states have passed so-called Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, which require manufacturers to establish and fund systems to recycle or collect obsolete products. Lawmakers in parts of Europe and Canada and in some U.S. Some environmental groups say multibillion-dollar companies like Apple and Samsung should pick up the cost of recycling the devices they sell. “We don’t necessarily have the measures to make sure people aren’t throwing it away,” Walters said. Many consumers, paralyzed by the hassle or put off by the expense, simply throw their devices into the trash or stash them in a drawer, hoping they’ll just disappear. Rather than just drop a used phone in a bin outside their homes, lots of people have to take their electronics to a store, which may pay them for it but could also charge them to get rid of it. Environmental concerns aside, compacting flammable lithium-ion batteries with paper recycling can be dangerous recycling centers have reported an uptick in fires.Įven when e-waste rules exist, it’s left up to consumers to handle their old devices properly. In states without such rules, like Nevada, electronics often end up in garbage and recycling bins, said Jeremy Walters, a community-relations manager for waste collector Republic Services. Only 19 states have laws banning electronics from the regular trash. That’s bad news, as e-waste can contain harmful materials like mercury and beryllium that pose environmental risks. The rest is incinerated or ends up in landfills. electronic waste is recycled, according to a United Nations estimate. That’s good business for ERI, which charges clients to collect their electronics and to securely wipe their data the company also makes money from refurbishing and reselling devices. “This is bigger than the change of black-and-white to color, bigger than analog to digital, by many multitudes.” “I don’t think people understand the magnitude of the transition,” says ERI co-founder and executive chairman John Shegerian. But experts say it will also result in a dramatic increase in e-waste, as millions of smartphones, modems and other gadgets incompatible with 5G networks are made obsolete. 5G promises faster speeds and other benefits.
#DAISY CO2 200 LEAK TORRENT#
That stream is expected to turn into a torrent as the world upgrades to 5G, the next big step in wireless technology. That cycle of consumption has made electronics waste the world’s fastest-growing solid-waste stream. (Apple alone sold 60 million iPhones domestically last year, according to Counterpoint Research.) When we buy something new, we get rid of what’s old. Americans spent $71 billion on telephone and communication equipment in 2017, nearly five times what they spent in 2010 even when adjusted for inflation, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
“In our society, we always have to have the new, best product,” said Aaron Blum, the co-founder and chief operating officer of ERI, on a tour of the facility.
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