There are attempts to make a lot of things 'smart' that have no need to be 'smart'. I need my refrigerator to keep things cold, not compile a grocery list for me.
If you don't have internet conected cutlery or bed sheets that can change colour with the flick of a switch you are living in the stone age! Buy now for just 999.99£ and get a special offer of an electric bottle opener for free! Don't live in the past, buy now!
I just want something that does it’s job and only it’s job! I don’t need smart shoes that are constantly connected to the internet, I don’t need a machine that needs to be connected to the internet to clobber a very specific packet of juice when human strength can just as easily do it with ANY packet of juice! That’s the thing with capitalism; it makes these things far more inefficient, milks as much money as it can out of it, and causes as much damage to the environment in the process
Or sent to China. Recycling is just throwing away trash mixed with imperialism and it will never ever work. The best way to get rid of plastic garbage is by incinerating it, filtering out the nasty byproducts like the toxic fumes, and using the energy it generates to power thousands of homes.
@@alexcrouse everything should be left to the government. Private companies should not exist or be EXTREMELY regulated. I don’t think it’s profitable for anyone at all so I think the best option would be to incinerate it, bury it underground just like how nuclear waste should be, or when we are capable of doing it, sent to the sun.
Search Paul Stamets. He has proven results that doesn’t hurt the environment intact quite the opposite. I don’t know why his suggestions haven’t been taken more seriously.
Please do a video on "Right to Repair." Laws that guarantee customers the ability to actually fix their devices would ultimately rescue a huge percentage of the waste ending up where it's not supposed to.
Quite right about the idea of repairing your devices. Unfortunately in this "throw away society", the people with the skills (or interest) to fix stuff is disappearing. Worse still; once you determine what's wrong, you can't buy the spare part anyway. Sadly, the big manufacturers are not keen on repairing stuff, they'd rather you buy a new one.
@@headpox5817 Ineed, many goods are increasingly designed to be thrown away, many designs the further back you go were literally designed with repair in mind, then the disposable culture crept in, driven by insane insatiable greed and all with in built 'screw the environment & next generations to come' small print
Glad to see you cover this, as an Accra resident. The soil in Agbogloshie is literally blackened with soot from burning e-waste, and some of the parts have actually dug in and fused with the ground over time. It's a serious health hazard for everyone living there, yet nothing has been done about it. I used to drive by it every day to basic school when I was a kid. Im 23 now and it's still there. Horrible stuff.
Always excellent, thank you again. I'll try to stay away from my usual "We're all doomed!" comment and confine myself to an observation: Here in the UK there was a time when we had "scrap yards", mostly for old cars but the principle extended to most "end of life" materials... if you wanted a part for your car or whatever you went to a scrapper to get the part you needed... ...it was great because: -It was cheaper -It kept old devices going rather than just buying new -It was a living for scrappers in countries where there are actually health & safety laws -Old things got stripped to near-nothing so there was much less stuff to be dumped -We had a culture of repair rather than replace ...and then we had a bunch of legislation touted to clear up the mess and get rid of all the "nasty" scrap yards. The result is all these benefits have gone, you can't find a used spare part so even if you are inclined to repair you have to buy new. Of course our culture has lurched to "everything is disposable" which in turn promotes chasing everything new and flashy regardless of need. Oh, and we produce more waste than ever and the "scrappers" live in countries where they have no protection. With my tin-foil hat in place I suspect this is exactly as intended - politicians get lobbied (bribed) by companies to enact legislation and as far as I can tell the only benefit it to the manufacturers of new goods. Having removed my tin-foil had I suspect such issues are worse than that - the vast majority of the people who run our countries are idiots. PS Sorry, I've gotten my "rant" on now: Some years ago the government of the day declared that plastic shopping bags are an environmental menace and so "free" shopping bags were banned. Good, eh? Um, No: -We now get to pay for the very same bags that were once "free". -You can, of course, buy for extra money "reusable" bags that have even more plastic in them. Rarely reused. ...and so the land-fills fill faster while this doesn't even address the real menace - every darn thing is sold in plastic packaging these days regardless of any need for plastic to be used. More considered legislation would have been a requirement for bags to be made of paper and a requirement for packaging to be free of plastic except where it's absolutely necessary... ...I despair.
I agree. Lead in paint was a thing for a looooong time, and people sometimes would even eat paint chips, because lead apparently tastes sweet. Not to mention that america had huge amount of lobbying from the petroleum companies who were lobbying for lead in fuel.
Fluorides in water are also now demonstrated to reduce IQ by about 6 points. Not a lot but add in lead and you are talking about an average person becoming ESN.
14:33 First of all, STOP throwing away your completely-functional-and-in-good-shape phone/tablet/electronic device right when the "next best thing!" appears in the market! STOP MINDLESSLY CONSUMING!
@cupoftestosterone And if we consuming like this then in a few decades the economy will collapse due to humans dying out from our stupid decisions and overconsumption. Pick your poison.
It’s NOT about all the people who trade up to get the newest phone. Anyone who owns an electronic device is part of the problem because eventually the device will be discarded. Time to figure out the best way to discard without endangering people/communities/ecosystems. Good topic, Joe. Thanks for enlightening us!
Last 14 years I've owned 3 cellphones, two tablets and one pc.. as long as it works I use it. I had to buy a new tablet supporting newest updates so I would be able to use youtube and watch Joe Scott talk about e-waste.
I am looking forward to the future where it is economically feasible to mine trash dumps, on a large scale, for reusable metals, chemicals, and plastics. Imagine reclaiming that land and returning it to nature. Thanks for another great video, Joe.
I remember reading a book where resources were so scarce there were huge robots/machines doing exactly that, recycling trash. I don't remember name of the book, sadly. :( If I didn't mix up anything, there was also space elevator in there but was sabotaged, falling to earth and turning to diamond...
tigerkill420; here is a discussion of the quote attributed to Einstein by the famous psychologist Frederick Perls; skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/18140/did-einstein-say-two-things-are-infinite-the-universe-and-human-stupidity-and#18145 As stated in the discussion in stack exchange, according to wikiquote, the idea was also attributed to others going back to the 1880s.
This is such a challenging problem, especially when you look at the problems with transparency in the final disposition of the devices. We need better solutions. Thanks for the great video!
I worked for an e waste company and we were part of the other side of goodwill's ewaste program. Not everything was refurbished, what we did was pack it in a shipping container and then block the view to the back with pallets of decent condition crt computer monitors. Until I saw this video, I never understood why the requested us to pack them like that. Once I heard _"they get around the ban by claiming the shipping container is new goods"_ I put it together. On a side note, I processed tons and tons of waste, was 3rd in command, hired workers with questionable origins, outsourced precious metal extraction, "destroyed data", took government contracts, and know how it works. ask me anything
Agreed. If we just criminalized planned obsolescence and mandated a freely available official service manual with a 20-year minimum scope and sensible end-of-life procedures for all commercial products, it would seriously cut down on this issue. Realistically, it won't ever _completely_ go away before much better automated recycling/material processing is developed, and that could take a _long_ time. Might as well fix the low-hanging fruit quickly by going after anti-repair companies and organizations. Apple should NOT be trusted on any e-waste-related matters, no matter how many one-off PR stunt robots they build -- they're THE primary poster-child of anti-repair organizations. Apple products are contractually "must-shred" with so-called 'legitimate' recyclers -- Apple is so afraid of repair parts getting onto the market and fixing phones that would otherwise be replaced with newer models, that they launch a huge, expensive multi-pronged attack on the supply chains, both bribing and legally threatening recyclers to make them swear to destroy Apple products in order to prevent spare parts from escaping, controlling online discussion to prevent Apple product consumers from seeking repairs by banning anyone who mentions third-party repairs from their online services, harassing competing replacement part manufacturers and distributors through a variety of means, and lobbying aggressively for laws restricting third-party repairs and criminalizing possession of 'proprietary' repair tools and information. I have no words for how I hate them, but most companies are quietly following in their footsteps on at least some of those fronts.
