WEBVTT - Rerun: E-Waste and What To Do With It 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:15.000 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:17.440 job and Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:21.560 Radio and I love all things tech. And we are 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:24.960 taking a little break during the holiday season, um so 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.080 that we can enjoy some time with our our loved ones. 0:00:28.920 --> 0:00:31.440 But I'm sure many of you out there will be 0:00:31.480 --> 0:00:34.839 receiving some new tech gear this holiday season, so I 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:37.960 thought it would be a great idea to revisit this episode, 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:44.879 which originally published on October. It is called E Waste 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:47.920 and What to Do with It. So you might find 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:50.479 yourself needing to get rid of some older tech. Right, 0:00:50.560 --> 0:00:53.880 you got new stuff, now you gotta figure out what 0:00:53.920 --> 0:00:56.720 to do with the old stuff. However, technology can have 0:00:56.800 --> 0:01:02.639 some pretty nasty components in its stuff that has dangerous materials. 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:05.760 So we're gonna learn in this episode the challenges associated 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:12.000 with disposing of technology in a safe and responsible manner. Enjoy. 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:15.440 So today we're going to talk about e waste or 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:19.360 electronic waste, because it's a real problem for many reasons. 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:22.399 One of the big ones is that we live in 0:01:22.400 --> 0:01:25.240 an era in which companies are really pushing out new 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:28.200 products at a rapid pace and doing their best to 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:31.760 convince you that you need to buy or upgrade or 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:35.880 whatever on a frequent basis. That's how these companies make 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:38.240 their money, so it comes as no surprise that they 0:01:38.280 --> 0:01:43.040 would do this. It's the nature of business, and that 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:46.000 means a couple of things have to happen to make 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:49.640 that business plan actually work. And one of those things 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:53.120 is that ideally you make a product that's good, but 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:56.120 not so good that your customers will never need another 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:59.480 one after they buy the first one. It's the everlasting 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:02.720 gobstopper problem of Willy Wonka. If you actually made a 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:06.240 candy that never got any smaller and never lost its flavor, 0:02:06.640 --> 0:02:09.000 people would only buy one and would never need a 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:12.919 second one. And where do you go then? So as 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:15.640 another example in the tech world, let's let's imagine that 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.280 you have created a really cool smart watch and it 0:02:19.360 --> 0:02:22.960 actually has features that people find really compelling. You made 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:26.760 the first smart watch that a a larger audience thinks 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:29.600 that actually makes a lot of sense. So your market 0:02:30.000 --> 0:02:33.359 is going to be everybody who might want and who 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:37.840 can afford a smart watch. Now, obviously that doesn't include 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.679 every single human being. Some people are not going to 0:02:40.760 --> 0:02:43.440 be able to afford it. Some people are not going 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:46.440 to be interested in it. But you're trying to target 0:02:46.560 --> 0:02:49.560 everyone who would want one and who could afford one. 0:02:50.000 --> 0:02:54.880 So now, let's say you are incredibly successful in an 0:02:54.960 --> 0:02:59.920 unprecedented move. Somehow you have convinced every single person that's 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:04.360 in that target group to buy one of your smart watches. Congratulations, 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:07.079 it's a big hit. Only what do you do next. 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:10.200 Because you're operating a company, you are not going to 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:14.080 magically sell more of those smart watches beyond your target group, 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:17.920 because the rest of humanity either doesn't want one, or 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:21.560 they can't afford one, or both, So soon you go 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:24.040 out of business because you have nothing else to sell. 