E-waste: the next gold rush

Consumer electronics are ubiquitous but their built-in obsolescence means e-waste – discarded mobile phones, computers and other hardware – is fast-becoming a major environmental hazard. But a growing band of innovative technology firms see value in that junk, and their recycling expertise could help slow the depletion of the planet’s supply of precious metals.

In a crumbling warehouse on the outskirts of Lomé, the capital of Togo in West Africa, a small group of young men and women sift through piles of discarded computers, scanners and printers. Diligently and with great care, they pull apart the bits of electronic hardware they’ve gathered using pliers and spanners of various sizes.

Confronted by such a scene, a visitor to the site could be forgiven for feeling a little confused. There doesn’t seem to be too much going on apart from people turning big bits of junk into smaller bits of junk.

But there is method to the dismantlers’ apparent madness. The parts are, in fact, being used for the grandest of recycling initiatives: the building of cutting-edge 3-D printers. And if that feat is not impressive enough, the hi-tech machines are being produced for less than USD100 apiece.

The company behind this innovative scheme is Woelab Industries, a tech start-up that was the brainchild of Togo-based inventor Kodjo Afate Gnikou.

Although his engineering accomplishments are remarkable, Gnikou is not alone in looking to turn e-waste into a profitable business. His is just one of a growing number of firms attempting to unlock the value of the millions of tonnes of tech hardware that households and organisations discard every year.

Investors are watching the industry’s rapid development closely. Yet the function these specialist companies perform is also being lauded by policymakers and environmentalists.

That’s because, left unchecked, e-waste threatens to become a major environmental headache. Consumers’ insatiable desire for the latest gadgets and the built-in obsolescence of tech products have been to blame for an exponential rise in the volume of computers, mobile phones and other hardware that is thrown away every year. In 2014 alone, the volume of e-waste generated topped 40 million tonnes – enough to fill 15,000 football stadiums. By 2017, the world could be producing 50 million tonnes of the stuff every year. Less than 20 per cent of that is recycled worldwide.

global e waste map

That is both a problem and opportunity. A problem because e-waste is full of toxic substances. Flat screen televisions, for instance, contain harmful amounts of mercury while batteries used in mobile devices contain lead and sulphur. Methods of disposal make matters worse, particularly in emerging markets, where most of the world’s e-waste ends up. In many of these countries, the ineffective treatment of hazardous liquids and chemicals is responsible for air, water and soil contamination.

But there is a hidden value to all that junk. Recycled properly, e-waste becomes a rich source of precious metals.

For instance, just one tonne of e-waste can yield more gold than 17 tonnes of gold ore. According to the UN Global E-Waste Monitor, the amount of gold found in e-waste in 2014 alone amounted to 300 tonnes – the equivalent of 11 per cent of the world’s total production of the metal in the preceding year.

Recycling one million mobile phones, meanwhile, would yield 250 kilos of silver and 9,000 kilos of copper.

In addition, e-waste also contains a number of rare earth elements, which are used extensively in the production of laptops, smartphones and tablets. One of these 17 metals is europium, which is essential for colour screens; another is lanthanum, used in battery-electrodes.

smartphones recycling

E-waste recycling is certainly gathering steam. The number of patents covering recycling products grew strongly between 2006 and 2010, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Intellectual property in the field of battery dismantling grew by 57 per cent, similar to that for recovering rare-earth metals, gold and silver. Most of these patents belong to large companies, though WIPO notes an increase in the number of researcher-entrepreneurs starting up their own companies in e-waste management.

Among the leaders in Europe is Belgium’s Umicore, a pioneer in recycling the nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries found in smartphones and electric vehicles. Another is Stena Technoworld, a Swedish recycling company active in 17 European countries.

A hurdle these firms face is that e-waste recycling process is a costly and complex one, particularly as leading electronic manufacturers are making more compact products that are difficult to dismantle. In some cases, manufacturers still find it much cheaper to send waste for disposal to places like China – where 70 per cent of e-waste is currently treated – rather than recycle.

“It was easier to remove the batteries of early-generation mobile phones,” says Rasmus Bergström Stena Technoworld’s chief executive officer. “Newer smartphones, tablets and television sets contain tiny components that are often glued together. You have to add more chemical and mechanical steps to separate and recover the different materials.”

Newer smartphones, tablets and television sets contain tiny components that are often glued together. You have to add more chemical and mechanical steps to separate and recover the different materials.

Political momentum building

Still, the industry looks as if it can count on government support.

The European Union has introduced measures under which it aims to recycle 85 per cent of all electronic scrap.

To achieve this target, manufacturers and distributors of electronic devices will have to take old equipment back from private households for free. In the US, meanwhile, there is no federal law on recycling electronics yet, though several states have passed regulations along the same lines, mostly to prevent exports to developing countries.

“The European Commission is urging member states to increase the recycling of e-waste, which should lead to more volume for companies like ours,” Bergström says.

Easy-to-repair gadgets

For Tom Dowdall, an energy campaigner at Greenpeace, there is more to cutting e-waste that the development of pioneering recycling technologies, however.

“[Hi-tech] devices must be designed to last longer, to be easier to repair and to upgrade – unlike the current business model in which customers are constantly encouraged to buy new ones,” he says.

At the same time, he explains, electronics manufacturers need to find alternatives to the hazardous materials they use.

One solution comes in the form of the modular smartphone concepts adopted by companies like Google’s Project Ara – which will launch this year – and Fairphone from the Netherlands.

The new Fairphone, for instance, uses a case made from recycled plastics and a printed circuit board made from recycled copper. “The idea is to have interchangeable components, which means that every part can be replaced separately without throwing away the whole smartphone,” says Tania Schellenberg, founder of faircustomer.ch, a retailer in Switzerland.

Devices must be deigned to last longer.

Another solution to e-waste is the repair of electronic devices – which is a difficult undertaking with modern gadgets that are hard to dismantle. The website iFixit sells repair parts and publishes repair manuals for products, mostly electronic. It works like Wikipedia: anyone can write instructions and share them with the community. So far, instructions for more than 70,000 repairs for 5,000 devices are on the website.

Even if e-waste is becoming more and more difficult to handle, the e-recycling industry is ready to take up the challenge. Policymakers need to play their part, says Bergström, principally by enforcing recycling and adopting measures that keeps e-waste out of landfills. For the innovative recycling companies themselves, meanwhile, the big challenge will be to better recycle plastic components and rare earth metals.

“I’m optimistic that we’ll see positive results over the next 10 years,” he says.

About

Mega

Mega seeks to energise and enrich the debate over how to create a better-functioning economy and society.

Megatrends are the powerful socio-economic, environmental and technological forces that shape our planet. The digitisation of the economy, the rapid expansion of cities and the depletion of the Earth’s natural resources are just some of the structural trends transforming the way countries are governed, companies are run and people live their lives.

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