People Send 20 Billion Pounds of 'Invisible' E-Waste To Landfills Each Year 106
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Popular Science: One e-toy for every person on Earth -- that's the staggering amount of electric trains, drones, talking dolls, R/C cars, and other children's gadgets tossed into landfills every year. Some of what most consumers consider to be e-waste -- like electronics such as computers, smartphones, TVs, and speaker systems -- are usual suspects. Others, like power tools, vapes, LED accessories, USB cables, anything involving rechargeable lithium batteries and countless other similar, "nontraditional" e-waste materials, are less obviously in need of special disposal. In all, people across the world throw out roughly 9 billion kilograms (19.8 billion pounds) of e-waste commonly not recognized as such by consumers.
This "invisible e-waste" is the focal point of the sixth annual International E-Waste Day on October 14, organized by Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum. In anticipation of the event, the organization recently commissioned the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to delve into just how much unconventional e-waste is discarded every year -- and global population numbers are just some of the ways to visualize the issue.
According to UNITAR's findings, for example, the total weight of all e-cig vapes thrown away every year roughly equals 6 Eiffel Towers. Meanwhile, the total weight of all invisible e-waste tallies up to "almost half a million 40 [metric ton] trucks," enough to create a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam stretching approximately 3,504 miles -- the distance between Rome and Nairobi. From a purely economic standpoint, nearly $10 billion in essential raw materials is literally thrown into the garbage every year. Further reading: Half a Billion Cheap Electrical Items Go To UK Landfills in a Year, Research Finds
This "invisible e-waste" is the focal point of the sixth annual International E-Waste Day on October 14, organized by Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Forum. In anticipation of the event, the organization recently commissioned the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to delve into just how much unconventional e-waste is discarded every year -- and global population numbers are just some of the ways to visualize the issue.
According to UNITAR's findings, for example, the total weight of all e-cig vapes thrown away every year roughly equals 6 Eiffel Towers. Meanwhile, the total weight of all invisible e-waste tallies up to "almost half a million 40 [metric ton] trucks," enough to create a bumper-to-bumper traffic jam stretching approximately 3,504 miles -- the distance between Rome and Nairobi. From a purely economic standpoint, nearly $10 billion in essential raw materials is literally thrown into the garbage every year. Further reading: Half a Billion Cheap Electrical Items Go To UK Landfills in a Year, Research Finds
disposable rechargable batteries (Score:3)
either batteries are disposable or rechargeable, they are not both. or rather they are not designed to be both. Your modern rechargeable battery chemistry is not meant to go into a landfill, and sadly there is little infrastructure for properly reclaiming the materials from these cells. Processing the cells and recycling only 5% on average is not really sustainable, and the processing is very energy intensive as the black mass of toxic waste has to be separated. Maybe one day we'll have the technology for organic radical battery (ORB) or perhaps an Aluminum ion with organic polymer cathodes. There are no clear winners yet and we have a ways to go. Until then, quit putting difficult to process batteries in cheap disposable junk.
Re:disposable rechargable batteries (Score:5, Interesting)
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
Not all lithium batteries are rechargeable, disposable e-cigarettes benefit from primary lithium batteries which are not. Vapes that use LiIon batteries, which are rechargeable, not provide for recharging but are not single use either.
I never watch bigclivedotcom YouTube channel either and apparently that's a good thing. How this gets modded interesting cannot be explained.
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There was an article on this here, recently, but I can't find it. So here's another source:
https://www.theenergymix.com/2... [theenergymix.com]
"Lithium-ion batteries are also used in e-cigarettes or vapes to heat the “e-juice” liquid nicotine solution they contain.
“Even though most disposable vapes contain a rechargeable lithium-ion battery, they are designed to be discarded once the liquid runs out.”
Since vapes have become incredibly popular, the impact of this waste [pdf] can be substantial. "
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Single use batteries are not supposed to go to the landfill either. All batteries, rechargeable or not, are e-waste.
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Your common alkaline battery is designed to be landfilled.
Re: disposable rechargable batteries (Score:1)
I actually have... (Score:3)
Thunderbolt heavy duty batteries: "Contact local hazardous waste authority for proper disposal guidelines"
Amazon Basics Alkalines: "Must be recycled or disposed of properly"
Local hazardous waste authority: "Throw them in the trash" [floridadep.gov] The batteries they worry about: Lithium Ion and Lead Acid.
The stuff written on the package is designed to be valid world-wide, and to legally protect the manufacturer of the batteries.