My Dad worked for the electric company and he used to bring home scrap electric meters. He would take them apart and separate all of the brass, aluminum and the all important silver. He would bring it to a metal recycling center where it was bought by weight. It wasn't much but he made extra pocket money that way.
Thanks for the video, Joe. Well done. For all of you looking for options, I just heard of a cell phone company called Fairphone out of the Netherlands. Look 'em up. It's not the final solution, but it sure is better than the ones we've been given up 'til now. I'm a photographer and industrial designer who has struggled with the advancement of technology and subsequent waste over the last 25 years. And, exactly as Joe mentioned, when we have the faster processor, we don't get the benefit we were hoping for as software gets beefed up to use all of the advantages we tried to upgrade to. When we have the better sensor we'll have better pictures... Film had it's own issues with chemistry, but there were known ways - and arguably more sustainable ways to produce images or ideas. Apple has recently 'upgraded' my two year old iPhone to the latest software which has led to a drastic decrease in performance compared to what it could do yesterday. I'm tired of being told when to upgrade the hardware to balance a trillion dollar budget. I think my next phone will be a Fairphone out of principle.
We just need to appreciate how much work he puts into a video. He’s practically making multiple research papers a week and making a speech for them. The amount of research he puts in is insane.
A good and important one - I often teach my students about this other cost - the price of the materials that MAKE our electronics... and the other side of things. Thank you for a fabulous overview!
I watched a documentary about the kids that do this recycling. It's truly horrifying on so many levels. It's not just the toxic fumes and chemicals. They are badly abused by adults. Thanks for putting the video out I had no idea Apple was doing BuyBacks. I'll have to look into it.
I own a small eWaste Recycling Business. We have never shipped overseas. In fact it’s our promise to our clients. We are not a huge business and still make plenty of money. There is no excuse for shipping overseas. It’s just down right greed. We also never throw anything away so 100% is recycled. Also one of our promises. Thank you for this video and helping raise awareness. Need more people who care like you do.
I collect and refurbish furbies, it was really neat to come across a video “in the wild” that mentioned them :) I try my best to clean up furbies and get them in working order again and find them a new home, it really pains me when people just throw them out or destroy them. Furbies are cool little creatures and are, in my opinion, the best companion robots human have created so far. It’s my dream to one day design my own companion robots, this video brought a whole lot of relevant information that can be used if that dream ever becomes a reality, Thank you!
For a long time now, I've just been trying to use everything until it dies. My home theater receiver is 14 years old, my Sirius player is 11 years old. The list goes on and on. Also, all the electronics in new cars, and fully electric cars add a lot to this problem. We were probably better off when things were made to last.
I believe Tesla is developing a recycling system for their batteries. That's a start. In regards to everything else, I watched a documentary about a town in Japan that has virtually no waste. Everyone is required to separate all waste into like 40+ categories which makes everything easily reusable. Only problem is that people are lazy and won't do that unless they are forced to... MURICA!
this is the kind of videos where you shine, Joe. Thanks for doing that. I didn't knew about it. I learned something important and i will make sure i will recycle my electronics appropriately.
If you live in Arizona then another program you could donate used electronics to is AZStRUT. It stands for Arizona Students Recycling Used Technology. Its a program that teaches students how computers work by giving them hands on experience with donated electronics. They teach kids in public schools and adults in resource centers. The students clean up the computers, repair them, refurbish them, and then re-donate them to homeless shelters, low income schools, and generally people and organizations in need. I went through the program when I was in High School. I got to meet some of the people I helped and the skills I learned got me into the IT career field.
I remember frequently walking into a room, trying to be as quiet as I possibly could. Suddenly, the worst happened: the Fury Boom waked up. It would always start singing and dancing, and there was no way to turn it off.
It is only a little bit of waste going to China....it will all just magically go away come November...now where have i heard something similar Join the treaty you morons!
That video you did on plastics that had the turtle with the straw stuck in its nose made me cry and also kept me up that night with nightmares. And, of course, made me much more conscious of my use of plastics. Thank you for making it. And thank you for making this one because I want to be conscious of my use of anything that is hurting the planet.
Lol, fun to hear that, remembering that here you can't legally extract precious metals like gold from e-waste, you have to buy license to do that, which costs A LOT x)
@@scheve332 honestly the fear of lithium batteries is a bit overblown, they certainly can be dangerous in particular situations, but long dead cells are fairly benign in fact.
a big part of this problem is companies like apple, Samsung ect. who have made it illegal and/or impossible to repair damaged devices and require people to buy a new device and throw away your old one. if we where allowed to purchase replacement components and had the needed product schematics many of the devices that end up in the trash could be repaired and reused for many more years. support #RightToRepair
I've been working with e-waste for over 17 years now for a large University. The University has always taken this serious even before my time. I think they really started looking into it in the 80's or 90's if my memory serves me correctly from researching the history. I work at a Surplus Store where all electronics come for data security and e-waste recycling. First I need to figure out if it stores data and if it does can it be securely wiped. With all these new IOT it really has made life hard. The data security and end of life recycling for these devices is not really on the front of manufactures thoughts when creating them. Without getting into the tech of it, the devices should always have a secure wipe feature built into them (right now most don't). This will allow the device to have a second home, which is better than recycling. If it can be used again, let it be used again. If it can't or if it can't be securely wiped then it needs to be recycled. When it comes to recycling there are many different ways to handle it. It also depends on what business you go with and how they want to receive it. The more you break it down into it's more detailed form (example: Gold tipped RAM, Silver tipped RAM, 2-sided GOLD CPU, Green Fiber CPU, etc) there are different prices. Those prices change daily with the commodity market. So the more work you do, the more money you can make. BUT as a business you need to pay an employee, and usually shipping of a semi (which can get expensive). So don't expect for this to actually make you money. Also, NEVER try to take apart a CRT monitor yourself. If you don't know what you are doing it's best to not do it. There are a lot of companies out there that want to take your e-waste. As a business looking to get ride of your e-waste, doing your do diligence is a MUST before sending anything to one of these companies. Ensuring they are certified with E-Stewards or R-2 is a good start. Taking a tour of the facility and asking about their downstream is huge as well. CRTs and LCDs will always cost you to recycle. There is currently no way to recycle them and make a profit. If a company say's they will pay you for those devices then you know they are burying it in their backyard somewhere or shipping it overseas after harvesting anything of value. www.vice.com/en_us/article/z4gv73/americas-television-graveyards Joe, thanks for making this video, it was well researched. If you ever want information on this topic from someone who has been dealing with it for a long time hit me up. EDIT: Also cell phones have the most value in recycling. When you get down to smaller devices a lot of times it's mostly plastic with a small circuit board. So cell phones, laptops, and desktops are the biggest target for recycling because of the value. Keyboards, mice, speakers, printers... not so much.
