Solar panel waste to reach crisis levels in next two to three years, Australian experts warn
The Guardian 30.03.24
The lack of a better design in solar panels renders them unrecyclable:
‘The design of solar panels, akin to a “fused, watertight, weatherproof sandwich”, made extracting valuable materials, such as silicon, silver and copper, and turning them into usable components difficult, Deng said… Richard Kirkman, the chief executive of energy and waste recycling management service Veolia Australia and New Zealand, said the federal government needed to invest in pilot projects to ensure solar panels were designed to be easy to recycle and develop large-scale processes to recycle solar panels.’
Slow progress tackling UK 'e-waste tsunami' - MPs
BBC 12.04.24
Not one country can adequately provide for the mountainous trash that is created by this last decade’s technology:
‘"It appears the government is yet to grasp fully the scale of the e-waste tsunami," its chairman Philip Dunne told Environment Secretary Steve Barclay. But the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it was working to help people recycle items. A spokesperson said: "Every year millions of household electricals across the UK end up in the bin rather than being correctly recycled or reused. This is a waste of our natural resources and has to stop.”… When e-waste is disposed of incorrectly, toxic chemicals can leak into the surrounding environment, Mr Dunne added in a separate statement.’
Missouri elementary school to be closed after radioactive waste discovered
The Independent 19.10.22
A bit late for a clean-up:
‘The story traces back to the Second World War’s Manhattan Project, when the Department of Energy chose St Louis as the processing site for the uranium to make the first atomic bombs. The nuclear waste was originally stored at the St Louis-Lambert International Airport but later moved and illegally dumped at the West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton in 1973. Over the year, contaminants from the radioactive waste have seeped into Coldwater Creek which runs for nine miles through the area and flows into the Missouri River… Among the new findings is that lead-210 was found at 22 times the expected level in the kindergarten play area and at 12 times the expected level in soils next to the school’s basketball courts. Lead-210 is a neurotoxin linked to cancer and which has been known to cause brain damage and reduced cognitive capacity, especially in children, according to the Toxin Database. The consultants’ report also discovered radioactively contaminated soil that was “many times above” levels deemed acceptable by federal government regulations. Radium 266, a radioactive metal, was found at twice the safe level in the kindergarten play area, the report said. Contaminated samples were also found in the school library, classrooms, cafeteria fan, boiler room and the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system.’
A Day in the Life of India’s E-Waste Workers
Slate 05.08.22
Electronic waste disposal is a growing problem, one which won’t get addressed until manufacturers offer an expensive, yet much needed, recycling system:
‘The world dumped a record of 53.6 million tons of e-waste in 2019, out of which just 17.4 percent was recycled, according to the 2020 Global E-waste Monitor. India, for its part, produced 3.2 million metric tons of e-waste—much of which ended up in Seelampur. India also serves as a dumping ground for e-waste from other countries, like the U.S., through a “complex web of transshipment ports.” A 2017 paper in the Journal of Health and Pollution “estimated that around 50,000 metric tons of e-waste is being imported into India every year.”… M. Taj, a doctor popular in the area, has been working in Seelampur for 10 years. Each year, he said, things get worse. “Until the last few years, I used to see five to 12 patients in a day, now they have risen to 20 or 30,” he said. Most of the cases, he explained, are related to skin infections and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Taj cited a lack of awareness among e-waste workers about the causes of these health issues. “They burn wires, plastics, and parts of regular appliances, and dealing with hazardous chemicals is the cause of growing COPD cases in the area,” he said. “I see cases of small children with COPD and breathing issues, which would indefinitely affect their lifespan, and it’s really worrying.”’
Tonnes of COVID-19 health care waste expose urgent need to improve waste management systems
WHO 01.02.22
A bit late in the day to bemoan the gigantic waste produced by covid ‘measures’ which has engendered a plastic pandemic:
‘The WHO Global analysis of health care waste in the context of COVID-19: status, impacts and recommendations bases its estimates on the approximately 87,000 tonnes of personal protective equipment (PPE) that was procured between March 2020- November 2021 and shipped to support countries’ urgent COVID-19 response needs through a joint UN emergency initiative. Most of this equipment is expected to have ended up as waste. The authors note that this just provides an initial indication of the scale of the COVID-19 waste problem. It does not take into account any of the COVID-19 commodities procured outside of the initiative, nor waste generated by the public like disposable medical masks. They point out that over 140 million test kits, with a potential to generate 2,600 tonnes of non-infectious waste (mainly plastic) and 731,000 litres of chemical waste (equivalent to one-third of an Olympic-size swimming pool) have been shipped, while over 8 billion doses of vaccine have been administered globally producing 144,000 tonnes of additional waste in the form of syringes, needles, and safety boxes.’
