WEBVTT - How E-waste Works

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<v Speaker 1>Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

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<v Speaker 1>It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With

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<v Speaker 1>tech stuff from how stuff Works dot com. Hi there, everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the podcast. My name is Chris Polett. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>an editor here at How Stuff Works. Sitting next to me,

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<v Speaker 1>as always is senior writer Jonathan Stricklands. How do you, folks?

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<v Speaker 1>And Uh, we'd we'd like you to stay with us.

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<v Speaker 1>We we hate for you to leave, because that would

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<v Speaker 1>be a waste. Uh. One of your infamous segues already

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<v Speaker 1>transitions intros and and one of my classier ones. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>this is uh, this is a rough topic we're about

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<v Speaker 1>to talk about. We're gonna talk about electronic waste today,

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<v Speaker 1>which is a very serious issue. Um, and it's more

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<v Speaker 1>serious now, I guess than ever before because just when

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<v Speaker 1>you think about how how the electronics industry kind of works.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've bought a computer in the last five years,

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<v Speaker 1>then you know this already. As soon as you get

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<v Speaker 1>at home and you hook it up, you find out

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<v Speaker 1>your computer is obsolete. And the commercials on computers and

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<v Speaker 1>seem to indicate that you know, you're a complete loser

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<v Speaker 1>unless you go out and buy the next great computer. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>what do you do with your old computer? You know,

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<v Speaker 1>even if you resist that urge and you wait a

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<v Speaker 1>year or two, eventually you're gonna build buy a new machine.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, you're probably not just gonna keep upgrading your

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<v Speaker 1>old one, because eventually you will get to a point

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<v Speaker 1>where you can't you can't go any further with the

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<v Speaker 1>equipment you have, and you want to stay current, especially

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<v Speaker 1>if you're an early adopter. Um, so you go out

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<v Speaker 1>and you you buy a new machine, But what do

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<v Speaker 1>you do with the old one? And? Uh, this is

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<v Speaker 1>becoming a really important question because that turns out there's

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of stuff in these machines that we should

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<v Speaker 1>not allow to get into the environment because they're very,

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<v Speaker 1>very hazardous both to humans and to to other animals

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<v Speaker 1>and to two while you know, just plants and uh,

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<v Speaker 1>water supplies. I mean, it's it's serious stuff. Yeah, you

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<v Speaker 1>want to talk about some of those are Writer Jessica

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<v Speaker 1>Toothman did an article called how e Waste Works, and

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<v Speaker 1>in it she says that these things are all to

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<v Speaker 1>be found in electronic waste. You already we got lead,

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<v Speaker 1>we got lead, mercury, arsenic cadmium, copper, beryllium, barium, chromium, nickel, zinc, silver,

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<v Speaker 1>and gold, and uh, you know a lot of those things,

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<v Speaker 1>especially things like lead and mercury, are definitely not something

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<v Speaker 1>you want in the even cadmium, yeah, you don't want.

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<v Speaker 1>And none of those is particularly good for you. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>there are some that are worse than others. And of course,

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<v Speaker 1>if you go older electronics, you know, pre you know,

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<v Speaker 1>the mid seventies or so have PCBs worry about that

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<v Speaker 1>serious stuff too. I Now, granted you don't find that

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<v Speaker 1>in electronics nowadays because of their their actual regulations against it.

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<v Speaker 1>But these are all chemicals and toxins that can be

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<v Speaker 1>very hazardous and they're in your tronics now. While they're

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<v Speaker 1>in your electronics, they're they're pretty much inert. You don't

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<v Speaker 1>really need to worry about lead sneaking out of your

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<v Speaker 1>laptop and strangling you as you sleep, unless you're Stephen King,

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<v Speaker 1>in which case I would probably be a pretty good book.

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<v Speaker 1>But at any rate, uh, you know, you don't need

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<v Speaker 1>to worry about that. But but when you throw things away, uh,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, things get crushed, things get broken, Uh, stuff

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<v Speaker 1>leaches out. I mean if it's if it's in an

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<v Speaker 1>open environment, it's it's subject to the elements, so rain

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<v Speaker 1>and can leach out harmful chemicals and a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>these places, the landfills, they'll actually burn the waste, which

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<v Speaker 1>makes the things that are in your computer are even

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<v Speaker 1>more toxic and harmful. Yeah, now when we're we're talking

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<v Speaker 1>about throwing stuff away, um, that that's probably let's go

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<v Speaker 1>step number one. Don't just chunk in the trash when

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<v Speaker 1>you're done with it, because that's exactly what's gonna happen.