Very informative, my husband is an urban gold miner, he’s taken apart upwards of 1,000 phones and the like over the past 8 years, now we just have to master the art of getting it back to pure form, he’s probably got close to an ounce of gold in the glass jars he keeps all the gold coated pieces in.
Had no idea this was an issue but as someone who regularly repairs electronics im glad i know how to avoid the problem now and responsibly get rid of my e waste
"You might wanna grab a drink." I genuinely laughed at that one! (edit) OK, after finishing watching the video, this is both one of your funniest and most tragic in a while. A true emotional rollercoaster.
What would the scrappers be doing if there was no scrap? I’ve always considered garbage as partially refined ore. It’s all about the energy requirements to extract the “good stuff”.
Wow, Joe, great video. I had no idea it was this bad. Your videos should be shown in schools, company lunch rooms, carnivals and fairs, and anywhere there is a tv screen and a speaker. I believe you are right...awareness is the first step we as humans must take this, as well as many other issues SERIOUSLY! I hope it is not too late for us. 😟
Before I watch this, I wanted to say something. This is a subject dear to me. I've spent the last 4 years working on a kit to be able to safely, and cleanly, extract materials from the e-waste. Saskatchewan uni. Did a study in 2016 showing that there are ways to do it. Mild dangers still exist though.
My brother in law started his own computer recycling company specifically to fight against the dumping in Hong Kong and China because a large amount of the time, children pick through the waste for pennies. He wanted to help stop that, and he's very successful!
I've never been more thankful that I can't afford new electronics and have been using the same shit for decades at a time and am too paranoid i'll need my old parts again so I never throw any electronics out --- and that I definitely can't afford things like "smart flipflops" for novelty
Great video Joe, with substantial research and homework. I was almost sad and depressed until the end of the video where you highlighted some good work being done in at least some places to actually make a difference.
Built in obsolescence on steroids....my brand new laptop will last only 3 weeks because the battery can no longer be changed. Absolute idiocy! Thanks Joe for highlighting the problem....
My wife and I were driving through Ohio to visit her parents in Michigan. We had her Furby on the back seat, with some other things, and as I pulled out from a gas station it rolled over and said “Worried!” When we got on a really long stretch of corn fields and Budweiser factories it says “Boring.” It might still be laying there in that ditch.
This is why I keep my electronics for as long as they work, no matter how "outdated" they are. I have a 2DS instead of a switch, a computer that, while able to play all the games I want, doesn't have any of the newer graphics card and I used to have an old samsung smartphone, bought in something like 2010, until I was gifted an old Iphone. Still have the smartphone, it works so I'm keeping it.
I recommend the documentary about this topic covered on the DW (German public broadcasting) it goes in depth on the illegal importation of appliances/computers/ TVs. Similar concept but very informative.
I never knew anything about the E-Waste problem on this level. Insane! I was also crushed when you sipped on a drink from Whataburger. I went to high school in Plano in the late '80s. OMG! Oh, how I miss Whataburger.
Another facet of this is don't buy anything unless you actually need it. Ignore the marketing and determine for yourself if buying something is going to demonstrably make your life better. The computer I'm using was built in 2015 and I bought it from a recycling center. I put a modern graphics card in it (Radeon RX5700XT) and this machine runs anything I want to play. When I'm finished with it I will pass it down the supply chain to someone else. I'm currently putting the finishing touches to two gaming machines which I will be donating this weekend. Most equipment can be kept out of landfills with minor upgrades.
I started working as an electronics technician for Panasonic in 1972. Consumers are a major part of the problem. So much garbage never should have been designed and manufactured but consumers buy stupid trash on the basis of price and brand. How much marketing research is just about the psychology of consumers. Our economists are a problem too. They do not compute and report the Depreciation of the junk.
I have a friend with a PHD in chemistry engineering he works for a company that recovers metals from e waste mostly cell phones. It pays for itself with the gold in each device.
Save up any electronics and after you have a stockpile, disassemble everything and recover the previous metals. Yeah the gold, silver, tin, lead, and copper are nice but the platinum group metals are going for a premium. Not to mention many of the components themselves can be reused instead of just scrapping. Heat sinks, motors, fans, capacitors, resistors, transformers, fuses, speakers, buttons, switches, microphones, cameras, displays, you name it. Not to mention all the hardware, brackets, screws, hinges, thin aluminum / stainless sheet metal, magnesium, rare earth magnets, all kinds of stuff.
oh yeah it's a serious business in Karachi. There is a saying in the entirety of Pakistan, "if you know where to look, you'll find it all in Karachi". And its true.
3:19: The sad reality is now hardware capabilities are so strong that programmers rarely optimise to anything like the same degree we used to have to. Time to market (or benefit in the case of in house applications) mean if it runs acceptably on current hardware it does not need to be optimised to run efficiently. Custom software is way more expensive than really expensive hardware and so buying powerful hardware almost always wins. THe only exception is internet scale applications where there will be millions of concurrent users. That stuff still gets thought out and optimised normally again by having the workloads work in such a way that it can scale sideways. The days of having to conserve memory and cpu cycles are largely over. When I was starting my computer science degree in 1992 our 1st year had a course in 8086 assembly language because the expectation was even though we'd probably be coding most things in C or C++ there would likely still be certain algorithms that would require optimisation using assembly language. I can't remember the last time I even had to manually allocate memory in a programming language. Probably about 2004 on some seriously legacy C programming. Hardware needs replacing all the time because it gets replaced all the time. IF programmers were told that this the last generation of hardware we'd all become better programmers again and companies would have to accept that some performance sensitive programs take longer to be viable. Luv and Peace.
Thank you, Joe, for raising this important issue. Apart from the obvious sensibilty of recycling, for environment reasons, there is also the thing that we might run out of some of the critical materials. There are various reports from State Department, Defence and from UN and EU, listing what materials they predict will run out. The second thing I like to point out, is the lack of efficiency in the e-waste recycling industry. The normal handling make sure that it is impossible to extract the important materials. First, it is shredded, because it is easier to transport it that way. Next, a strong overband magnet is used, to extract all magnetic materials. This is known as the Iron fraction. Hidden in this is rare earths like Dysprosium and Neodymium. lost for ever, because it is not rentable to treat the iron fraction any further. Next is a Eddy current magnet, where the Aluminum and Copper fraction is sorted out. Left is the plastic fraction. Plastics is a whole story in itself, as so many different plastics are used in electronics, with various degree of flame retardants (brom), making it very hard to separate. Both the Aluminum fraction and the Copper Fraction contain other materials. Aluminum fraction is often not refined further, loosing Platinum. Copper fraction is normally further refined, through several steps containing grinding, electrolysis (in several baths for copper, silver) and finally melting for gold and palladium. The thing here is that even if you do mention some ground braking technologies, it is cheaper for the recyclers to use the processes they used prior to e-waste.