The Waste Age
Aeon 04.01.22
Less waste starts with good design and a disregard for GDP growth:
‘By 1950, the world was producing about 2 million tonnes of plastic each year. In 2019, it was 368 million tonnes, with more plastic produced in the past decade than ever before. Nearly half of all plastic waste (47 per cent) comes from packaging, while 13 per cent comes from textiles. As David Farrier writes in his book Footprints: In Search of Future Fossils (2020): ‘it is likely that every single piece of plastic ever produced and not incinerated still exists somewhere in some form’. It’s believed there are more than 5 trillion pieces of plastic in the world’s oceans, many in the gyre known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch… Waste is deliberately generated as the very metabolism behind economic growth. And while the waste crisis and the climate crisis are not the same thing, waste is a major driver of climate change. Plastic production is the second-largest source of industrial greenhouse gases, and methane generated in landfills is another significant contributor… Our aesthetic sensibilities might have to adapt. After nearly a century of appreciating the hard-smooth-shiny perfection of plastics, we might need to embrace irregularity, imperfection, decay and decomposition. Many of these ideas and the products that could spring from them are nascent or niche. Critics will say ‘How do you scale that up?’ – to which we could retort that this impulse towards expansion is part of the problem. In the end, perhaps bigness is best replaced by myriad small-scale solutions.’
COVID-19 home testing kits: should we be worried about their environmental impact?
The Conversation 22.12.21
We should be worried not only about the ridiculous amount of kits, but also masks and the ubiquitous and totally idiotic huge plastic barriers in all shops that have sprung up out of a belief that a virus is transmissible via face-to-face. If anything, covid measures have highly exacerbated the climate doomsday scenario:
‘Plastic production emits lots of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide. Exactly how much depends on the type of material produced, but the sort of lighter and less durable plastic used in packaging and household products generally emits around 1.5 grams to 3.1 grams of CO₂ equivalent per gram of plastic. As such, I’ll use a rough figure of 2.25 grams in this analysis since I don’t know the exact composition of the plastics used in the kits. Using this figure, the production of each test kit emits 22.5 grams of CO₂e. Weekly statistics from NHS Test and Trace in England from a period from the end of May till mid-November indicate that 1,742,654 people were being tested at least once per week. Assuming testing was done with similar kits then on a weekly basis we have 39 tonnes of CO₂e being emitted due to the use of these kits in England alone. And the new omicron variant has caused unprecedented demand for kits, causing shortages. Delivery of the kits is ramping up, so the estimated testing numbers will probably keep increasing.’
Could Someone Please Help the Biden Administration Store All This Nuclear Waste?
Gizmodo 02.12.21
Maybe this issue should be addressed before building new nuclear projects:
‘The government is looking for places to securely and safely store some of the 90,000-plus metric tons of nuclear waste that American power plants have generated since the dawn of the Atomic Age. Much of that waste—which is among the worst trash ever produced—is currently just sitting at reactor sites around the country, waiting for someone to give it a permanent home.’
The Computer Designed to Last
Reasons To Be Cheerful 26.11.21
More of this please:
‘The Framework Laptop might have more than a passing resemblance to the latest MacBook. But it’s different in one key aspect that could kickstart a revolution: repairability… “The entire inside is designed to be repairable,” explains Patel. “We’ve also designed it so that upgrades can be made in the future. Why? It’s about respecting consumer rights and the environment, reducing extraction of the planet’s resources.”’
The Recycling Myth: Big Oil’s solution for plastic waste littered with failure
Reuters 29.07.21
Big efforts at advanced recycling may be well-intentioned but are flawed and are not delivering:
‘Some of the world’s biggest multinationals are hailing so-called advanced recycling as the solution to a waste crisis that has lawmakers looking to crack down on plastics use. The impetus is coming from two sets of players: big oil and chemical companies that make the petrochemicals used to manufacture plastic, and global consumer brands that use huge amounts of the material in packaging. These giants are striking deals with startups that claim they can transform this garbage into fuel or resin to make new plastic. But some recent efforts in this “high-tech” recycling boom have already fizzled. At least four high-profile projects have been dropped or indefinitely delayed over the last two years because they weren’t commercially viable, Reuters has learned.’