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:28.440 Or let's say instead, you want to make a smart watch, 0:03:28.800 --> 0:03:31.959 and you've come up with a whole list of really cool, 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:36.720 compelling features, but you choose to only implement a selection 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:39.400 of those features in your first smart watch. You hold 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:42.080 back a few more. Maybe you're holding them back because 0:03:42.080 --> 0:03:45.840 they're not quite ready. Maybe you're holding back because the 0:03:45.880 --> 0:03:48.200 technology of the smart watch isn't quite at the point 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:51.920 where it can support those features. Or maybe you're doing 0:03:51.960 --> 0:03:54.920 it just so that you can save some stuff for 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:58.440 the next generation of smart watches. You also make your 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:02.880 smart watches out of good but not great materials, including 0:04:02.880 --> 0:04:07.560 stuff like batteries. That way, the smart watches begin to 0:04:07.560 --> 0:04:10.400 wear out after a set amount of time, maybe a 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:13.240 couple of years. And your goal is that you want 0:04:13.240 --> 0:04:15.960 to win a loyal base of customers, and then you 0:04:16.000 --> 0:04:18.719 want to convince that same group to turn around and 0:04:18.760 --> 0:04:22.240 buy the next generation of your hardware, and then do 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:25.760 it again and again. That's essentially how a lot of 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:29.320 the smartphone industry works, at least for brands like the iPhone. 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:32.560 One of the reasons Apple is so successful is as 0:04:32.560 --> 0:04:35.800 a company, it has managed to convince customers to purchase 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:39.640 updated versions of its hardware time and time again, sometimes 0:04:39.720 --> 0:04:43.320 on an accelerated time scale. It might not happen with 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:47.760 every generation for every product, but it happens enough to 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:51.880 keep the company really profitable. I'm sure you know people. 0:04:51.920 --> 0:04:53.800 If you are not one of these people, you probably 0:04:53.839 --> 0:04:58.280 know somebody who upgrades their iPhone every year, so they 0:04:58.320 --> 0:05:01.279 get the latest version of the I own every single 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:05.200 twelve months. That's the kind of of era we are in. 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:09.880 And while that doesn't cover every single Apple customer, it 0:05:09.960 --> 0:05:11.600 covers a lot of them, and there are a lot 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:14.560 more customers who every two years or three years will 0:05:14.560 --> 0:05:18.920 do this upgrade. And while I could and probably one 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:22.320 day will do a full episode about the concept of 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:25.719 planned obsolescence. That's where a company makes a product that 0:05:25.880 --> 0:05:30.400 essentially has an expiration date that the company has made 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:33.880 something with the plan of having that thing become obsolete 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:37.000 within a certain amount of time. Today, we're gonna look 0:05:37.040 --> 0:05:39.039 at the other side of that problem. What do we 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:42.480 do with the obsolete technology when something better comes along, 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:47.040 Whether the technology still works or maybe it's beyond repair, 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:49.280 what do we do with it when we're done with it. 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:52.560 That's why we're going to talk about electronic waste. And 0:05:52.600 --> 0:05:55.760 it's a huge category because it includes not just the 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:59.720 technology that no longer works or technology that's become obsolete. 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:04.320 It includes all tech that is no longer wanted by 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:07.479 its original owner. So you might have a phone that's 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:11.559 several years old but still works perfectly well, but you'll 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:14.839 be confronted with all sorts of advertising and messaging that 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:17.760 what you should do is ditch that old phone for 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:20.719 something new and shiny with a lot more features. And 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:23.000 your old phone, even if it is still in perfect 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:26.120 working order becomes e waste. The moment you decide you 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:29.600 want a new phone, what happens next is up to you. 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:33.880 You have some options. You might choose to recycle your phone, 0:06:34.480 --> 0:06:39.719 in which case I recommend first you wipe everything off 0:06:39.800 --> 0:06:42.640 your device, whether it's a phone, a computer, anything that 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:47.440 could record your information. You need to wipe that device clean, 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:51.080 return it to factory settings, make sure that your personal 0:06:51.200 --> 0:06:54.440 data is no longer associated with that machine before you 0:06:54.480 --> 0:06:56.599 turn it in. And I also recommend you do some 0:06:56.640 --> 0:07:00.400 research into the various services that offer to either cycle 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:04.120 components for you, or they're going to donate the device 0:07:04.200 --> 0:07:06.520 to someone in need, so it's going to be reused 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:10.520 rather than recycled. Make sure that that service is reputable. 