The way you can help to not contribute: Limit your own consumption of low-durability electronics Maintain your equipment - including cleaning it.. Make sure you squeeze each ounce of useful life you can from the electronic you have, rather than buying a brand new fancy iPhone every year.. And when you do use up your electronics until they are no longer useful to you, they could still be useful to someone else. Donate still-functional electronics to charities or place them on the Free Cycle website.
my solutions (in order): 1) don't buy electronics 2) buy as little as possible 3) use the electronics as long as one can 4) take out the usable parts before recycling (I take out batteries and hard drives) 5) ask others if they want something that's still usable 6) fix it 7) run BOINC on it e-recycling, much like regular recycling - should be avoided as much as possible, just like buying it in the first place.
The EU have recognised E-waste or "WEEE" as a problem back in the 90s along with the Basal treaty. This made it illegal to export e-waste, but allowed used working products to be exported. Unfortunately scammers used this loop hole to ship e-waste to 3rd world claiming they were working. This caused the introduction of WEEE2 in the last 10yrs which requires much stricter documentation and checking of used goods. Manufacturers or importers placing on the market today have to pay to contibute to current recycling (Vehicles, WEEE, batteries and packaging..all seperately). WEEE regulations also require design consideration for recycling, however this is wholesale ignored as it totally unspecific and more designers are not aware of it (especially any designer that started working after the introduction in the early 2000s), few companies have any written procedures or requirements.. especially the last US company I worked for. Other regulations require batteries to be replaceable and instructions for doing this provided, various markings, packaging etc. RoHS restricts certain materials, mainly to protect recycling workers. There are a few US states that have copied the EU regs, especially California (Rohs), Washington state (WEEE on monitors and some other items), come to memory, but again ignored by manufacturers The EU has alot of these types or regulations but are significantly ignored and not complied with. Currently a policing directive is in the pipeline, requiring member states to police directives, but it is unpopular, especially with the UK who prefer light touch regulation for business, which seems to mean break the law until you are found out because they will be no repercussions other than you wil have to comply then. A good system is the bounty system where the mfr has to pay a finders fee of non-compliance to anyone pointing it out (after confirmed by court). California prop 65 works this way, but only seems to apply to products in shops that consumers can see. Australia has systems for on-registration of products allowing user to check, but no bounty. The bounty system provides a way of private policing model.
There are attempts to make a lot of things 'smart' that have no need to be 'smart'. I need my refrigerator to keep things cold, not compile a grocery list for me.
I know a couple old alcoholics that would *love* their fridge to resupply beer for them. Aaand party brats too.
If you don't have internet conected cutlery or bed sheets that can change colour with the flick of a switch you are living in the stone age! Buy now for just 999.99£ and get a special offer of an electric bottle opener for free!
Don't live in the past, buy now!
@@nunofoo8620 that part.
I just want something that does it’s job and only it’s job! I don’t need smart shoes that are constantly connected to the internet, I don’t need a machine that needs to be connected to the internet to clobber a very specific packet of juice when human strength can just as easily do it with ANY packet of juice! That’s the thing with capitalism; it makes these things far more inefficient, milks as much money as it can out of it, and causes as much damage to the environment in the process
Ikr!?
A huge amount of "recycling" in the USA just gets dumped in the landfill.
Or sent to China. Recycling is just throwing away trash mixed with imperialism and it will never ever work. The best way to get rid of plastic garbage is by incinerating it, filtering out the nasty byproducts like the toxic fumes, and using the energy it generates to power thousands of homes.
@@therealspeedwagon1451 a lot of things can be recycled effectively. But it's not profitable. It's a job for government.
@@alexcrouse everything should be left to the government. Private companies should not exist or be EXTREMELY regulated. I don’t think it’s profitable for anyone at all so I think the best option would be to incinerate it, bury it underground just like how nuclear waste should be, or when we are capable of doing it, sent to the sun.
Just what we need...more wasteful inefficient government boondoggle and another unconstitutional bureaucracy.
I am a professional in the waste and recycling industry and it is nice to see more coverage on the subject.
What schooling did you get for your career? I’m looking to get into it.
I am a consumer and contributor to the waste and recycling industry and I like cookies.
I got a PhD in garbage
Ham 'Housekeeping' Sarris So a self study?
Search Paul Stamets. He has proven results that doesn’t hurt the environment intact quite the opposite. I don’t know why his suggestions haven’t been taken more seriously.
Please do a video on "Right to Repair." Laws that guarantee customers the ability to actually fix their devices would ultimately rescue a huge percentage of the waste ending up where it's not supposed to.
So true. I have not had a smartphone that's lasted more than 2 years, even with the best of care. I imagine that contributes to a lot of the waste.
Quite right about the idea of repairing your devices. Unfortunately in this "throw away society", the people with the skills (or interest) to fix stuff is disappearing. Worse still; once you determine what's wrong, you can't buy the spare part anyway. Sadly, the big manufacturers are not keen on repairing stuff, they'd rather you buy a new one.
@@deardarlingdollies5851 I believe it's called planned obsolescence.
@@Tom_Samad That's been going on for a long time, too many driven by greed
@@headpox5817 Ineed, many goods are increasingly designed to be thrown away, many designs the further back you go were literally designed with repair in mind, then the disposable culture crept in, driven by insane insatiable greed and all with in built 'screw the environment & next generations to come' small print
Always love what you create, always some balance of hope and despair.
I think despair is more important though...
@@fifthbeatle ok junko
A balance? There was no hope in this video.
@@millefune The tech itself is the hope since it makes life better, but the waste that it produces is the despair part.
@@millefune No? The Basel network, Apple making computers that pick materials out of older phones is pretty positive news if you ask me
_"you might want to grab a drink?"_ ...it's 8:30 in the morning, Joe... - i'm way ahead of you on that one.
I have to commend you on your username. I literally did a spit take, and am now mopping up coffee from my shirt. Idk why I found it so funny.
Haha
Hey...you cannot "drink all day" unless you start real early.
Cheers!
“ Nothing like a good beer buzz early in the morning. “
Glad to see you cover this, as an Accra resident. The soil in Agbogloshie is literally blackened with soot from burning e-waste, and some of the parts have actually dug in and fused with the ground over time. It's a serious health hazard for everyone living there, yet nothing has been done about it. I used to drive by it every day to basic school when I was a kid. Im 23 now and it's still there. Horrible stuff.
"this problem… is a problem" spitting facts like nobody's business
@donutdoode69 What is pfp?
The more you know, the less you want to know... But we can't put our heads in the sand on this one or even the sand will be toxic.
and the whole 'head in the sand' idiom is also a bit moronic in the first place since ostriches don't actually do that.
Always excellent, thank you again.
I'll try to stay away from my usual "We're all doomed!" comment and confine myself to an observation:
Here in the UK there was a time when we had "scrap yards", mostly for old cars but the principle extended to most "end of life" materials... if you wanted a part for your car or whatever you went to a scrapper to get the part you needed...
