Recycling electronic gear
19/02/14 05:29
At one time we had a vision of developing a computer lab at the church. The thought was that we could get a few older computers, equip them with learning software and allow children and youth to use the computers. Computer-based teaching and learning were just getting started and there were a few decent computer games that promoted learning about faith and the Bible. A soon as we let it become known that we had the interest, old computers started to show up at the church. In the end, we never used any of those donated computers and we had to stop receiving them because we couldn’t find a way to use them. We weren’t even able to sell them on the church rummage sale. At one point, the mission shop with whom we partner to keep unsold rummage sale items from ending up in the landfill even quit taking computer monitors.
Still, we have a bit of a problem with excess technology at the church. We have a bin of functional components from an old sound system that we have no use for, but don’t know how to responsibly dispose. There is an old laptop with a non-functioning display, several old routers and various computer components that we once used in our office, but that are now no longer in service.
We try to make our technology investments last as long as possible. The laptop that I use for my work computer is now over 7 years old and we have one desktop computer in our system that is over 8 years old. At one point we were told by a technician that the older computer was worthless and that it should be replaced. We decided to work with it as long as we could. Although the technicians won’t work on it any longer, we have been able to keep it running and serving our needs. But one day it will fail and we will have another piece of technology without a disposal plan.
So I was delighted to read about WoeLab, a community group based in Togo, West Africa. The group salvages parts and pieces from discarded computers and phones and remanufactures them into new devices. Recently at the African Innovation Summit held in Cape Verde, they demonstrated a 3D printer that was bult almost entirely from e-waste.
Worldwide, consumers discard over 50 million tones of electrical and electronic products. It isn’t just computers and cell phones. We have electrical components in everything from kitchen appliances to electric toothbrushes. And this products contain materials that are potentially harmful. Buried in landfills they threaten to leach lead and other harmful materials into the groundwater supply. Burned in incinerators they pose a health risk with the toxic chemicals that are released into the air. China is responsible for 20 tons of e-waste each year. The United States contributes about 10 tons.
At the same time, there is an enormous hunger for electronic devices around the world. Electronic waste is not just a problem of rich and developed countries. As cell phones and other electronic devices become tools of liberation and development in less-developed countries, the demand increases. Relatively inexpensive devices find a ready market in less developed places. The less expensive devices tend to have shorter useful lives and contribute to increasing waste problems. And there is another problem, one that we experienced on a small scale in the church. People in developed countries, as they replace their computers and phones, like the idea of donating old but still functional equipment to someone in need. So used and only partially useful PCs and phones are being shipped to less developed countries. It is estimated that by the year 2017, the total number of obsolete PCs and phones in developing regions will exceed that of developed regions.
When devices fail, however, many of their components continue to function properly. In the current market, it is less expensive to manufacture new components than to recycle components from existing devices. The problem of the waste, however, is giving rise to a new economy that supports the recycling of components primarily because of the need to keep the used components out of landfills and incinerators.
The WoeLab printer project didn’t start as a recycling project. They did set out with the goal of creating something of great value out of local materials with local expertise. The WoeLab team of about 20 persons in clouding students, engineers and people from other walks of life modeled their printer after the Prusa Mendel, a self-build 3D printer kit sold in the US and Europe.
The WoeLab team has been building other items out of recycled computer parts. They now have constructed four working computers from old computer components. Using old jerry cans designed to transport fuel as computer cases they are hoping to have a line of computers available to those who don’t currently have access to computers. They estimate that one of their Jerry DIT computers will sell for around $100.
Elsewhere in Africa, FairPhone, a company that makes phones from recycled components and conflict-free minerals, is hoping to turn one of Ghana’s biggest digital dumping grounds into a source of parts. They are also teaming up with repair shops to harvest and recycle components for the repair of phones when they cease to function properly.
