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What can you do with obsolete technical devices?

4/24/2015

14 Comments

 
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It's a growing problem. As each amazing must-have item appears on the market, we fling away the not-so-cool device without a thought of where the accumulated mass of everybody's waste products will end up.

I'm the same. When our old television broke down, my husband and I needed a new one. (I say 'need', but that's a relative term because it's neither food nor water.) But as you grow less active with age, television offers entertainment and mental stimulation. That being said, we chose a lower-priced television we could pay off with a small amount each month, and the delivery man removed our old one. I didn't give any thought to where it would go—hoped someone would strip it down and dispose of the parts with all due care about recycling.

However, campaigners claim thousands of broken televisions, computers, microwaves and refrigerators are being illegally exported to African countries and dumped gigantic landfills like Agbogbloshie in Ghana because it costs less than recycling them in their countries of origin.

41 million tonnes of 'e-waste' worth over £34 billion (51,440,682.79 USD) were discarded globally in 2014, according to a shocking report by United Nations University who claim out of the 41 million tonnes, only 6 million tonnes was recycled properly.

Some of the appliances leak toxic elements such as lead and mercury which harms the environment. Young men search amongst the broken goods and toxic fumes hoping to find something worth selling.

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Apparently, recycling in the European Union and the UK costs money and people in Africa are still paying for the throw-away electrical equipment.

The waste discarded in 2014 contained about 300 tonnes of gold, 16 million tonnes of iron and nearly two million tonnes of copper as well as significant amounts of silver, aluminium and palladium. Alarmingly, it also contained substantial amounts of life-threatening toxic material like mercury and cadmium which can cause organ failure and severe mental impairment if they pollute the local water supply.

While the US and China produce almost a third of the world's combined e-waste, the top producers per-capita are the wealthy nations of northern and western Europe: Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, Denmark, and the UK.

The escalating global e-waste problem is driven by the rising sales and shortening life cycles of electrical and electronic equipment. Source: Daily Mail. 

How can we stop this problem of continually needing new and better 'things'? First, the manufacturers should make products to last. Second, we should give serious thought to the health of our beautiful world. Just imagine people in the future discovering huge areas of nothing but rusting metal and chemicals. The scenario would make an excellent plot for a novel, but this one will be real in the future. When Edith Parzefall and I co-wrote the futuristic Higher Ground series, we touched on this problem.


Click to see all five novels here.

How did you dispose of your last piece of electrical equipment?

14 Comments
Ruchi Singh link
4/23/2015 07:55:11 pm

This is indeed a huge problem world over. I am gald you have posted about this issue, creating awareness is one step towards any solution.

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Dannii @ Hungry Healthy Happy link
4/23/2015 09:14:11 pm

We always sell ours on, although we don't upgrade as soon as the new thing comes out, as there just isn't any point.

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emilia link
4/23/2015 09:16:19 pm

And here we are paying "environmental fees" as we buy a new piece of equipment... I really hope someone will come up with a better idea than dumping it wherever..

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Tara link
4/23/2015 09:38:14 pm

Our computer repair person told us that most low-cost computers are what he calls "throw away" computers - made to last just long enough, with components that will basically deconstruct so that you have to buy another one after a year or so.

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Donna Ward link
4/24/2015 12:53:03 am

HI Francene, Yes manufacturers should make products to last, but it's about money - and our local communities do have an annual drop off your electronics for trash day, along with paints and other hazards. Really important post!

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Joan Harrington link
4/24/2015 02:25:12 am

Hi Francene,

Great post and share! This is indeed a major issue in our country, thanks for bringing more attention to it!

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Shonda link
4/24/2015 05:05:41 am

Francene, thank you for bringing this matter to the forefront. it is a huge, huge issue. I always wonder why there is a new product every 10th day, then IT support stops supporting "older" devices less than a year old. We are not thinking about the longterm effects of this profit push to make more and more fancy items. Enough already.

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Tandy Elisala link
4/24/2015 05:39:08 am

Great article, Francine. Way to raise awareness of this growing problem. I had several old computers and I donated them to a local college where students could use them for classes.

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Laurel Regan link
4/24/2015 06:52:12 am

While I do like my gadgets, I try to get as much use as possible out of one rather than immediately upgrading to the latest and greatest - not just for environmental reasons, but also because I simply can't afford to replace them that regularly! When I'm upgrading, I usually pass devices on to someone who can use them.

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Alana link
4/24/2015 08:02:08 am

We used to have a couple of local electronics recycling places in the city we live in - both have closed in the past few months. Our only options right now are either keep them, pass them along (that is rare, as we keep devices for years and they are quite obsolete when we get rid of them) or take to the landfill on designated days. I wish we had other options besides polluting a third world country, I truly do.

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K.Lee Banks link
4/24/2015 12:01:07 pm

We seem to hang onto electronic gadgets, because hubby likes to tinker and sometimes finds uses or recycles/transforms something using old parts.

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Mike Gardner - The Time Doctor link
4/24/2015 04:43:21 pm

I tend to give my old phones to a charity which i believe gives them to those in need, computers go to remploy, and organisation which employs those with disabilities, where they are refurbished and sold on, everything else electrical goes to our local recycling plant

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Amy link
4/24/2015 11:00:02 pm

Dear Francene, this really is a growing problem! Affluence, unfortunately, oftentimes breeds needless waste. Most communities, though, have facilities that take old tech items (and nearly everything else, as long as it's not broken) gladly. Near us, the City Mission, which houses homeless people, is happy for any donation: clothing, old phones, old computers, and the like. It takes a little more effort to take them there, rather than just pitch them in the trash, but it is worth the effort.

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Mary Hill link
4/25/2015 01:20:16 am

Hi, I had not idea of this problem. Makes me wonder: What can I do. Thanks for spotlighting it.

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    Francene Stanley
    From England, I use news items in my novels which you can see below, all linked to an Amazon near you.

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