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<v Speaker 1>It's gonna get churned up by by a giant crushing

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<v Speaker 1>machine and uh, you know if they camp out, Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>exactly a furnace either way, right exactly. And and so

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<v Speaker 1>that's you know sep Number one. You need to find

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<v Speaker 1>someplace to recycle it, and a lot of computer manufacturers

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<v Speaker 1>will take back there there merchandise or even computers from

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<v Speaker 1>other people. Um. For example, my wife and I just

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<v Speaker 1>got new iPods because hers was no longer functioning as

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<v Speaker 1>it should and they offer Apple offers to take back

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<v Speaker 1>the old iPods and will give you a discount um

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<v Speaker 1>towards the new iPod, which is which is a nice thing.

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<v Speaker 1>But the question is and you know this goes for

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<v Speaker 1>all the manufacturers. Where does it go when they take

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<v Speaker 1>it away? Are they actually getting recycled or are they

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<v Speaker 1>getting dumped in a landfill? Right and and sixty minutes

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<v Speaker 1>did a really good expose a on this issue recently, UM.

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<v Speaker 1>And one of the things that the group of journalists

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<v Speaker 1>did was they actually went all the way to China

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<v Speaker 1>to go to a massive landfills supposed to be a

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<v Speaker 1>recycling center, but it turned out to just be a

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<v Speaker 1>gigantic landfill, and there was this enormous pile of electronics

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<v Speaker 1>just smoldering. You can see the smoke rising from the pile.

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<v Speaker 1>And this releases tons and tons of carcinogens into the atmosphere,

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<v Speaker 1>which means all the people that work in and around

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<v Speaker 1>that area are all at risk of of of getting

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<v Speaker 1>cancer just for living near there because these chemicals are

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<v Speaker 1>being released into the atmosphere. Yes, I was actually reading

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<v Speaker 1>an article on grisp dot org, which is a very

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<v Speaker 1>cool environmental site. UM. And from from what I understand

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of times, what they'll do recycling outfits will

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<v Speaker 1>pay villagers in countries in Africa and Asia, UM, and

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<v Speaker 1>what they'll do to get the metals and things. They'll

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<v Speaker 1>actually stick circuit boards over a fire or over a

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<v Speaker 1>burner and try to get the metal smell. So that's

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<v Speaker 1>releasing toxins into the air. Um. You know, they're probably

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<v Speaker 1>touching some of that stuff with their hands, is leaching

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<v Speaker 1>through their skin, you know, getting to the groundwater, and

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<v Speaker 1>they're just sitting on vast heaps of this stuff. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>But yeah, as a matter of fact, that that sixty

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<v Speaker 1>minutes are report that you were referencing a moment ago,

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<v Speaker 1>they actually some of the people attacked the journalists who

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<v Speaker 1>had come to from CBS to do the reports. It

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<v Speaker 1>turned out that that some of the local businessmen who

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<v Speaker 1>were in charge of this, uh, this landfill, had employed well,

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<v Speaker 1>I guess there's really no other word for it other

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<v Speaker 1>than gangsters to kind of act as muscle to keep

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<v Speaker 1>people away from this landfill. They don't want the information

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<v Speaker 1>getting out because this is a huge money maker for

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<v Speaker 1>them and UM. As a result, the journalists were harassed

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<v Speaker 1>and pushed and essentially told that if they didn't leave

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<v Speaker 1>they were going to get beaten up. UM. And they

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<v Speaker 1>were able to keep the camera that the gangsters did

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<v Speaker 1>try to wrestle the camera away, but they the journalists

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<v Speaker 1>got away with it. They did lose a soil sample.

