World 'Losing the Battle' Against Electronic Waste, UN Finds

AsiaOne ^ | MARCH 20, 2024

[nickcarraway]

The world is losing the battle against electronic waste, a UN expert said on Wednesday (March 20), after a report found 62 million metric tons of mobile phones and devices were dumped on the planet in just one year — and this is expected to increase by a third by 2030.

Electronic waste, also known as e-waste, consists of any discarded items containing an electric plug or a battery. It can contain toxic additives and hazardous substances such as mercury, and represents an environmental and health hazard.

"These goods are often not easy to repair. They easily become waste and hence global waste generation is increasing," said Kees Balde, senior scientific specialist for the Sustainable Cycles Programme at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). "The increases of the e-waste mountain are faster than the increases in the recycling efforts of this e-waste... We are simply losing the battle."

[E. Pluribus Unum]

That’s nothing compared to what our global AI overlord is going to generate.

[Tell It Right]

If you’re worried about electronic waste, and you still want to force everyone to drive EV’s ... you might be a leftist.

[Responsibility2nd]

And think of the billions of tons of electronic waste there will be when EV’s are junked.

[Tai_Chung]

It’s those batteries that will be the real issue.

[sjmjax]

Stop making the devices useless and obsolete so quickly.

I don’t have to buy a new car every time they re-pave a road or build a new interstate exit.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

In order to keep the weight down, many of the EVs have fiberglass bodies which is also difficult to recycle.

[metmom]

And solar panels.

And windmill components that do not rot and cannot be recycled.

[Tax-chick]

So we’re doomed. So nu?

[ProtectOurFreedom]

AI waste AND crypto mining waste will be huge.

[mowowie]

There used to be TV repair shops all over but now you just throw it in the trash.

I remember the day I could whip out my soldering iron and fix a device by replacing a transistor or capacitor.
Can’t really do that anymore..

[FlingWingFlyer]

Hippy ass windmill waste really kicked out environmental asses.

[roadcat]

Electronic waste, also known as e-waste, consists of any discarded items containing an electric plug or a battery. It can contain toxic additives and hazardous substances such as mercury, and represents an environmental and health hazard.

These e-waste things originally came out of the ground, and they can be recycled back into the ground. It is a matter of cost. For example, there are many firms that recycle batteries. EV batteries that are not reused, are ground up and the expensive ingredients are reused to make new EV batteries. The environmental and health hazards are hyped up, or are from improper disposal by bad actors. For instance, sending it to Asian countries that promise to properly treat it but they simply dump it into a river.

[packagingguy]

Filamentous fungi will eat the AI overlord (he doesn’t have an immune system):

https://biointerfaceresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/20695837126.84068425.pdf

[moovova]

I have several tons of bits and bytes in my backyard. Been trying to get rid of them, but nobody seems to need them. Appears to be a combination of financial data and porn.

[PGR88]

Indeed. Wait until the US car market has more than 3% EVs and they start going into scrap-yards....

[butlerweave]

The UN can stick it’s Electronic Waste

[rktman]

My shocked face....😴

[butlerweave]

A report found 62 million metric tons of mobile phones and devices were dumped on the planet in just one year

and where did the materials come from to make all these things ,Outer space ? D’oh

[clearcarbon]

"62 million metric tons of mobile phones and devices were dumped on the planet in just one year "

I've been forced to replace my cell phone four times over the years. All are still functional but not all for making calls. I still like my original flip phone best.