Thus the mealy mouth stuff, because I'm sure there are some spots where your alkalines go in
Re: I actually have... (Score:1)
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Sigh...
New York [nyc.gov]
Non-rechargable alkaline batteries can be discarded with regular trash.
Nebraska [unomaha.edu] says trash.
Viginia [blacksburg.gov] says trash.
EPA says most communities you can trash them. [epa.gov]
Washington [ehso.com] says you can trash them, or put them in household hazardous waste(where they'll be sorted into the trash).
California [ca.gov] seems to be an exception, all batteries are to be put in household hazardous waste. Probably because they figure people are idiots and would rather sort through the extra batteries than risk other types going into the trash.
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either batteries are disposable or rechargeable, they are not both.
Those are two independent statements. They most definitely can be both, and in the case of Lithium batteries, ALL of them are rechargeable, even the ones you routinely throw away.
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Not all lithium batteries are rechargeable, and who routinely throws away lithium batteries?
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As I understand it, disposable vapes contain a fully rechargeable LiIon battery.
As for routinely throwing them away, well, I do occasionally, as I have a number of 9V lithiums(non-rechargeable) in tools and smoke alarms that I routinely, if not often, have to replace.
I use lithiums(primary) outside for stuff, as they'll keep working where alkalines will freeze up.
How do we do better?! (Score:3)
We go through a stupid amount of AA batteries; we are using about 160 at a time in pairs. Rechargeable isn't viable because the charging frequency and effort is just insane. I wanted to hard-wire them, but they are in places with no nearby electricity. I contemplated ganging them into clusters of 4-10 and using a single bigger battery, but that is still pretty hard to do.
I tried to be responsible and collect them for recycling. No luck on recycling; there are no local resources for it. The best you can do is pay to have them disposed of as hazardous waste. The municipal waste system says just throw them in the trash; the (waste to energy) incinerator will take care of them.
And this is a product that is standardized and should easily be recyclable! Good luck expecting someone to be able to properly address consumer electronics beyond what is bulky and easy to hand off.
Re:How do we do better?! (Score:4, Insightful)
I do not understand
you say you use AA alkalines. Okay.
You say that rechargables are not viable because "the charging frequency and effort is insane". That is where you lose me.
In the following I am making the assumption that the process of replacing the alkalines in the device is the exact same as the rechargables.
Alkaline: once a pair needs replacement you need to
1) go to storage to get new pair
2) go to device to replace spent with new
3) go to storage to place spent pair
4) return to initial location
Rechargable: once a pair needs replacement you need to
1) go to storage to get charged pair from charger
2) go to device to replace discharged with charged
3) go to storage to place discharged pair in charger
4) return to initial location
NiMH have better characteristics. If the discharge rate is low, this should be a process infrequent enough to be insignificant. If the discharge rate is high, the rechargables should make this process less frequent than when using disposables. Maybe the difference is such that it won't make a difference? Say, they last 28h instead of 26h, so you need to replace them once every day anyway, since it is likely you can't go and replace them at 2am, then 4am, 6, 8, 10 etc, you will replace them all at 7pm and be done with it.
So, what exactly makes rechargables non-viable?
Re:How do we do better?! (Score:5, Informative)
If internal discharge is the issue, most NiMH batteries kinda suck compared to alkalines. The one notable exception is Sanyo Eneloop, but the trade-off there is that you lose about 20% of total capacity (2000 mAh vs. 2500 for AA). Confusingly, there are "black Eneloops" that give you the higher capacity, but they give up the low internal discharge that makes Eneloops special and (IMHO) water down the value of the branding.
If the discharge rate is extremely low, old carbon pile "heavy duty" batteries from the dollar store might be the best bet. Their internal discharge is almost nil, which may be more important than the 90% of total capacity you leave on the table.
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There are some other brands that are just rebadged Eneloops, notably IKEA.
I have moved 100% to Eneloop/IKEA batteries over alkaline/zinc. Aside from being cheaper in the long run and better for the environment, they are far less prone to leaking.
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The black eneloops also don't have nearly as many charge cycles. They shouldn't exist at all IMO, the tradeoff is not at all worthwhile for 25% more capacity.
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just because you do not have a use for high capacity high power low cycle count cells, doesn't mean they do not have their uses
hell, there are cases where even the paleolithic NiCd cells are actually the best choice
Re: How do we do better?! (Score:2)
They should have called them something else is the point. It's confusing to consumers and also makes it harder to find the product you are actually looking for which means it will lead to more returns and irate customers.
