover it and make a profit, they'd be doing it. They don't need some twat to tell them "Hey, you're throwing away gold!".
Yes, because allowing recycling businesses to create a toxic sludge and bury it in your neighborhood will carry no long-term costs. Regulations are in place to try and force businesses to own their costs instead of passing them on to the general population in the form of poluted air, water and in the longer term increased health care costs.
Perhaps if businesses were held accountable for the the full lifetime of their products, they would innovate more environmentally friendly products, or at least products that could be dismantled and recycled easier.
Do you realise how much power that 16:9 CRT draws compared to an LED TV?
E-waste yields 100g/1000kg of material compared to 8g/1000kg of ore.
Only for some definitions of "E-waste".
That amount you mentioned is after you remove the circuit boards from its enclosure. The bitch is taking apart the enclosure.
Each piece of equipment is closed with a different kind of fastener, some, like Apple, are glued together. It takes a lot of labor to pry apart the circuit board from the plastic and metal structures around it. That's why recycling is outsourced to third world countries.
If the government really wanted to increase recycling, the first thing they should regulate would be how enclosures are put together. Make philips type screws mandatory everywhere, no glue, torx screws, or any other fastener that requires special tools.
Do you realise how much power that 16:9 CRT draws compared to an LED TV?
Do you realise how much energy it takes to manufacture, package and ship that new LED TV?
Do you realize that you can't play Duck Hunt on an LCD?
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