e-waste

7 Stories

The Big Grab for Metals Hiding in Our E-Waste

Companies are betting big on extracting copper from our old junk to power the digital future

(Newser) - In the shift to renewable energy, recycled copper is gold—and mining companies are therefore interested in our old electronics. "In the next 25 years we will consume more copper than humanity has consumed until now," Kunal Sinha, the global head of recycling at Glencore, the world's...

UN: Our E-Waste Problem Is Getting Out of Control

The planet generated 62M tons of it in 2022

(Newser) - UN agencies have warned that electrical and electronic waste is piling up worldwide while recycling rates remain low and are likely to fall even further. In a new report released Wednesday, the UN's International Telecommunications Union and research arm UNITAR said some 62 million tons of "e-waste"—...

'Mount Recyclemore' Aims to Catch Leaders' Eyes

It's made of e-waste

(Newser) - President Biden's mug may not grace Mount Rushmore, but it is incorporated into Mount Recyclemore. It's a multi-story sculpture fashioned out of e-waste that hopes to catch the eyes of the G7 leaders attending a summit at the Carbis Bay Hotel, which sits across the water from the...

Your Old Computer May Be Headed for Thailand

Electronic trash once bound for China is now landing in Southeast Asia

(Newser) - One of the most popular tourist destinations in the world has become "a new dumping ground for scrap electronics," as Reuters puts it. At a shipping port south of Bangkok, Thailand, police on Tuesday displayed seven shipping containers filled with more than 150 tons of discarded computer and...

He Saves Our Electronics From the Dump, Now Faces Prison

The 'Washington Post' takes a look at Eric Lundgren's court battle

(Newser) - Eric Lundgren is known for impressive and admirable feats, with his e-waste recycling company putting 14,000 cellphones in the hands of US soldiers abroad; the 33-year-old's company handles 41 million pounds of e-waste annually. Now, he's fighting a 15-month sentence. The Washington Post explains the jargony situation,...

Americans Each Churn Out 65lbs of E-Waste a Year

Rate of electronics waste surging worldwide

(Newser) - Electronic waste is growing at a staggering rate—Americans alone chucked an average of 65 pounds of old electronic goods each last year—and it is set to surge another 33% within five years unless consumers and producers change their ways, LiveScience reports. Most of the waste ends up in...

Downside of Our New Gizmos: Mounting E-Waste

But we can mitigate the worst problems: Bryan Walsh

(Newser) - Apple's rollout of the new iPad comes with the usual fanfare, but Bryan Walsh at Time raises a related problem that gets only a fraction of the same attention: our rising piles of electronic garbage and their very real environmental risks. These days, tablets and smartphones aren't meant...

7 Stories