Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

It’s unusual nowadays to buy something which doesn’t offer a “smart” version. Trash cans, coffee tables, thermostats; all can now be found with circuits and programming and wireless niceties which offer varying levels of convenience to users. The monetary cost of these devices handily rings up at the checkout, but what about other, less obvious costs? Batteries, silicon chips, wires. What makes up these electronics, where does it come from, and how do we ensure we’re being good stewards for future generations regarding its disposal?

Silicon is the most common material making up today’s electronics. It’s found in nature most abundantly in a type of sand called quartz sand. Once purified and heated into a molten state, it’s then made into the semi-conductive wafers which make up the chips and integrated circuits we love to talk to, drive with and text our friends on. Also involved in this process, although to a much lesser degree, are copper, gold and aluminum. All of these elements, handily for future of electronics, can all be recycled to make new chips. Apple, for example, now uses around 20 percent recycled materials to make up their products.

Interestingly, it’s the procurement of these base elements which makes up the bulk of a device’s energy use, rather than its actual serviceable lifetime at the hands of you or me. A laptop for example, uses over 80 percent of the energy it will ever consume, during the manufacturing process. Your smartphone costs many, many times its weight in raw materials to produce when you factor in what it takes to go from the mined ore to the final product. Often this mining takes place in less than safe conditions, too, so there’s a fairly strong social expectation nowadays for companies to be doing better with recycling.

Lithium is another material found in modern, portable electronics, specifically in their batteries. The majority of lithium mining takes place in Australia, Chile and China, these three making up 90 percent of all global production. Currently, it’s much cheaper to purchase new batteries, than it is to recover the lithium contained within old batteries. Given the environmental concerns, such as pollution and land degradation, which lithium mining is associated with, the balance between financial responsibility and environmental consciousness is a tough one to strike with today’s methods.

Happily, technology recycling procedures are improving. Companies are facing both increased demand and increased expectation from consumers to be doing better, which is in turn driving fresh research. Additionally, new e-waste laws are pressuring manufacturers to implement cleaner manufacturing techniques. While tough to accurately estimate, around 25 percent of the electronics we throw away in the United States is recycled, today. The majority of the devices we take for granted, cellphones, laptops, smart devices; typically end up in landfill where it decomposes over the next several thousand, or even hundreds of thousand years. This resistance to decomposition is another, more obvious issue with the tech we throw away.

By far and away the easiest way we can reduce e-waste is by passing on devices which still have useful life left in them, either by donating or selling. Right to repair laws, which I’ve written about in the past, help extend the life of these slightly-aged devices. Many manufacturers and increasingly, vendors offer recycling options when you upgrade to newer models, typically with a monetary incentive. Mostly, I think it’s the awareness which is most important. Choosing what to do with your retiring electronics is your own decision, but it’s one we should all make from a position of being well informed.