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<v Speaker 1>They had taken a soil sample to test and a

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<v Speaker 1>laboratory later, but that was taken by the gangsters. So yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, this is like serious business. And and here's

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<v Speaker 1>the thing is that China can offer, like people in

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<v Speaker 1>China can offer these these services, these so supposed recycling

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<v Speaker 1>services for a much lower price than say a legitimate

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<v Speaker 1>recycling center can because recycling is expensive. It's not it's

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<v Speaker 1>not a really cheap efficient process. There's a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>work that goes into recycling something safely, so it's less

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<v Speaker 1>profitable for the person who has to recycle something. It's

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<v Speaker 1>it's more expensive for them to do it. There's less

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<v Speaker 1>of a profit margin there. So from a revenue perspective,

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<v Speaker 1>it's more attractive to go with one of these shady

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<v Speaker 1>recycling outfits because you're gonna save more money that way.

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<v Speaker 1>But in the end, you really are just doing more

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<v Speaker 1>harm than good. So more and more companies are trying

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<v Speaker 1>to be more responsible about this. I mean, it's for

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<v Speaker 1>one thing, it's good press. For another, a lot of them,

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<v Speaker 1>I think genuinely have a desire to make sure they

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<v Speaker 1>don't impact the environment in a harmful way. So I

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<v Speaker 1>don't think it's just them saying, hey, we don't want

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<v Speaker 1>this black mark on our records. We want to actually

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<v Speaker 1>do the right thing. So you have more and more

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<v Speaker 1>centers that are are taking these steps to make sure

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<v Speaker 1>that the recycling has done in a responsible way. But

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<v Speaker 1>it does mean a lot more work, that's true. And

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<v Speaker 1>you might be asking where the federal government is coming

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<v Speaker 1>in on this. The e P, a environmental protection agency

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<v Speaker 1>that is UM, has been criticized for not doing enough UM. Recently,

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<v Speaker 1>they came out with a document called Responsible Recycling Practices

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<v Speaker 1>for Use in Accredited Certification Programs also known as are

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<v Speaker 1>too for Responsible Recycling UM. It's pretty neat because it uh,

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<v Speaker 1>it basically takes into account the workers health and safety, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>the environmental environmental mobile practices like the abominable as it

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<v Speaker 1>is exactly UM and basically it says, anybody who's disassembling

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<v Speaker 1>or recycling used electronics, these are guidelines that they can follow.

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<v Speaker 1>The key word in there is can. It's a voluntary practice.

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<v Speaker 1>So UM, really there's nothing that uh. You know, obviously,

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<v Speaker 1>environmental groups UM are going to be more interested in

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<v Speaker 1>a you know, restrictive piece of legislation, a set of guidelines. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>But there are some things that you can do UM

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<v Speaker 1>to reclaim this. I actually saw an article in the

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<v Speaker 1>New York Times on on November twelve that was talking

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<v Speaker 1>about a group in New England. And let's see the

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<v Speaker 1>name of it is UM on one second, the name

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<v Speaker 1>of it is E Scrap Destruction there in New York.

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<v Speaker 1>And uh. The people who founded the company, father and

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<v Speaker 1>son team, had actually been paper recyclers and they we're

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<v Speaker 1>trying they were looking at the problem of e waste

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<v Speaker 1>and what they do. They actually treat it like they

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<v Speaker 1>would paper. Now, when you recycle paper, you shred it,

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<v Speaker 1>destroy it, you know, break it down, uh, and then

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<v Speaker 1>basically reform the paper. Well uh, for they're sort of

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<v Speaker 1>taking our que from that because they had a giant

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<v Speaker 1>shredder built. So they run the electronics through the shredder

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<v Speaker 1>and then use you know, the stuff that comes out.

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<v Speaker 1>And this you know, obviously, if you run a hard

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<v Speaker 1>drive through a shredder, you're also completely uh destroying the

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<v Speaker 1>hard drive to make it the data any data left

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<v Speaker 1>on it's safe, it's nonrecoverable in that case exactly. So

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<v Speaker 1>this this is an added benefit of this. But what

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<v Speaker 1>they'll do is they'll take out they run magnets over it,

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<v Speaker 1>and that pulls out anything that's ferriss um, and they

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<v Speaker 1>send it to another organization that can pull out the

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<v Speaker 1>bits of glass and other things. And they they separated

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<v Speaker 1>out piece by piece, sort of like a single stream

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<v Speaker 1>recycling go through and pick got all the copper and

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<v Speaker 1>all the lead and all the glass which can be

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<v Speaker 1>reused and recent and their their policy is that nothing

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<v Speaker 1>goes into a landfill. Everything is reclaimed, which is a