...it was great because:
-It was cheaper
-It kept old devices going rather than just buying new
-It was a living for scrappers in countries where there are actually health & safety laws
-Old things got stripped to near-nothing so there was much less stuff to be dumped
-We had a culture of repair rather than replace
...and then we had a bunch of legislation touted to clear up the mess and get rid of all the "nasty" scrap yards. The result is all these benefits have gone, you can't find a used spare part so even if you are inclined to repair you have to buy new. Of course our culture has lurched to "everything is disposable" which in turn promotes chasing everything new and flashy regardless of need.
Oh, and we produce more waste than ever and the "scrappers" live in countries where they have no protection.
With my tin-foil hat in place I suspect this is exactly as intended - politicians get lobbied (bribed) by companies to enact legislation and as far as I can tell the only benefit it to the manufacturers of new goods. Having removed my tin-foil had I suspect such issues are worse than that - the vast majority of the people who run our countries are idiots.
PS
Sorry, I've gotten my "rant" on now:
Some years ago the government of the day declared that plastic shopping bags are an environmental menace and so "free" shopping bags were banned. Good, eh?
Um, No:
-We now get to pay for the very same bags that were once "free".
-You can, of course, buy for extra money "reusable" bags that have even more plastic in them. Rarely reused.
...and so the land-fills fill faster while this doesn't even address the real menace - every darn thing is sold in plastic packaging these days regardless of any need for plastic to be used.
More considered legislation would have been a requirement for bags to be made of paper and a requirement for packaging to be free of plastic except where it's absolutely necessary...
...I despair.
5:36 "...heavy metals like lead, which can lower IQs among the population..."
That line alone can explain just so much already...
😯 😶 😒 💭
And that used to be part of gasoline and spewed out of every tailpipe...
And was used to solder water pipes, etc.
and then wrap them in asbestos insulation
I agree. Lead in paint was a thing for a looooong time, and people sometimes would even eat paint chips, because lead apparently tastes sweet.
Not to mention that america had huge amount of lobbying from the petroleum companies who were lobbying for lead in fuel.
Fluorides in water are also now demonstrated to reduce IQ by about 6 points. Not a lot but add in lead and you are talking about an average person becoming ESN.
14:33 First of all, STOP throwing away your completely-functional-and-in-good-shape phone/tablet/electronic device right when the "next best thing!" appears in the market!
STOP MINDLESSLY CONSUMING!
@cupoftestosterone And if we consuming like this then in a few decades the economy will collapse due to humans dying out from our stupid decisions and overconsumption. Pick your poison.
@cupoftestosterone if we dont, mr. Corporate cant buy his 13th mansion and 70th sportscar.
First of all, get off your high horse and stop pretending you're not part of the problem.
It’s NOT about all the people who trade up to get the newest phone. Anyone who owns an electronic device is part of the problem because eventually the device will be discarded. Time to figure out the best way to discard without endangering people/communities/ecosystems. Good topic, Joe. Thanks for enlightening us!
I don't. My phones literally break every chance they get, and as long as its still somewhat functional, I still use it.
Tom Scott: "Kids are monsters"
Joe Scott: "Kids are monsters"
HAHA YES. Within mere hours of each other too 😂
What did the kids do to them
@@bjnick9256 monstrosity
Great Scott: Parents make monsters
Chickadee Enginerding "Because People Are Monsters".
Last 14 years I've owned 3 cellphones, two tablets and one pc.. as long as it works I use it. I had to buy a new tablet supporting newest updates so I would be able to use youtube and watch Joe Scott talk about e-waste.
I am looking forward to the future where it is economically feasible to mine trash dumps, on a large scale, for reusable metals, chemicals, and plastics. Imagine reclaiming that land and returning it to nature.
Thanks for another great video, Joe.
Craig Smith how can you comment on a video before it comes out?
I remember reading a book where resources were so scarce there were huge robots/machines doing exactly that, recycling trash. I don't remember name of the book, sadly. :( If I didn't mix up anything, there was also space elevator in there but was sabotaged, falling to earth and turning to diamond...
Found the book, it's Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson, probably
@Craig Smith Is that the world of Mad Max we are definitely heading towards, when e-waste is the sole currency?
@@mbntr2363 Patreon
"This problem .....is a problem."
The enlightenment you gave with me with that statement.
“Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe.”
― Albert Einstein
Orion Rodriguez “Chevrolet is better than ford.” - Albert Einstein
@Orion Rodriguez here is your source: www.goodreads.com/quotes/942-two-things-are-infinite-the-universe-and-human-stupidity-and
@@gordonlawrence1448 Thats a worse source then Wikipedia
tigerkill420; here is a discussion of the quote attributed to Einstein by the famous psychologist Frederick Perls; skeptics.stackexchange.com/questions/18140/did-einstein-say-two-things-are-infinite-the-universe-and-human-stupidity-and#18145
As stated in the discussion in stack exchange, according to wikiquote, the idea was also attributed to others going back to the 1880s.
@@tigerkill420 99% of sources are worse than Wikipedia because it's no longer 2011 and Wikipedia articles are now peer reviewed by their very nature.
I’m so glad there are some companies addressing this huge issue. Thank you. Because I knew absolutely nothing about this.
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”
― Confucius
Ironic how Confucius was Chinese
Reetica Sawhney he was a douch too,a smart one but a douch
@@omnirath Why douch?
@@papercrease7308 because healthy and beauty matter too?
The man who is drowned in bullshit started by listening to bullshit from Chinese philosophers
Option #(n) for "what can I do to help?" Use your electronics for as long as you can, instead of replacing just because there's something new.
This is such a challenging problem, especially when you look at the problems with transparency in the final disposition of the devices. We need better solutions. Thanks for the great video!
I worked for an e waste company and we were part of the other side of goodwill's ewaste program. Not everything was refurbished, what we did was pack it in a shipping container and then block the view to the back with pallets of decent condition crt computer monitors. Until I saw this video, I never understood why the requested us to pack them like that. Once I heard _"they get around the ban by claiming the shipping container is new goods"_ I put it together.
On a side note, I processed tons and tons of waste, was 3rd in command, hired workers with questionable origins, outsourced precious metal extraction, "destroyed data", took government contracts, and know how it works.
ask me anything
"This problem...is a problem"
Well spoken words
I freaking love this channel. Joe covers real stuff and approaches it in a funny but informative way. Always a joy to watch.
So nice from apple, specially after we discover that they were slowing down our phones on purpose, forcing us to buy a newer model.
I have a crazy idea, how about we make it illegal to design electronics or policies that make it harder to repair broken devices. #RighttoRepair.
Agreed. If we just criminalized planned obsolescence and mandated a freely available official service manual with a 20-year minimum scope and sensible end-of-life procedures for all commercial products, it would seriously cut down on this issue. Realistically, it won't ever _completely_ go away before much better automated recycling/material processing is developed, and that could take a _long_ time. Might as well fix the low-hanging fruit quickly by going after anti-repair companies and organizations.