The Dark Side of Solar Power
Harvard Business Review 18.06.21
Unless there’s a real concerted global effort to tackle car batteries’, solar panels’ and wind turbines’ pollutive effects, all talks of the green economy must be reviewed:
‘Economic incentives are rapidly aligning to encourage customers to trade their existing panels for newer, cheaper, more efficient models. In an industry where circularity solutions such as recycling remain woefully inadequate, the sheer volume of discarded panels will soon pose a risk of existentially damaging proportions… The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)’s official projections assert that “large amounts of annual waste are anticipated by the early 2030s” and could total 78 million tonnes by the year 2050. That’s a staggering amount, undoubtedly. But with so many years to prepare, it describes a billion-dollar opportunity for recapture of valuable materials rather than a dire threat. The threat is hidden by the fact that IRENA’s predictions are premised upon customers keeping their panels in place for the entirety of their 30-year lifecycle. They do not account for the possibility of widespread early replacement…
If early replacements occur as predicted by our statistical model, they can produce 50 times more waste in just four years than IRENA anticipates. That figure translates to around 315,000 metric tonnes of waste, based on an estimate of 90 tonnes per MW weight-to-power ratio. Alarming as they are, these stats may not do full justice to the crisis, as our analysis is restricted to residential installations. With commercial and industrial panels added to the picture, the scale of replacements could be much, much larger… The same problem is looming for other renewable-energy technologies. For example, barring a major increase in processing capability, experts expect that more than 720,000 tons worth of gargantuan wind turbine blades will end up in U.S. landfills over the next 20 years. According to prevailing estimates, only five percent of electric-vehicle batteries are currently recycled – a lag that automakers are racing to rectify as sales figures for electric cars continue to rise as much as 40% year-on-year. The only essential difference between these green technologies and solar panels is that the latter doubles as a revenue-generating engine for the consumer… Of all sectors, sustainable technology can least afford to be short-sighted about the waste it creates. A strategy for entering the circular economy is absolutely essential — and the sooner, the better.’
G7: 'Mount Recyclemore' of leaders made from electronic waste in Cornwall
BBC 09.06.21
What a brilliantly creative idea:
‘A sculpture of the G7 leaders shaped like Mount Rushmore made of electronic waste has been erected in Cornwall ahead of the G7 Summit. It has been named "Mount Recyclemore" and bids to highlight the damage caused by the disposal of electronic devices. Sculptor Joe Rush said he hoped it would show they needed to be made more easily reusable or recyclable. He said: "It needs to be repairable or made to last longer because the stuff is going into landfill.”'
Boom in ships that fly ‘fake’ flags and trash the environment
Nature 24.05.21
Loopholes exist to save money and dump ship carcasses onto poorer countries:
‘Business owners in wealthy nations, including members of the European Union as well as the United States, South Korea and Japan, control the large majority of the world cargo and tanker fleet. But an analysis of scrapping records from commercial maritime data providers reveals that between 2014 and 2018, 80% of these ships were demolished in just 3 nations, where shipyards are governed by weak environmental, labour and safety regulations — Bangladesh, India and Pakistan (see ‘Playing the system’)… Strict EU regulations require all ships registered in EU countries to be recycled at yards approved by the European Commission, but when ships are flagged outside the EU, their owners can evade regulations. Countries are responsible for enforcing international and regional safety and environmental rules on ships registered under their flags — but some flag-of-convenience nations are known not to do so. Between 2002 and 2019, the proportion of EU-nation-owned ships registered in low-income countries rose from 46% to 96%, the study finds. By registering ships abroad, owners can also escape taxes and operate substandard vessels. Between 2002 and 2019, the top flags of convenience shifted from Panama and Liberia to two small island countries, Comoros and Palau, which will issue flags for a fee, without proper regulations.’
Millions of electric cars are coming. What happens to all the dead batteries?
ScienceMag 20.05.21
The world is talking about a green revolution with electric vehicles and is not looking at the end product which would be a massive recycling nightmare:
'The battery pack of a Tesla Model S is a feat of intricate engineering. Thousands of cylindrical cells with components sourced from around the world transform lithium and electrons into enough energy to propel the car hundreds of kilometers, again and again, without tailpipe emissions. But when the battery comes to the end of its life, its green benefits fade. If it ends up in a landfill, its cells can release problematic toxins, including heavy metals. And recycling the battery can be a hazardous business, warns materials scientist Dana Thompson of the University of Leicester. Cut too deep into a Tesla cell, or in the wrong place, and it can short-circuit, combust, and release toxic fumes… Batteries differ widely in chemistry and construction, which makes it difficult to create efficient recycling systems. And the cells are often held together with tough glues that make them difficult to take apart. That has contributed to an economic obstacle: It’s often cheaper for batterymakers to buy freshly mined metals than to use recycled materials.’