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<v Speaker 1>pretty neat way. This is the first time I've actually

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<v Speaker 1>seen anybody do this, so, um, it's pretty awesome stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>That's incredible. And and so if you are looking at

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<v Speaker 1>recycling some of your electronic devices and whether that be

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<v Speaker 1>you know, a computer or a handheld device, a phone,

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<v Speaker 1>cellular phone, something like that, make sure you do a

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<v Speaker 1>little research into the various recycling programs that are that

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<v Speaker 1>are available to you, and uh and make sure that

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<v Speaker 1>it's going to the right place, because I mean, what's

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<v Speaker 1>the point otherwise you can just toss it out if

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<v Speaker 1>if it's gonna end up in a landfill anyway, Um,

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<v Speaker 1>do a little legwork. See if you can find any

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<v Speaker 1>reports on on how, um, how the recycling center handles

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<v Speaker 1>its materials. Uh. And of course the other option is

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<v Speaker 1>always to try and find a way to reuse whatever

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<v Speaker 1>it is that that you have that's become obsolete. Some

0:12:01.320 --> 0:12:05.320
<v Speaker 1>people convert old computers into a really you know, cheap

0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.600
<v Speaker 1>server or just a storage device, so they keep it

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<v Speaker 1>in use. They're just not using it as their primary

0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.760
<v Speaker 1>machine anymore. That's true. UM. As a matter of fact,

0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:18.280
<v Speaker 1>my my wife's aforementioned iPod, the screen went bad, but

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<v Speaker 1>it still works great as a as a portable hard drive,

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<v Speaker 1>So you know, you strip the music off of it

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<v Speaker 1>and it's it's still functions as a hard drive. You

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<v Speaker 1>just can't see. You can't use as a nipod anymore

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<v Speaker 1>because you can't see the information on the screen. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>And uh, Honestly, what what Jonathan is saying to UM,

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<v Speaker 1>I think is that consider what you're doing with it.

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<v Speaker 1>If you can make your computer or your electronics last

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit longer, um, that's also helping keep it

0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:47.320
<v Speaker 1>out of the out of the landfill. So if you

0:12:47.320 --> 0:12:50.280
<v Speaker 1>can reuse it in some other way or you know,

0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:53.679
<v Speaker 1>a simple upgrade, then you're you know, changing one board

0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:55.960
<v Speaker 1>instead of the entire machine. Right, you could even be

0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.480
<v Speaker 1>a hand me down, you know, you could. You could

0:12:59.080 --> 0:13:01.720
<v Speaker 1>instead of just throwing away your computer, if someone else

0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:04.600
<v Speaker 1>needs it, you could always donate it to them. Um,

0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:08.720
<v Speaker 1>and make sure you wipe off any information on that

0:13:08.760 --> 0:13:13.120
<v Speaker 1>computer before you give it to anyone else. I just recently,

0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:17.160
<v Speaker 1>for instance, as a personal example, I purchased a used

0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:21.160
<v Speaker 1>Xbox to have a second Xbox at home. Don't judge me,

0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:25.840
<v Speaker 1>and uh, I needed a second Xbox, and I did,

0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:27.640
<v Speaker 1>and I got home and I plugged it in to

0:13:27.679 --> 0:13:29.480
<v Speaker 1>make sure it worked, and it was working just fine,

0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:31.200
<v Speaker 1>and I thought, hey, you know what I should do.

0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:34.800
<v Speaker 1>I should check and see if whomever owned this before

0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:37.199
<v Speaker 1>me had an Xbox Live account and see if their

0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.240
<v Speaker 1>information is still on here, because that would be irresponsible

0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:42.040
<v Speaker 1>of them to do that, and I should, as a

0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:47.120
<v Speaker 1>responsible person, deleted if that's the case. Sure enough, there was,

0:13:47.760 --> 0:13:49.720
<v Speaker 1>there was all this information on there. There was an

0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:54.800
<v Speaker 1>account information I could have possibly activated that account through

0:13:54.920 --> 0:13:57.920
<v Speaker 1>the Xbox Live and and the next thing you know,

0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.880
<v Speaker 1>I've got free Xbox Live. Until the some realizes they're

0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:05.280
<v Speaker 1>being charged for something that they're not using. UM. So yeah,

0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:08.599
<v Speaker 1>definitely wipe your information before you whether you're going to

0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:12.400
<v Speaker 1>recycle it, throw it away, give it to someone, wipe

0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:15.560
<v Speaker 1>your information first. You don't want that getting in the

0:14:15.559 --> 0:14:18.400
<v Speaker 1>hands of somebody. And and don't throw it away. Recycle

0:14:18.480 --> 0:14:20.480
<v Speaker 1>it or give it away, but don't throw it away.