Harvesting usable components from the mountains of e-waste will not solve the waste problem. The life span of modern electronic devices is simply too short. We go through too many devices in a lifetime and some of the components cannot be reused. Other components are damaged or destroyed by the ways that we store and discpose of waste. But it is the beginning of something that will be an important part of the future economy. As we consume more and more of the earth’s resources in the form of our electronic devices, we will need to find new sources of raw materials.
The piles of discarded electronic items is a good place to look for materials to build the next generation of electronic components.
Still, we have a bit of a problem with excess technology at the church. We have a bin of functional components from an old sound system that we have no use for, but don’t know how to responsibly dispose. There is an old laptop with a non-functioning display, several old routers and various computer components that we once used in our office, but that are now no longer in service.
We try to make our technology investments last as long as possible. The laptop that I use for my work computer is now over 7 years old and we have one desktop computer in our system that is over 8 years old. At one point we were told by a technician that the older computer was worthless and that it should be replaced. We decided to work with it as long as we could. Although the technicians won’t work on it any longer, we have been able to keep it running and serving our needs. But one day it will fail and we will have another piece of technology without a disposal plan.
So I was delighted to read about WoeLab, a community group based in Togo, West Africa. The group salvages parts and pieces from discarded computers and phones and remanufactures them into new devices. Recently at the African Innovation Summit held in Cape Verde, they demonstrated a 3D printer that was bult almost entirely from e-waste.
Worldwide, consumers discard over 50 million tones of electrical and electronic products. It isn’t just computers and cell phones. We have electrical components in everything from kitchen appliances to electric toothbrushes. And this products contain materials that are potentially harmful. Buried in landfills they threaten to leach lead and other harmful materials into the groundwater supply. Burned in incinerators they pose a health risk with the toxic chemicals that are released into the air. China is responsible for 20 tons of e-waste each year. The United States contributes about 10 tons.
At the same time, there is an enormous hunger for electronic devices around the world. Electronic waste is not just a problem of rich and developed countries. As cell phones and other electronic devices become tools of liberation and development in less-developed countries, the demand increases. Relatively inexpensive devices find a ready market in less developed places. The less expensive devices tend to have shorter useful lives and contribute to increasing waste problems. And there is another problem, one that we experienced on a small scale in the church. People in developed countries, as they replace their computers and phones, like the idea of donating old but still functional equipment to someone in need. So used and only partially useful PCs and phones are being shipped to less developed countries. It is estimated that by the year 2017, the total number of obsolete PCs and phones in developing regions will exceed that of developed regions.
When devices fail, however, many of their components continue to function properly. In the current market, it is less expensive to manufacture new components than to recycle components from existing devices. The problem of the waste, however, is giving rise to a new economy that supports the recycling of components primarily because of the need to keep the used components out of landfills and incinerators.
The WoeLab printer project didn’t start as a recycling project. They did set out with the goal of creating something of great value out of local materials with local expertise. The WoeLab team of about 20 persons in clouding students, engineers and people from other walks of life modeled their printer after the Prusa Mendel, a self-build 3D printer kit sold in the US and Europe.
The WoeLab team has been building other items out of recycled computer parts. They now have constructed four working computers from old computer components. Using old jerry cans designed to transport fuel as computer cases they are hoping to have a line of computers available to those who don’t currently have access to computers. They estimate that one of their Jerry DIT computers will sell for around $100.
Elsewhere in Africa, FairPhone, a company that makes phones from recycled components and conflict-free minerals, is hoping to turn one of Ghana’s biggest digital dumping grounds into a source of parts. They are also teaming up with repair shops to harvest and recycle components for the repair of phones when they cease to function properly.
Harvesting usable components from the mountains of e-waste will not solve the waste problem. The life span of modern electronic devices is simply too short. We go through too many devices in a lifetime and some of the components cannot be reused. Other components are damaged or destroyed by the ways that we store and discpose of waste. But it is the beginning of something that will be an important part of the future economy. As we consume more and more of the earth’s resources in the form of our electronic devices, we will need to find new sources of raw materials.
The piles of discarded electronic items is a good place to look for materials to build the next generation of electronic components.