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:12.640 There are some companies that can cause harm through the 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:18.960 recycling process or through the smoke screen of donating it 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:21.679 to people in need. More on that in just a second. 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:26.480 Or maybe you don't want to recycle or reuse, or 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:30.160 maybe you just don't have the the services that are 0:07:30.720 --> 0:07:33.680 readily available, or you're not interested. You just shrug your 0:07:33.680 --> 0:07:36.320 shoulders and you toss your phone in the trash. That 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:39.960 is not a great plan, and it can be against 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:43.240 the law depending upon where you live. Many electronics have 0:07:43.280 --> 0:07:47.240 components in them that are not environmentally friendly, and they 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:51.920 don't exactly biodegrade. Electronics might have toxic materials in them. 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:54.320 In fact, most of them do, stuff like lead, or 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:58.120 arsenic or mercury. Exposure to the elements would cause those 0:07:58.200 --> 0:08:01.600 chemicals possibly to leach into this rounding environment and it 0:08:01.640 --> 0:08:04.360 ain't fantastic. So here's some examples of some of the stuff. 0:08:04.360 --> 0:08:09.840 So lead toxicity can affect every oregan system in our bodies. 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:13.320 Lead can inhibit or mimic the actions of calcium and 0:08:13.360 --> 0:08:17.480 interact with proteins. The nervous system is particularly vulnerable, and 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:22.600 lead exposure can cause neurological damage, particularly in children. Mercury 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:26.200 is also nasty stuff. It's toxic to the nervous system. 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:30.160 It's also toxic to the digestive system and the immune system. 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:34.400 It can cause blindness, muscle weakness, impaired movement, and lots 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:38.800 of other neurological effects. Arsenic isn't a lot of electronics. 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:41.960 That's a carcinogen that's associated with many different types of cancer, 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:44.920 and it's also a neurotoxin. You've probably heard of arsenic 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:49.800 and old lace yeah, popular poison among UH mystery novelists. 0:08:50.000 --> 0:08:55.040 It's popular because it's deadly stuff. Beryllium is another dangerous 0:08:55.880 --> 0:08:59.319 element that's in a lot of electronics. Exposure to brillium 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:02.760 is typically pretty minimal for most of us, but you 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:06.880 could have continued exposure due to maybe living near, for example, 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:10.600 a recycling center that's not doing a good job at 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.720 containing this stuff. That can lead to health problems ranging 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:17.320 from skin diseases to what is called acute beryllium disease, 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:21.559 which the symptoms are very similar to pneumonia. It can 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:24.760 even lead, although this is pretty rare, to lung cancer. 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:28.840 Then there's rominated flame retardants. This is actually a class 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:33.319 of synthetic chemicals that are designed to make stuff less flammable. 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:37.880 Frequently it tends to be incorporated directly into plastics. Some 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:40.080 of them, like p B d e S, have been 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:44.880 linked to numerous health risks, including memory and learning problems. Also, 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:50.160 thyroid disruption, reduced fertility, advanced puberty, and delayed mental and 0:09:50.200 --> 0:09:54.880 physical development. So we're talking serious consequences from some of 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:58.280 the stuff that's in our electronics. There's also the possibility 0:09:58.320 --> 0:10:01.720 that if you throw your tech away instead of it 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:04.000 going to say a landfill, which is already pretty bad. 