Apple should NOT be trusted on any e-waste-related matters, no matter how many one-off PR stunt robots they build -- they're THE primary poster-child of anti-repair organizations. Apple products are contractually "must-shred" with so-called 'legitimate' recyclers -- Apple is so afraid of repair parts getting onto the market and fixing phones that would otherwise be replaced with newer models, that they launch a huge, expensive multi-pronged attack on the supply chains, both bribing and legally threatening recyclers to make them swear to destroy Apple products in order to prevent spare parts from escaping, controlling online discussion to prevent Apple product consumers from seeking repairs by banning anyone who mentions third-party repairs from their online services, harassing competing replacement part manufacturers and distributors through a variety of means, and lobbying aggressively for laws restricting third-party repairs and criminalizing possession of 'proprietary' repair tools and information.
I have no words for how I hate them, but most companies are quietly following in their footsteps on at least some of those fronts.
@@05Matz You should write this at least as a proper comment - not a _reply_ to a comment; more people need to read it.
So yeah Gorillaz' - Plastic Beach wasn't a warning, it's a documentary
Same goes for the game, Deus Ex. The original ps1 game. Also, great band, great album.
Blade Runner was set in 2019...
My Dad worked for the electric company and he used to bring home scrap electric meters. He would take them apart and separate all of the brass, aluminum and the all important silver. He would bring it to a metal recycling center where it was bought by weight. It wasn't much but he made extra pocket money that way.
4:05 "They were the toilet paper of 1998" - Joe Scott, 2020
I still use my old furbies to wipe my ass.
That joke is so March 2020🙄
You think that if they put it on a stick it could be a hit once more?
I've got 2 sitting in my bedroom right now. Both work.
Thanks for the video, Joe. Well done. For all of you looking for options, I just heard of a cell phone company called Fairphone out of the Netherlands. Look 'em up. It's not the final solution, but it sure is better than the ones we've been given up 'til now.
I'm a photographer and industrial designer who has struggled with the advancement of technology and subsequent waste over the last 25 years. And, exactly as Joe mentioned, when we have the faster processor, we don't get the benefit we were hoping for as software gets beefed up to use all of the advantages we tried to upgrade to. When we have the better sensor we'll have better pictures... Film had it's own issues with chemistry, but there were known ways - and arguably more sustainable ways to produce images or ideas.
Apple has recently 'upgraded' my two year old iPhone to the latest software which has led to a drastic decrease in performance compared to what it could do yesterday. I'm tired of being told when to upgrade the hardware to balance a trillion dollar budget. I think my next phone will be a Fairphone out of principle.
We just need to appreciate how much work he puts into a video. He’s practically making multiple research papers a week and making a speech for them. The amount of research he puts in is insane.
Joe has underage minions in Ghana.
Just kidding!
A good and important one - I often teach my students about this other cost - the price of the materials that MAKE our electronics... and the other side of things. Thank you for a fabulous overview!
I watched a documentary about the kids that do this recycling. It's truly horrifying on so many levels. It's not just the toxic fumes and chemicals. They are badly abused by adults. Thanks for putting the video out I had no idea Apple was doing BuyBacks. I'll have to look into it.
I own a small eWaste Recycling Business. We have never shipped overseas. In fact it’s our promise to our clients. We are not a huge business and still make plenty of money. There is no excuse for shipping overseas. It’s just down right greed. We also never throw anything away so 100% is recycled. Also one of our promises. Thank you for this video and helping raise awareness. Need more people who care like you do.
This channel was the last place I expected to turn me from a reformist to revolutionary.
Check out Kyle kulinski, Chris hedges or Noam Chomsky. You’ll want to revolutionize the galaxy then.
@@BrokenAbyss not a huge fan of kyle, but chomsky knows his shit.
Joe does a great job triggering your thinking and helping you realize your individual potential.
I collect and refurbish furbies, it was really neat to come across a video “in the wild” that mentioned them :) I try my best to clean up furbies and get them in working order again and find them a new home, it really pains me when people just throw them out or destroy them. Furbies are cool little creatures and are, in my opinion, the best companion robots human have created so far. It’s my dream to one day design my own companion robots, this video brought a whole lot of relevant information that can be used if that dream ever becomes a reality, Thank you!
Joe: “You might want to grab a drink.”
Me: “It’s 11am.”
Me: “Okay”
hahaha :)
I did it.
Bernoulli same hahaha
Vodka it is!
Daisy:
I use the electronic to destroy the electronic
Absolutely horrific.
For a long time now, I've just been trying to use everything until it dies. My home theater receiver is 14 years old, my Sirius player is 11 years old. The list goes on and on. Also, all the electronics in new cars, and fully electric cars add a lot to this problem. We were probably better off when things were made to last.
my 22y/o microwave still does the job! wait, its older... probably around 25 already...
@@civiere that's older than I am
New Tesla 1000000 mile batteries are designed to last for sure
I believe Tesla is developing a recycling system for their batteries. That's a start.
In regards to everything else, I watched a documentary about a town in Japan that has virtually no waste. Everyone is required to separate all waste into like 40+ categories which makes everything easily reusable.
Only problem is that people are lazy and won't do that unless they are forced to... MURICA!
@@civiere Can I play, too? My microwave is 37 years old!
this is the kind of videos where you shine, Joe.
Thanks for doing that.
I didn't knew about it. I learned something important and i will make sure i will recycle my electronics appropriately.
If you live in Arizona then another program you could donate used electronics to is AZStRUT. It stands for Arizona Students Recycling Used Technology. Its a program that teaches students how computers work by giving them hands on experience with donated electronics. They teach kids in public schools and adults in resource centers. The students clean up the computers, repair them, refurbish them, and then re-donate them to homeless shelters, low income schools, and generally people and organizations in need. I went through the program when I was in High School. I got to meet some of the people I helped and the skills I learned got me into the IT career field.
I remember frequently walking into a room, trying to be as quiet as I possibly could. Suddenly, the worst happened: the Fury Boom waked up. It would always start singing and dancing, and there was no way to turn it off.
Doing the right thing at this point is preparing for our inevitable, apocalyptic, demise. Yay progress!
We are all about to get really really good at recycling 😅
The virus might have brought us some time
It is only a little bit of waste going to China....it will all just magically go away come November...now where have i heard something similar
Join the treaty you morons!
Let's build smart bunkers.
@Almost Your Dad sure, better do something with all that virgin Canadian forest getting turned straight into toilet paper.
That video you did on plastics that had the turtle with the straw stuck in its nose made me cry and also kept me up that night with nightmares. And, of course, made me much more conscious of my use of plastics. Thank you for making it. And thank you for making this one because I want to be conscious of my use of anything that is hurting the planet.
17:22
Have I ever taken apart an electronic device just to see how it works?... I honestly don't think I own a single device I haven't disassembled.
I love his humor..."for unknown reasons it was shortened to The Basel Convention." Lol
Hehe
Lol, fun to hear that, remembering that here you can't legally extract precious metals like gold from e-waste, you have to buy license to do that, which costs A LOT x)
Say, what!?
My mom taught me to save all my e-waste until theres a better way to get rid of it. My mom would like you Joe.
P.S GO RANGERS!!!!!
And -- Go Whataburger!
You really don't want to store lithium batteries, no matter the good intentions.
@@scheve332 honestly the fear of lithium batteries is a bit overblown, they certainly can be dangerous in particular situations, but long dead cells are fairly benign in fact.