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That used to be true but you can't buy the old kind anymore. NiMH batteries are all Eneloop-like low self-discharge (a.k.a. "pre-charged") these days. Over a few months they will self-discharge to about 70%, then over the next decade they will self-discharge to about 60%. And they are less prone to leaking, so when you come back 10 years later the battery will still be good wh
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Ok, I'll give the Eneloops a shot. Our last attempt a few years ago with rechargeables we didn't get more than a few months total use out of them, and the fact that we needed to replace them about twice as often really killed it.
Re:How do we do better?! (Score:4, Informative)
That, is completely false. This isn't 1990 anymore. Chargers are not just a CCS anymore. You may leave the battery forever on the charger.
Re: How do we do better?! (Score:2)
Especially NiMH batteries, which are not harmed by storing them fully charged...
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The problem isn't the technology, it's the stupid.
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There are actually closer to 200 AA's in-use. Changing the batteries is already a challenge, but if you turned that into recharging you would need an extra 50 or so batteries plus a system that can handle at least 30 batteries at once. The simple approach is to eliminate them altogether... but it is my wife's little thing so that idea doesn't go over well.
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We go through a stupid amount of AA batteries; we are using about 160 at a time in pairs.
OK, I'll bite. For what?
I really would love to know what the use case is here. I have a small number of alkalines at home. Many of them are resting in torches. A few in an old analogue radio which I like, and I think one in a wireless mouse. Replacement is somewhere approximating "never".
But also, you have 80 battery powered devices in heavy use?
Are you living off grid somewhere?
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Rechargeable isn't viable because the charging frequency and effort is just insane.
Horseshit. You can get bank chargers that do 16 batteries at a time and fast charge within a couple of hours. It's a trivial amount of effort to recharge, 99% of the effort is pulling the battery out of the device and putting it back in. Also batteries hold their charge so there's no need to put the same batteries in, take them out, throw them on a charger, and when the light goes green put them in your spare battery container.
The fact that you think this trivial exercise isn't viable is precisely what this
Re: How do we do better?! (Score:2)
Eneloop.
They have spectacular charge life, including both high capacity and ultra-low self discharge.
Your excuses are nonsense.
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Have you tried the new LiPo based AA ones that you charge with an USB-C cable?
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If you are replacing AA batteries frequently, how does that frequency make recharging too much effort? That's absurd.
You have to take out the old batteries and insert the new ones. Where do you put the old ones that are in your hand? In the charger! Where do you get the new ones from? The charger! So much effort!
The higher the "frequency", the more justification AND ease there is in recharging. The cost savings alone swamps your bogus concern over effort.
"And this is a product that is standardized an
Not Recognized? (Score:5, Interesting)
Not likely. People understand what e-waste is. It's just far easier, and many times a lot cheaper, to toss it in the trash bin than try and figure out how to properly dispose of it.
If there was a bin for e-waste like there is for recycling and trash in many places, you'd have a lot less e-waste mixed into landfills with general trash. Not sure what you'd do with it, but at least it would be pre-sorted.
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People understand what e-waste is. It's just far easier, and many times a lot cheaper, to toss it in the trash bin than try and figure out how to properly dispose of it.
It may even be perfectly legal to do so. I was surprised to learn recently that my state - Washington, which considers itself to be very progressive - has a dirty little secret: Despite numerous programs designed to get people to segregate electronic waste from other garbage, disposing of electronic waste in the ordinary trash is not actually illegal here. So when you're faced with the choice of tossing that old microwave oven in the heap at the landfill, or paying them $60 to make a special trip and come p
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Oh yes please, add another trashcan to the collection I have assembled in my garden, because the cans for biological, paper, plastic, glass, metal, rubber, e-waste and toxic/hazardous don't take up enough room yet.
Let's add another one to the family!
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Great, now I need another bin for the (TM)s and the rest of the junk letters.
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Not likely. People understand what e-waste is. It's just far easier, and many times a lot cheaper, to toss it in the trash bin than try and figure out how to properly dispose of it.
In my borough, the way of disposing of things is to take it to the borough's waste management facility. I live near the right train line to get to it, and it's still a 45 minute journey. It's as fast to get there by bike as by car but it's also off an unpleasantly huge main road and all the safe bike paths give it a very wide ber
Unrealistic (Score:3, Informative)
E-cig vapes are a real problem, I agree, but some of these are nonsense. In my opinion USB cables aren't e-waste. What are you going to do with some worthless copper-clad aluminum wire and a broken connector? Same goes for most broken electronic toys and gadgets. Unless it has a battery, motor, or hefty transformer in it, what possible value could there be in recycling it? Let's be transparent here and give some real guidelines, please.