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:06.600 They might go to an incinerator, which could be even 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:10.240 worse because then it gets thrown into a furnace and 0:10:10.440 --> 0:10:14.200 subjected to high heat, it could produce other pollutants and 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:17.120 those could all be released directly into the environment, causing 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:21.320 environmental harm and health hazards to the population nearby. Or 0:10:21.960 --> 0:10:24.600 maybe you take a different choice. Maybe you don't send 0:10:24.640 --> 0:10:27.320 it off to be reused recycled, maybe you don't throw 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:29.880 it away. Maybe it just takes up space in your home. 0:10:30.120 --> 0:10:32.800 But that's also not great. Sometimes it feels like it's 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:37.560 the least bad situation, but you can find ways of 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.200 have it making sure your device is reused recycled responsibly. 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:43.160 I'll talk more about that in just a second, but 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:46.520 first let's take a quick break to thank our sponsor. 0:10:55.840 --> 0:11:01.400 In a Gallop survey found that forty scent of Americans 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:05.920 would upgrade their mobile handsets as soon as they were 0:11:05.920 --> 0:11:09.720 able to according to their phone plans. So in America, 0:11:10.400 --> 0:11:15.000 until fairly recently, it was really common that these mobile 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:19.800 providers would subsidize handset costs through the actual phone service 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:23.480 plans themselves, and so the cost of the handsets to 0:11:23.480 --> 0:11:27.160 the customer were much lower on an upfront basis than 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:29.240 you would find in other places in the world. So 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.120 instead of having to spend several hundred dollars to buy 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.480 a handset, it might be very cheap, but that cost 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:39.360 would be incorporated into your phone plan. It would just 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:42.160 be spread out over the course of your contract, which 0:11:42.200 --> 0:11:45.640 in America would typically last about two years. So every 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:48.120 two years your contract would come up and you would 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:52.520 become eligible to upgrade your phone for a new contract. 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:56.000 And everybody seemed to benefit from this. You got a 0:11:56.040 --> 0:12:00.800 new phone, the phone company had you for another two years. Ultimately, 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:03.240 over the course of those two years, you're probably paying 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:05.360 more for that handset than you would if you had 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:07.640 bought it all up front. It's just those payments have 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:11.760 been spread out over twenty four months. And it seemed 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:14.400 like it was a fairly nice proposition, except for the 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:16.520 fact that that meant that people were generating a lot 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:20.239 of electronic waste. All these old handsets were starting to accumulate, 0:12:21.040 --> 0:12:25.800 and that's just mobile handsets. Generally speaking. Computer experts say 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:30.160 that the average PCs lifespan is somewhere between three and 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:34.680 five years. That typically sometime around three to five years, 0:12:34.679 --> 0:12:39.160 averaging out around four years. People need to upgrade their 0:12:39.160 --> 0:12:42.120 computers because they're just out of date. They're not running 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:46.080 the latest software. Of the parts start to wear out, 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:50.520 you know, batteries start to go bad. So then you 0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:52.840 have to do the same thing with your computer. What 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:55.040 do you do with that? That's a larger piece of 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:58.520 equipment than a mobile handset. Obviously, TVs tend to stick 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:01.320 around a little bit longer, despite the best efforts of 0:13:01.440 --> 0:13:03.800 various companies out there. Because every time I go to 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:07.079 c e S that's the big consumer electronics show in 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:09.760 Las Vegas every year, it seems like the big push 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:11.719 is to come up with a new feature that's going 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:14.680 to convince someone who bought a new television last year 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:17.720 to do it all over again. But generally speaking, people 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:21.360 don't do that because it's pretty expensive. People tend to 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.079 stick with the same television for un average around seven 0:13:24.160 --> 0:13:28.839 years before upgrading. I think I'm behind the average there. 