You have opened my mind on this terrible situation. I hope we can do better someday.
a big part of this problem is companies like apple, Samsung ect. who have made it illegal and/or impossible to repair damaged devices and require people to buy a new device and throw away your old one. if we where allowed to purchase replacement components and had the needed product schematics many of the devices that end up in the trash could be repaired and reused for many more years. support #RightToRepair
I've been working with e-waste for over 17 years now for a large University. The University has always taken this serious even before my time. I think they really started looking into it in the 80's or 90's if my memory serves me correctly from researching the history. I work at a Surplus Store where all electronics come for data security and e-waste recycling. First I need to figure out if it stores data and if it does can it be securely wiped. With all these new IOT it really has made life hard. The data security and end of life recycling for these devices is not really on the front of manufactures thoughts when creating them. Without getting into the tech of it, the devices should always have a secure wipe feature built into them (right now most don't). This will allow the device to have a second home, which is better than recycling. If it can be used again, let it be used again. If it can't or if it can't be securely wiped then it needs to be recycled.
When it comes to recycling there are many different ways to handle it. It also depends on what business you go with and how they want to receive it. The more you break it down into it's more detailed form (example: Gold tipped RAM, Silver tipped RAM, 2-sided GOLD CPU, Green Fiber CPU, etc) there are different prices. Those prices change daily with the commodity market. So the more work you do, the more money you can make. BUT as a business you need to pay an employee, and usually shipping of a semi (which can get expensive). So don't expect for this to actually make you money. Also, NEVER try to take apart a CRT monitor yourself. If you don't know what you are doing it's best to not do it.
There are a lot of companies out there that want to take your e-waste. As a business looking to get ride of your e-waste, doing your do diligence is a MUST before sending anything to one of these companies. Ensuring they are certified with E-Stewards or R-2 is a good start. Taking a tour of the facility and asking about their downstream is huge as well. CRTs and LCDs will always cost you to recycle. There is currently no way to recycle them and make a profit. If a company say's they will pay you for those devices then you know they are burying it in their backyard somewhere or shipping it overseas after harvesting anything of value. www.vice.com/en_us/article/z4gv73/americas-television-graveyards
Joe, thanks for making this video, it was well researched. If you ever want information on this topic from someone who has been dealing with it for a long time hit me up.
EDIT: Also cell phones have the most value in recycling. When you get down to smaller devices a lot of times it's mostly plastic with a small circuit board. So cell phones, laptops, and desktops are the biggest target for recycling because of the value. Keyboards, mice, speakers, printers... not so much.
Very informative, my husband is an urban gold miner, he’s taken apart upwards of 1,000 phones and the like over the past 8 years, now we just have to master the art of getting it back to pure form, he’s probably got close to an ounce of gold in the glass jars he keeps all the gold coated pieces in.
I've spent weeks and weeks looking on the map for Bayzzel but no joy. Have I missed the point? 🇬🇧😰
All that freedom over there, he doesn't have to use conventional pronunciation!
Had no idea this was an issue but as someone who regularly repairs electronics im glad i know how to avoid the problem now and responsibly get rid of my e waste
I appreciate this is a serious subject, but when “Heavy Metal” was first mentioned I was waiting for the guitar sting from Bill and Ted
"You might wanna grab a drink."
I genuinely laughed at that one!
(edit) OK, after finishing watching the video, this is both one of your funniest and most tragic in a while. A true emotional rollercoaster.
"You might wanna grab a drink."
Way ahead of you Joe, way ahead of you.
Recycling is definitely one essential step for space travel! might as well get good at it now while we have room for error.
What would the scrappers be doing if there was no scrap?
I’ve always considered garbage as partially refined ore. It’s all about the energy requirements to extract the “good stuff”.
Broke guy here: I should start processing my own ewaste.
Teach me how. Fellow broke... being, here.
Wow, Joe, great video. I had no idea it was this bad. Your videos should be shown in schools, company lunch rooms, carnivals and fairs, and anywhere there is a tv screen and a speaker. I believe you are right...awareness is the first step we as humans must take this, as well as many other issues SERIOUSLY! I hope it is not too late for us. 😟
Today I learned: never eat eggs in Ghana.
True
Revolver Ocelot those things are in the other countries just not rampant
It's a shame that the people in Ghana don't have that luxury.
Ian Macfarlane fr
Or get a local pregnant
Before I watch this, I wanted to say something. This is a subject dear to me. I've spent the last 4 years working on a kit to be able to safely, and cleanly, extract materials from the e-waste. Saskatchewan uni. Did a study in 2016 showing that there are ways to do it. Mild dangers still exist though.
3:28 As Wendell (Level1Tech) would say; "The Internet of Broken Things!"
A completely enclosed system is impossible, but trying to get as close as possible is an important goal
My brother in law started his own computer recycling company specifically to fight against the dumping in Hong Kong and China because a large amount of the time, children pick through the waste for pennies. He wanted to help stop that, and he's very successful!
I've never been more thankful that I can't afford new electronics and have been using the same shit for decades at a time and am too paranoid i'll need my old parts again so I never throw any electronics out --- and that I definitely can't afford things like "smart flipflops" for novelty
3:05 Ha ha ha.
Programmers use more computing power to write everything in JS to decrease price of development and increase profit of the companies.
Great video Joe, with substantial research and homework. I was almost sad and depressed until the end of the video where you highlighted some good work being done in at least some places to actually make a difference.
Joe: "You might want to grab a drink."
Me: "oh boy, here we go." (Grabs the 1.5L bottle of vodka he was going to use for limoncello.)
Built in obsolescence on steroids....my brand new laptop will last only 3 weeks because the battery can no longer be changed. Absolute idiocy! Thanks Joe for highlighting the problem....
Sorry it should be 3 years......
My wife and I were driving through Ohio to visit her parents in Michigan. We had her Furby on the back seat, with some other things, and as I pulled out from a gas station it rolled over and said “Worried!” When we got on a really long stretch of corn fields and Budweiser factories it says “Boring.” It might still be laying there in that ditch.
So why am I paying the State of California a "Recycling" fee on every electronic I buy?
They care $$$ so much $$$ about $$ the environment $$$
This is why I keep my electronics for as long as they work, no matter how "outdated" they are. I have a 2DS instead of a switch, a computer that, while able to play all the games I want, doesn't have any of the newer graphics card and I used to have an old samsung smartphone, bought in something like 2010, until I was gifted an old Iphone. Still have the smartphone, it works so I'm keeping it.
10:45 51-state flag, did I miss something?
Probably slipped in by a Brexiter, it is their dream for us to become the 51st state.
@@krashd I think it would work out well for everyone. Except the Queen.
As a sound guy the prospect of harvesting anything with sound makes my ears moist. It makes me wonder 🤓
I recommend the documentary about this topic covered on the DW (German public broadcasting) it goes in depth on the illegal importation of appliances/computers/ TVs. Similar concept but very informative.
I never knew anything about the E-Waste problem on this level. Insane! I was also crushed when you sipped on a drink from Whataburger. I went to high school in Plano in the late '80s. OMG! Oh, how I miss Whataburger.