And by the way, if you're just going to ship it to India to be burned, I'd rather it just be landfilled.
Recycling is generally worthless (Score:2)
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Any item with lead solder used inside should be recycled. Not so much to recover the materials for economic reuse but to keep it out of the environment. Lead is present in nature but not concentrated like in landfills directly above many aquifers that are used in areas near the landfill.
Anything with lead solder or lead materials (lead crystal glass, TV tubes, cast lead toys, etc) should be recycled or handled as hazardous waste. One USB cable might seem insignificant but 1000 USB cables, LED light bulbs
Re:Unrealistic (Score:4, Insightful)
If only governments restricted or prohibited the use of leaded solder!
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Pretty much no consumer electronics manufactured after 2007 use leaded solder anymore. What do you think that "ROHS" symbol on everything means? They use non-leaded solders based on tin and silver, likely 99.7% tin and 0.3% silver, making even the silver worthless to recycle.
Arguably, this causes even MORE e-waste because of how fragile non-lead-based solders are. They require higher temperatures causing more thermal stress on components, and the solder joints are much more brittle meaning a lot of device f
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One of the reasons for standardizing on USB C is to avoid so many cables being thrown away because they no longer fit anything the owner has. Same with chargers.
Often things can be repaired, but it's just not economical to do. For example, a lot of old TVs die because the capacitors in the power supply go bad, or one of the logic boards fails. In both cases the fix is relatively easy and low skill, but old TVs are worth so little that nobody is going bother, except maybe in developing countries where income
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I don't think we've ever had TVs that anyone can repair easily. When it was CRTs they came with grave warnings because of the high voltages inside.
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That wasn't for the average user, but for the repair technician so could figure what the problem was.
Re: Unrealistic (Score:2)
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Hell, I remember when the grocery stores had a machine to test the vacuum tubes you thought might be bad and bins of replacements for when you did find a bad one. You'd test, it'd say it was bad, you'd find the appropriate replacement on the basis of the codes, buy it, go home put it in and your TV was (hopefully) fixed.
A good start (Score:3, Insightful)
A good start would be enacting laws that allow batteries to be easily replaced in electronics and for electronics to be easily repairable and supported by the manufacturer for a minimum of ten years. It's insane that three year old and even newer electronics are being scrapped because of huge difficulties in both of these areas. For those that are going to whine, "but ma' thin phone", fine, you want electronics that become throw away after a few years, you pay 20% more up front that can be redeemed as a core charge at your next purchase when you turn in the electronics for recycling.
Re:A good start (Score:4, Insightful)
Ever noticed how the "but mah thin phone!" whiners are exactly the same that then wrap those things in covers that are three times as thick as the blasted phone because otherwise it would crumple like tinfoil the moment they put it into their pocket and place their fat ass onto them?
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Ever noticed how the "but mah thin phone!" whiners are exactly the same that then wrap those things in covers that are three times as thick as the blasted phone because otherwise it would crumple like tinfoil the moment they put it into their pocket and place their fat ass onto them?
Yes. Because not all covers are the same and consumer choice in how the phone is covered is an absolute win for users. Make my phone paper thin and let me decide what cover I want to put on it. I bet you it's a different cover than yours. My thin phone with its cover is far more durable than the thick chunky smartphone I had a decade ago.
Also my thin phone is on its second battery despite you or the OP calling it "non-repairable, or non-replacable". There's not a single phone on the market right now for whi
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Or, and hear me out on this, they could produce the phone in a couple different colors and you don't need to cover it. Just like my first phone was. And the second. And pretty much any phone 'til this one I have right now. Because, frankly, I don't give half a fuck what my phone looks like, what I care about is that it works.
This is not a fashion statement, dammit, it's a TOOL.
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Wow, hearing you out really paid off. I learned that phones are not fashion statements and that they could make them in "a couple different colors" but apparently they don't. You seem really tuned in.
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You're welcome.
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No, but I notice that you're an asshole.
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Hey, I'm not the one who sat his fat ass on your phone and crumpled it up!
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For those that are going to whine, "but ma' thin phone", fine, you want electronics that become throw away after a few years
You don't need laws. This is a problem with stupid people. There's not a phone on the market that doesn't have a replacable battery. Just because *YOU* can't do it, doesn't mean a 15 year old kid in the local corner shop can't. You're making the conscious (or ignorant) decision to throw away a perfectly viable device instead of having someone with the capability repair it for cheap. And it really is cheap.