0:13:28.880 --> 0:13:32.720 I don't even I stick with my televisions forever, it seems, 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:36.360 but you don't see that happen as frequently. But that 0:13:36.480 --> 0:13:39.160 still is an issue if you do upgrade. Let's say 0:13:39.160 --> 0:13:42.200 that Thanksgiving roles around in the States. That's typically when 0:13:42.240 --> 0:13:46.880 you start seeing these big uh discounts on televisions that 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:50.240 came out the year before and stores want to clear 0:13:50.280 --> 0:13:53.440 out those inventories to make way for new TVs they're 0:13:53.480 --> 0:13:56.360 coming in in the new year. Uh. You can get 0:13:56.400 --> 0:13:59.120 these crazy deals on what looks to be like a 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:01.320 great bar in for a television, but that means you 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.480 have to do something with your old TV. Again electronic waste, 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.080 and there are larger appliances that we tend to stick 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:10.480 with until we need to replace them. Right Like, not 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:12.400 a lot of people sit there and say I want 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:14.839 a new washer and dryer unless their old washer and 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:18.280 dryer is either become unreliable or has just plane broken. 0:14:18.880 --> 0:14:21.400 But eventually we do have to replace these things. So 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:25.040 pretty much anything that has circuitry or electrical components fits 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:28.080 into the category of e waste, from lamps to washing 0:14:28.080 --> 0:14:32.200 machines or smart watches to large screen televisions, and electronic 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:35.800 waste is one of the fastest growing types of waste 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:38.920 in the world. As we see technology adoption increase in 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:42.920 new markets like Africa, we're seeing those numbers climb rapidly. 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:46.880 Now developed countries do tend to produce a lot more 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:50.320 E waste. As a rule, China is known for producing 0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:53.120 most of it, and if you're looking at it from 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:56.400 a percentage point and looking at each nation, China leads 0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:59.600 the way, but America is not super far behind. When 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:02.440 it comes the highest amount of E waste generated per inhabitant. 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:07.120 You gotta look over toward Australia, Polynesia, Micronesia and that area. 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:12.160 They generate the most E waste per inhabitant, but there 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:14.800 are very few people they're compared to other parts of 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:16.840 the world, so it doesn't amount to as much in 0:15:16.880 --> 0:15:21.080 a grand scheme of things. The cost of consumer electronics 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:25.000 also continues to drop. That makes electronics more accessible to 0:15:25.040 --> 0:15:27.280 a wider group of people, and I think that's a 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:29.760 good thing. I think have more people having access to 0:15:29.800 --> 0:15:34.200 technology is great. In general. It's very important accessibility, making 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:38.280 sure that we start to whittle away at that gap 0:15:38.320 --> 0:15:41.560 between the halves and the have nots. However, when you 0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:44.240 pair this with the trend of pushing people to adopt 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:47.400 and then abandoned technology rapidly in favor of the next 0:15:47.480 --> 0:15:50.640 new thing, it really exacerbates the problem of E waste. 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:55.200 In the United Nations released a report on e waste 0:15:55.200 --> 0:15:57.960 that looked into trends and challenges, and that report found 0:15:58.280 --> 0:16:02.000 that by the lobal production of E waste had hit 0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:06.360 forty four point seven million metric tons of junct tech. 0:16:07.080 --> 0:16:11.560 That's the equivalent of four thousand, five hundred Eiffel towers. 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:15.240 That means, on average, each inhabitant produced six point one 0:16:15.400 --> 0:16:18.920 ks or nearly thirteen and a half pounds of electronic waste. 