Mine e-waste, not the Earth, say scientists

Image source, Royal Society of Chemistry

Scientists say that mining the Earth for precious metals to make new gadgets is unsustainable and that the recycling of e-waste must be stepped up.

A study estimated that the world has a mountain of discarded electronics.

TheRSC says there needs to be a global effort to mine that waste.

Conflicts pose a threat to supply chains for precious metals.

The unsustainability of continuing to mine all the precious elements used in consumer technology is the subject of a campaign being run by the RSC.

The war in Ukraine has caused huge spikes in the price of nickel, a key element in electric vehicle batteries.

Chaos is occurring in supply chains that enable the production of electronics due to the volatility in the market for elements. The surge in demand caused the price of lithium to increase by almost 500% between 2021 and 2022.

Image source, Getty Images

The key elements are running out.

Prof Tom Welton, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, said that our tech consumption habits were unsustainable and left us at risk of exhausting the raw elements we need.

• Gallium: Used in medical thermometers, LEDs, solar panels, telescopes and has possible anti-cancer properties
• Arsenic: Used in fireworks, as a wood preserver
• Silver: Used in mirrors, reactive lenses that darken in sunlight, antibacterial clothing and gloves for use with touch screens
• Indium: Used in transistors, microchips, fire-sprinkler systems, as a coating for ball-bearings in Formula One cars and solar panels
• Yttrium: Used in white LED lights, camera lenses and can be used to treat some cancers
• Tantalum: Used in surgical implants, electrodes for neon lights, turbine blades, rocket nozzles and nose caps for supersonic aircraft, hearing aids and pacemakers

The amount of e-waste is growing every year. Less than 20% is recycled.

We need governments to invest in more sustainable manufacturing, according to Prof Welton.

Consumers are demanding more sustainable technology according to new research by the RSC. In an online survey of 10,000 people across 10 countries, 60% said they would be more likely to switch to a competitor of their preferred tech brand if they knew the product was made in a sustainable way.

According to the survey, people didn't know how to deal with their e-waste. Many respondents worried about the environmental effect of unused devices they have in their homes, but didn't know what to do with them, and were concerned about the security of recycling schemes.

Many of us were storing precious metals in old phones and computers, according to Elizabeth Ratcliffe from the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Image source, BBC News

Ms Ratcliffe said that manufacturers and retailers need to take more responsibility.

The fact that we need a circular economy for these materials is reinforced by all this supply chain variability. We are just mining them out of the ground.

The society wants people to take old and unwanted devices to recycling centers instead of putting them in drawers. UK consumers can find online resources where they can find the nearest centre that will recycle computers, phones and other devices securely.

The thing we always say is reduce, reuse and recycle. It will need everyone working together to scale up these processes and put the infrastructure in place so we can all recycle our devices.

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