Re: A good start (Score:2)
It's POSSIBLE but it also costs half of what it would cost to get another cheap phone that's faster and has newer software on it.
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No it doesn't, not in the slightest. Last time I paid someone to replace my battery (because I CBF to do it myself) it cost $20.
We got our answer. You're making an ignorant decision.
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I'm talking about popping the old battery off and popping a new one, LIKE IT USED TO BE. Not the frickin surgery that is needed now to remove the glue and require special tools and "15" year old sweatshop kids to replace the damn battery. You're an asshat and you know it, clap your hands.
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That's not a tradeoff I'm willing to make. I don't want that kind of pop-off back. I'm not saying you're wrong to want that convenience, but a sealed unit makes the most sense for the most people. My phone is 4 years old and probably won't need a battery swap until next year, so having an easily removable back would have been markedly worse for me because that's flimsier and more likely to let in liquids or dust. I wouldn't mind my phone being more rugged in general, but absent that, this style of battery i
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Carrying a spare battery or two around to swap out instantly is bad design? The phone manufacturers have convinced you that your phone is better now because of the way it is designed/built. It's all bull shit my friend. Complete bull shit.
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I'm talking about popping the old battery off and popping a new one, LIKE IT USED TO BE.
I'm not willing to trade off the benefits of a sealed in battery both in terms of size of the device and the significantly better battery life we get from them. Several companies have over the past 5 years catered to your needs. Did you buy their phones? Don't answer, we all know you didn't. Their products tanked and their follow up products had sealed in batteries because users choose battery performance over the ability to maybe need to pay someone to swap it.
If you want to make an insanely rare activity
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marking this post so i can come back after things get so shitty
I'm sure you also marked a post 10 years ago. Nothing has changed. We need laws to ensure spare parts remain on the market, nothing more. It's no harder to replace an iPhone 15 battery than an iPhone 1 battery providing the parts are available, and I'm not talking about Apple's official repair program.
Tragic e-waste of Recycled Stories (Score:4, Insightful)
One longtime Slashdot reader even went so far as to write a self-referential tragi-comic comment in the vain attempt to reduce such events, with the full knowledge that this too would be doomed to failure.
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If it would at least reduce the comment footprint, but no, it only gets worse due to all the "duuuuupe" whiners.
20 Billion Pounds? (Score:3, Interesting)
That's a lot of money.
Re: (Score:2)
Depends on the pound [xe.com].
Still a bit of money, but far less intimidating.
Thinking about it... in printed paper money, this may also be the weight of it.
How we measure our success (Score:2, Funny)
It's our god-given right to buy useless junk, just because, & toss it into the rubbish as soon as we've finished with it, the sooner, the better. People's jobs are depending on us to do this!! Freedumb!!!
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We should find a new metric. Much like the smoking smoke stacks that were the symbol of progress during the early industrial revolution, our success indicator is going to kill us.
Re: How we measure our success (Score:2)
Love "accessible" articles like this (Score:2, Funny)
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"...about 14.2 eiffel tower construction phases ago..."
So about 1900 Scaramuccis?
Birthdays (Score:3)
And people wonder (Score:1)
- why I am happily using a phone made in 2018, which I consider a "new" upgrade.
- why I ignore fashion and just buy the clothes I like, and then keep wearing them on rotation for the next till they wear out.
- why I buy shoes that do "everything" day to day, last at least 1 1/2 years and get replaced when the wear out.
- why I've driven the same car for 15 years.
I keep getting asked why, why why why do you not follow the trends? Why do you (I) expect to get a new t-shirt in SUMMER then moan about how the clo
Seems like a genuine problem (Score:1)
Then pass draconian and invasive laws to serve their 2030 world enslavement agenda.
Simple solution (Score:1)
Stop making people, they are the trash.
Recycling (Score:3)
My local council collects batteries and e-waste as part of the normal rubbish collection.
They just won't tell you that unless you dig into their website, and it has a bunch of restrictions.
"Mobile phone" style lithium battery, yes. With trailing wires, no. So that eliminates almost all the mobile phone batteries that power gadgets which have a wire on them to plug into the device (including some phones!).
Lead-acids, no.
Your hairdryer, yes.
Your fridge (which is ecologically far more damaging, and huge), no. You have to pay extra, book a special collection, etc.