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:22.760 In twenty sixteen, it was more like five point eight 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:25.800 kilograms or twelve point eight pounds, so the trend was 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:28.080 on the rise. Not only are we generating more, we're 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:33.720 generating more per person. Only of all of that e 0:16:33.960 --> 0:16:39.000 waste was properly documented as being recycled or reused under 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:42.640 was considered to be the the appropriate guidelines. So, according 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:45.600 to the United Nations, of the forty four point seven 0:16:45.800 --> 0:16:48.880 million metric tons of e waste produced by twenty sixteen, 0:16:49.320 --> 0:16:51.880 one point seven million tons of it got thrown into 0:16:51.920 --> 0:16:55.760 residual waste in higher income countries, which pretty much means 0:16:56.000 --> 0:17:00.240 they either ended up in landfills or in incinerators. Only 0:17:00.280 --> 0:17:03.520 eight point nine million tons was documented as collected and recycled, 0:17:03.840 --> 0:17:06.719 so it's possible the more waste is being recycled than 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:12.000 we know about, but it's undocumented and unverified, which ain't great, 0:17:13.119 --> 0:17:15.439 and since the trend seems to be on the rise, 0:17:15.840 --> 0:17:18.399 this is really bad news. Now again, according to the 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:20.960 u N report, by twenty twenty one will see E 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:25.640 waste hit fifty two point two million metric tons. I'm 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.640 citing the United Nations a lot, but I should also 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:31.719 point out that it's very, very difficult to get an 0:17:31.840 --> 0:17:36.240 accurate representation of exactly how big this problem is because 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:40.200 a lot of countries do not collect or publish statistics 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:43.600 about electronic waste, and in some cases you may not 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:48.040 be entirely certain that the findings that are being reported 0:17:48.080 --> 0:17:50.840 are accurate. So some of the numbers that the UN 0:17:50.840 --> 0:17:53.960 relies upon come from estimates as a result of doing 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:57.600 some investigation and then extrapolating those results to get a 0:17:57.600 --> 0:17:59.600 bigger picture of view of what might be going on. 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.359 And there are a lot of advocacy groups out there 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:05.560 that really want to tackle E waste, and that is 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:09.240 a good thing. I don't disagree with their motivation. However, 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:13.600 I will say that sometimes some of these groups tend 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:17.080 to present numbers that I personally cannot track down to 0:18:17.119 --> 0:18:22.359 a verifiable source, that is less good. I definitely agree 0:18:22.440 --> 0:18:25.760 we need to acknowledge and tackle the e waste problem 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:30.159 in a responsible way. However, presenting information as fact without 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:33.040 any evidence to back it up is a really good 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:36.399 way to allow people who oppose your philosophy a means 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:39.399 of criticizing your methods. So, in other words, you're just 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.320 opening up the door for someone to tear down your argument, 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:46.280 because if they can say this number you're citing as 0:18:46.320 --> 0:18:49.920 fact has no evidence to back it up, then it's 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:53.080 like they're saying, well, you're arguing that something is a problem, 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.400 but you can't even prove to me that the problem exists. 0:18:56.359 --> 0:19:01.040 That's not great. Many developed nations do have various programs 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:03.439 in place to deal with electronic waste, things that you 0:19:03.480 --> 0:19:06.960 are supposed to do if you are trying to get 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:12.439 rid of old electronics. However, these various programs aren't always 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:16.000 followed properly, and in fact, some practices that are commonplace 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:20.720 in these countries are technically illegal. However, they are rarely enforced, 0:19:21.520 --> 0:19:24.520 so you might see people throw stuff out in the 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:27.600 garbage when they're supposed to follow a very different protocol, 0:19:28.200 --> 0:19:31.240 but because there's not really any way of policing that, 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:34.440 and even if there were, there's not a high likelihood 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:38.040 of it being prosecuted. There's no teeth to any legislation. 0:19:38.280 --> 0:19:41.840 People have to do it because they want to be responsible, 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:46.920 not because they're worried about being punished otherwise. So appealing 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.040 to people's responsibility, to their to their desire to be 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:54.400 a good person might be more helpful. Just because it's 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:57.639 not very practical in most cases to come up with 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:02.880 pollution police developing nation have it fairly rough. Uh. These 0:20:02.920 --> 0:20:09.800 are the countries that did not benefit from gradually developing 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:13.320 this technology and building out an infrastructure to support it. Instead, 0:20:13.320 --> 0:20:16.960 they leap frogged into the modern era of electronics without 