0:14:20.840 --> 0:14:24.120
<v Speaker 1>But and you know, I'm looking at using an old

0:14:24.120 --> 0:14:28.120
<v Speaker 1>computer that I have as a possible media PC now, um,

0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:32.160
<v Speaker 1>mainly as a storage device because I've got an old

0:14:32.400 --> 0:14:36.480
<v Speaker 1>CPU just sitting around not doing anything. And uh, I thought, well, hey,

0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:38.080
<v Speaker 1>you know that would be a good way to to

0:14:38.160 --> 0:14:40.480
<v Speaker 1>put to you. So since we had our little podcast

0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:43.880
<v Speaker 1>about media centers, I thought, hey, why why am I

0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:47.680
<v Speaker 1>not doing this? So I may actually do that. You

0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:51.760
<v Speaker 1>got inspired, did you? All right? Well? Um, oh, we

0:14:51.800 --> 0:14:53.800
<v Speaker 1>were going to mention one other update. We did talk

0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:58.040
<v Speaker 1>in a previous podcast about a pretty nasty material that

0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:01.400
<v Speaker 1>is found in things like plasmid displays and solar panels,

0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:05.400
<v Speaker 1>even to produce the panels. Correct, Yeah, you're talking about

0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:09.120
<v Speaker 1>nitrogen trifluoride. Yes, our old friend nitrogen trifluoride. That now,

0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:12.200
<v Speaker 1>if you recall, if you listen to that podcast, we

0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:18.160
<v Speaker 1>mentioned that nitrogen trifluoride is seventeen thousand times more powerful

0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:22.200
<v Speaker 1>at holding in heat than carbon dioxide and the atmosphere,

0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:26.320
<v Speaker 1>in the atmosphere and that. But but because for the

0:15:26.360 --> 0:15:28.840
<v Speaker 1>longest time, most people thought there wasn't really that much

0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:31.240
<v Speaker 1>of it in the atmosphere at all. No one really

0:15:31.760 --> 0:15:34.160
<v Speaker 1>thought about it in terms of global warming. They just

0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:36.760
<v Speaker 1>thought it was it wasn't a player in the global

0:15:36.760 --> 0:15:40.000
<v Speaker 1>warming scheme of things. Um, But it turns out that

0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:43.280
<v Speaker 1>there is some in the atmosphere. And recently Fox News

0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:46.080
<v Speaker 1>broke a story that there's more than we thought, four

0:15:46.160 --> 0:15:49.720
<v Speaker 1>times more of it in the atmosphere than we thought. Yeah,

0:15:49.880 --> 0:15:52.920
<v Speaker 1>so four times the amount of what of a gas

0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:56.840
<v Speaker 1>that is seventeen thousand times more harmful than carbon dioxide

0:15:56.840 --> 0:16:00.160
<v Speaker 1>from a global warming perspective. So that's another good reason

0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.960
<v Speaker 1>to make sure that you find a way to recycle

0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:06.520
<v Speaker 1>your electronics. Also, it just means that manufacturers have to

0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:08.640
<v Speaker 1>be careful and try and find different ways to produce

0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:13.400
<v Speaker 1>these electronics without creating these toxic materials in the first place. Yeah,

0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:17.720
<v Speaker 1>I think you're right. Do you have anything else said

0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:20.880
<v Speaker 1>for this wonderful topic? I am too. Well, if you

0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:23.080
<v Speaker 1>want to learn more, you can read how e ways

0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:26.360
<v Speaker 1>works at how stuff works dot com. That's live right now,

0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:31.200
<v Speaker 1>and we'll talk to you again soon For more on

0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:33.760
<v Speaker 1>this and thousands of other topics. Does it how stuff

0:16:33.760 --> 0:16:37.040
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0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:43.760
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0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:46.480
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0:16:46.800 --> 0:16:48.040
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