Last time I tried (for an armchair) the first available date was 2 months ahead... so I either have to store an old armchair for 2 months (if I could do that, I wouldn't be throwing it away!) or I have to find some other way of getting rid of something that ALREADY nobody wants to have got to that point.
Want to DIY? You can't put the rubbish in the bin, or have it collected and they won't take the rubbish even at the main waste recycling center unless it's "a small amount" (less than 50 litres of rubble, for instance, by which the definition of pretty much every significant DIY job wouldn't pass) and it's not more than 4 times in a 4 week period.
It's also literally classed as "non-household (DIY) waste". How is DIY not household waste? It's the VERY DEFINITION of household.
If we want people to recycle, we have to reduce the number of nonsense rules, we have to make collection and disposal as easy as it is for uncategorised waste (if I put any of the above into black bags and just put it in my "other waste" bin, it would all just get taken away without question), and we have to make RANDOM uncategorised waste the stuff that you can't get rid of easily.
That doesn't mean 42 different bins outside everyone's house, it means a collection service that identifies the waste for people (plastics ALL have a recycling type identifier on them) and deal with it.
My job is not a waste-sorter. Nor the vast majority of people's. If it takes me longer to figure out how to get rid of something that it would to look up a chart, see where it should go, and either categorise or set it aside for a different collection, there are people with far less patience than me that will just bin it into uncategorised waste and it'll go to landfill.
Lithium batteries, mercury bulbs, lead batteries, asbestos sheets, etc. it doesn't matter. They'll just bin that. The way to stop that is to *take it* from them and deal with it properly by making it easy for them to do so.
About the only one that it's actually dangerous to handle on this basis is asbestos but still - making it so difficult to dispose of means that people are just binning it. It's relatively low impact once in landfill, far less so than some of the others, so all we need to do is make the removal/collection process simpler.
If I need to throw away a large lithium battery, like from a solar install, for instance... do I need to pay again to have it removed? Then that price should be in the purchase price, and it should be dealt with. Especially if you consider a homeowner buying a house with an existing setup - they're not going to want to pay to get rid of the old owner's junk.
Put the cost of disposal into the purchase price (and wow, now all your pricing reflects the environmental cost of those materials too! Almost like people might make different decisions when buying things in the first place!) and then using that cost to fund collection, sorting and disposal is the only way you can sort the problem when faced with a populous who don't want to do that job themselves or even - in my case - can't.
Because for as long as it's easier for even a quite determined person to just bin it, rather than wade through the red-tape and processes necessary to just get rid of something that they might not have even bought, the landfills are going to be full of every nasty waste imaginable.
So a cube 120m x 120m x 120m (Score:2)
Bring it to a second hand store (Score:1)
In the U.S. we have stores like Goodwill and Salvation Army that recycle clothing, electronics, exercise equipment, kitchen items, etc. This way it doesn't go into the landfill. I have gotten my last several computer monitors from there as well as a lot of other stuff. I've even bought broken stuff and repaired it. Yesterday, I bought a bluetooth keyboard, air purifier and window fan from the Goodwill store.
If people would just bring their stuff to these stores we could reuse a lot of this stuff!
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We, sir, are the dinosaurs.
Wait foro RTR to kick in (Score:2)
I for one, am looking forward to the new vacuum tube smartphones.
vape shop recycling (Score:2)
Every shop that sells those darn things should be required to have a fire-safe recycle bin for those damn things. I do NOT think less of people who vape the way I do smokers, but making those things with lithium batteries and not making them rechargeable should be illegal.
Oh, and that includes every convenience store.
Landfills (Score:3)
Landfills will be the mines of the future. Plenty of metals concentrated in them.
Sciencing (Score:3)
We should ship the e-waste into space and create a metal-rich asteroid to study, that's a lot closer to Earth than Psyche.
Look at it as a somewhat not bad thing. (Score:2)
t-waste (Score:2)
I am more concerned about t-waste than e-waste. T-waste is the amount of my productive time wasted dealing with nonsense like e-waste.
Eiffel Towers? (Score:2)
Eiffel Towers as a unit of volume is hard for me to visualize. How many Statues of Liberty, or Golden Gate Bridges would that be?
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So far the theory, now realize that 90% of the world population can't even own, let alone throw away, that kind of trash and you might notice the problem.
But if you want to say that there is way, way too many people littering this planet, we are in agreement.
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9B kg / 8B people = 5.5 kg per person? You are only considering 20% of the population as producing all the waste, is that because you realize that 80% cannot afford to, or is it because you only care about the 20%?
You know, 15 g per person per day could be catastrophic depending on what it is and what it causes.