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:19.880 having done that, and so they aren't able to deal 0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:23.800 with the consequences as readily as the rest of the world, 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:26.760 which has kind of grown into this. So I'm talking 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:30.199 about places like lots of countries in Africa which have 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:34.760 thankfully gotten access to things like cell towers, cell phones, 0:20:35.440 --> 0:20:39.880 a lot of cellular based technologies, but they did this 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:45.080 by leap frogging other developments, and they don't have the 0:20:45.160 --> 0:20:48.960 systems in place to handle e waste. And it's also 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:52.640 true and unfortunate that the people who are at least 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:56.119 able to afford the problems that come along with electronic 0:20:56.160 --> 0:20:58.959 waste are the same ones who have to deal with it. 0:20:59.040 --> 0:21:03.040 In many cases, there's also an issue with developing countries 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:09.000 accepting e waste for recycling purposes. Essentially, you've got UH 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:12.439 places that will either accept or they will actually go 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:16.199 out and buy electronic waste from other countries, which is 0:21:16.240 --> 0:21:20.160 not necessarily a bad thing on the surface. Recycling can 0:21:20.200 --> 0:21:23.320 be an industry unto itself, and it can provide a 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:27.000 valuable service while recapturing some of the raw materials that 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:30.320 were used to make electronics. The u N actually reported 0:21:30.359 --> 0:21:33.360 that those raw materials were worth about fifty five billion 0:21:33.440 --> 0:21:37.560 euro in UH in twenty sixteen. The euro averaged out 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:40.280 to be about one point one dollars per euro, so 0:21:40.359 --> 0:21:42.440 that would be that the raw materials were worth around 0:21:42.520 --> 0:21:46.000 sixty billion dollars. So it would definitely be better too 0:21:46.800 --> 0:21:49.960 to reclaim some of that value to leverage it rather 0:21:50.040 --> 0:21:52.400 than just throw it out if you can do that. 0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:55.720 UH and I talked about some of the harmful materials 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:58.000 that are in electronics, but they can also contain some 0:21:58.040 --> 0:22:01.359 really valuable stuff In it like goal to copper alumium 0:22:01.400 --> 0:22:04.639 and steal. But the bad part comes into play with 0:22:04.800 --> 0:22:09.560 the practices and processes for recycling electronics. If there are 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:13.040 a few protections in place and a recycling center is 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:16.760 not following careful protocols, the process of recycling can be 0:22:16.960 --> 0:22:20.639 very harmful to the environment as well as really the 0:22:20.640 --> 0:22:23.199 people who are working at that facility and for the 0:22:23.240 --> 0:22:27.040 surrounding population as a as a possibility. A lot of 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:31.960 these places, the reason why they are an attractive place 0:22:31.960 --> 0:22:34.159 to send recycling for the rest of the world is 0:22:34.160 --> 0:22:37.520 that it's inexpensive to do it um And part of 0:22:37.560 --> 0:22:39.399 the reason for that is because in a lot of 0:22:39.400 --> 0:22:42.840 these countries the cost of labor is low, meaning they're 0:22:42.840 --> 0:22:47.639 not paying people very much. And uh that becomes a 0:22:47.680 --> 0:22:51.600 delicate balance too, because if the amount you're spending to 0:22:51.720 --> 0:22:55.320 recycle is larger than the amount you're getting back, you're 0:22:55.359 --> 0:22:59.680 in a losing proposition. So you can't continue to operate 0:22:59.760 --> 0:23:03.000 that way. But in order for you to do this 0:23:03.040 --> 0:23:06.080 in an efficient way, you have to find out, you know, 0:23:06.160 --> 0:23:09.719 what's a what's a low cost method of recycling this stuff? 0:23:10.280 --> 0:23:12.720 And it tends to be sending it to very poor 0:23:12.840 --> 0:23:19.879 nations that very low wages and often do not treat 0:23:20.240 --> 0:23:24.080 their employees very well. There's a terrible standard of living, 0:23:24.880 --> 0:23:27.359 and the measures that are supposed to be there in 0:23:27.440 --> 0:23:30.200 order to ensure people's safety may not be there at all, 0:23:30.400 --> 0:23:35.600 so it's very worrisome. Typically, the way a recycling center 0:23:35.760 --> 0:23:41.240 would process electronic waste would follow a pattern. So first 0:23:41.760 --> 0:23:44.760 it would have to get this electronic waste, which is 0:23:44.800 --> 0:23:49.840 a non trivial problem. Transporting materials requires energy, um it 0:23:50.000 --> 0:23:52.239 has an economic impact. So if it takes a lot 0:23:52.280 --> 0:23:54.199 of energy, if it takes a lot of money to 0:23:54.320 --> 0:23:57.160 get the electronic waste to the recycling center, you could 0:23:57.160 --> 0:23:59.879 be operating in a loss, which means it's a nonstarter 0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:03.119 once you get it. The next step could be an 0:24:03.160 --> 0:24:07.320 assessment of each piece of electronic waste, because some of 0:24:07.320 --> 0:24:09.960 these devices could be in good working order. Then if 0:24:10.000 --> 0:24:13.119