I'm a believer in repurposing old electronic components & devices, so many useful things pulled out of dumpsters!
So, i'm 10 minutes in and I'll be taking a break before I break..
"Best Buy is not certified by BAN." 30 seconds earlier: BAN's poster child for responsible recycling was actually shipping it overseas
I'm happy to report I've never thrown out an old electronic. I still have all my old phones, an iPod shuffle, and a tomagochi
I was feeling uncharacteristically hopeful today, thank you very much!
When he pronounces "Basel" the Swiss die a little inside
Another facet of this is don't buy anything unless you actually need it. Ignore the marketing and determine for yourself if buying something is going to demonstrably make your life better. The computer I'm using was built in 2015 and I bought it from a recycling center. I put a modern graphics card in it (Radeon RX5700XT) and this machine runs anything I want to play. When I'm finished with it I will pass it down the supply chain to someone else. I'm currently putting the finishing touches to two gaming machines which I will be donating this weekend. Most equipment can be kept out of landfills with minor upgrades.
I started working as an electronics technician for Panasonic in 1972. Consumers are a major part of the problem. So much garbage never should have been designed and manufactured but consumers buy stupid trash on the basis of price and brand. How much marketing research is just about the psychology of consumers.
Our economists are a problem too. They do not compute and report the Depreciation of the junk.
You're best option for old devices that work, just not fast enough, is donate them to a youth shelter that way you can help some kids.
I have a friend with a PHD in chemistry engineering he works for a company that recovers metals from e waste mostly cell phones. It pays for itself with the gold in each device.
Save up any electronics and after you have a stockpile, disassemble everything and recover the previous metals. Yeah the gold, silver, tin, lead, and copper are nice but the platinum group metals are going for a premium. Not to mention many of the components themselves can be reused instead of just scrapping. Heat sinks, motors, fans, capacitors, resistors, transformers, fuses, speakers, buttons, switches, microphones, cameras, displays, you name it. Not to mention all the hardware, brackets, screws, hinges, thin aluminum / stainless sheet metal, magnesium, rare earth magnets, all kinds of stuff.
oh yeah it's a serious business in Karachi. There is a saying in the entirety of Pakistan, "if you know where to look, you'll find it all in Karachi". And its true.
One of of the most horrifying things you’ve ever covered 😨
An E waste recycling facility in my state shut down just last year, and 1000s of lbs of PCB went to a landfill...
3:19: The sad reality is now hardware capabilities are so strong that programmers rarely optimise to anything like the same degree we used to have to. Time to market (or benefit in the case of in house applications) mean if it runs acceptably on current hardware it does not need to be optimised to run efficiently. Custom software is way more expensive than really expensive hardware and so buying powerful hardware almost always wins. THe only exception is internet scale applications where there will be millions of concurrent users. That stuff still gets thought out and optimised normally again by having the workloads work in such a way that it can scale sideways.
The days of having to conserve memory and cpu cycles are largely over. When I was starting my computer science degree in 1992 our 1st year had a course in 8086 assembly language because the expectation was even though we'd probably be coding most things in C or C++ there would likely still be certain algorithms that would require optimisation using assembly language.
I can't remember the last time I even had to manually allocate memory in a programming language. Probably about 2004 on some seriously legacy C programming.
Hardware needs replacing all the time because it gets replaced all the time. IF programmers were told that this the last generation of hardware we'd all become better programmers again and companies would have to accept that some performance sensitive programs take longer to be viable.
Luv and Peace.
Thank you, Joe, for raising this important issue. Apart from the obvious sensibilty of recycling, for environment reasons, there is also the thing that we might run out of some of the critical materials. There are various reports from State Department, Defence and from UN and EU, listing what materials they predict will run out.
The second thing I like to point out, is the lack of efficiency in the e-waste recycling industry. The normal handling make sure that it is impossible to extract the important materials. First, it is shredded, because it is easier to transport it that way. Next, a strong overband magnet is used, to extract all magnetic materials. This is known as the Iron fraction. Hidden in this is rare earths like Dysprosium and Neodymium. lost for ever, because it is not rentable to treat the iron fraction any further. Next is a Eddy current magnet, where the Aluminum and Copper fraction is sorted out. Left is the plastic fraction. Plastics is a whole story in itself, as so many different plastics are used in electronics, with various degree of flame retardants (brom), making it very hard to separate. Both the Aluminum fraction and the Copper Fraction contain other materials. Aluminum fraction is often not refined further, loosing Platinum.
Copper fraction is normally further refined, through several steps containing grinding, electrolysis (in several baths for copper, silver) and finally melting for gold and palladium.
The thing here is that even if you do mention some ground braking technologies, it is cheaper for the recyclers to use the processes they used prior to e-waste.
Just finished the OLF episode from last Friday, I'm so glad this video is here to continue this conversation on E-waste.
The way you can help to not contribute: Limit your own consumption of low-durability electronics Maintain your equipment - including cleaning it.. Make sure you squeeze each ounce of useful life you can from the electronic you have, rather than buying a brand new fancy iPhone every year..
And when you do use up your electronics until they are no longer useful to you, they could still be useful to someone else. Donate still-functional electronics to charities or place them on the Free Cycle website.
my solutions (in order):
1) don't buy electronics
2) buy as little as possible
3) use the electronics as long as one can
4) take out the usable parts before recycling (I take out batteries and hard drives)
5) ask others if they want something that's still usable
6) fix it
7) run BOINC on it
e-recycling, much like regular recycling - should be avoided as much as possible, just like buying it in the first place.
Joe you have a hyper lucid explanation train of thought method of delivery and it just works
The EU have recognised E-waste or "WEEE" as a problem back in the 90s along with the Basal treaty. This made it illegal to export e-waste, but allowed used working products to be exported. Unfortunately scammers used this loop hole to ship e-waste to 3rd world claiming they were working. This caused the introduction of WEEE2 in the last 10yrs which requires much stricter documentation and checking of used goods. Manufacturers or importers placing on the market today have to pay to contibute to current recycling (Vehicles, WEEE, batteries and packaging..all seperately).
WEEE regulations also require design consideration for recycling, however this is wholesale ignored as it totally unspecific and more designers are not aware of it (especially any designer that started working after the introduction in the early 2000s), few companies have any written procedures or requirements.. especially the last US company I worked for.
Other regulations require batteries to be replaceable and instructions for doing this provided, various markings, packaging etc. RoHS restricts certain materials, mainly to protect recycling workers.
There are a few US states that have copied the EU regs, especially California (Rohs), Washington state (WEEE on monitors and some other items), come to memory, but again ignored by manufacturers
The EU has alot of these types or regulations but are significantly ignored and not complied with. Currently a policing directive is in the pipeline, requiring member states to police directives, but it is unpopular, especially with the UK who prefer light touch regulation for business, which seems to mean break the law until you are found out because they will be no repercussions other than you wil have to comply then.
A good system is the bounty system where the mfr has to pay a finders fee of non-compliance to anyone pointing it out (after confirmed by court). California prop 65 works this way, but only seems to apply to products in shops that consumers can see. Australia has systems for on-registration of products allowing user to check, but no bounty. The bounty system provides a way of private policing model.