Electric Cars’ Looming Recycling Problem
Undark 21.01.21
More polluting car industry forecasts, but with better PR and a stiff set of blinkers:
‘Without these incentives, lithium-ion batteries will be dumped, incinerated, or exported to countries with weaker standards, where they will contaminate the environment and threaten public health. Nickel has been shown to cause lung and nasal cancers, reduce lung function, and cause bronchitis. Cobalt can cause serious health conditions such as asthma and pneumonia, and it is a possible carcinogen. Exposure to manganese can result in respiratory problems, loss of coordination, and other neurological problems… A recent United Nations report found that hundreds of thousands of electric and hybrid vehicles are being exported annually from Japan, the E.U. and the U.S. to countries like Sri Lanka and Mauritius.’
Consumer electronics have changed a lot in 20 years – systems for managing e-waste aren’t keeping up
The Conversation 11.01.21
All these tech consumer product lines need handling:
‘There’s a clear need to recycle e-waste, both to protect public health and to recover valuable metals. Electronics contain rare minerals and precious metals mined in socially and ecologically vulnerable parts of the world. Reuse and recycling can reduce demand for “conflict minerals” and create new jobs and revenue streams... We believe solving these challenges requires a proactive approach that treats digital discards as resources, not waste. Gold, silver, palladium and other valuable materials are now more concentrated in e-waste than in natural ores in the ground. “Urban mining,” in the form of recycling e-waste, could replace the need to dig up scarce metals, reducing environmental damage. It would also reduce U.S. dependence on minerals imported from other countries.'
Your old electronics are poisoning people at this toxic dump in Ghana
WIRED 6.11.20
When rich countries aim to make their carbon emissions and pollution disappear it usually means that poorer countries are bearing the weight of such decisions:
‘Workers on e-waste sites in India experienced decreased lung function, skin disorders, and gastric diseases that cause cramps and liver damage. Pregnant women in those same conditions also experience an increase in stillborn and premature births. Some of Shaibu’s colleagues who became too ill to continue work returned to their home villages in the north. “Some never recovered. Others are being treated with traditional medicine in their villages,” says Shaibu. The people in and around the scrapyard speak about the smoke as an all-encompassing poison – it’s not only in the air but in the soil, in the water and in their food. Toxins, such as persistent organic pollutants, dioxins and metals like lead and mercury, are released with e-waste burning and absorbed when inhabitants breathe or ingest contaminated food or water… Upwards of 85 per cent of electronics and electrical parts imported into Ghana are from the EU, and a large chunk is dumped as e-waste after entering the country. Only 35 per cent of second-hand and waste electronics in Europe end up in official recycling and collection systems. The rest ends up simply thrown into waste bins, recycled under non-compliant conditions or exported to places such as Benin, Ghana and Nigeria. In 2009, Ghana was receiving about 215,000 tonnes of e-waste every year – equivalent to nine kilograms per resident.’
Amazon and Apple 'not playing their part' in tackling electronic waste
The Guardian 26.11.20
A seriously important subject sees the light of day:
‘The UK creates the second highest levels of electronic waste in the world, after Norway. But MPs said the UK was not collecting and treating much of this waste properly. “A lot of it goes to landfill, incineration or is dumped overseas. Under current laws producers and retailers of electronics are responsible for this waste, yet they are clearly not fulfilling that responsibility,” the MPs wrote… “Given the astronomical growth in sales by online vendors, particularly this year during the coronavirus pandemic, the EAC calls for online marketplaces to collect products and pay for their recycling to create a level playing field with physical retailers and producers that are not selling on their platforms.” The report by MPs condemns the “built-in obsolescence” in many electronic products – which includes the practice of intentionally shortening the lifespan of products. The inquiry by MPs heard that tech companies such as Apple had been found to glue and solder together internal components, making any repair nearly impossible… The report calls for: The right to repair to be enshrined in law. A reduction in VAT on the repair of electrical and electronic products, as takes place in other countries. All producers to be forced to collect products and pay for their recycling. Ambitious long-term targets for collection, reuse and recycling of e-waste to focus on reducing consumption and capturing and retaining vital raw materials.’
The United States’ contribution of plastic waste to land and ocean
Science Advances 30.10.20
The US is king when it comes to illegal waste dumping:
‘Our analysis demonstrates that the United States has contributed enormous amounts of plastic waste to the environment, including the ocean, despite having robust waste management infrastructure to collect, transport, and process waste (Fig. 1). The vast majority of U.S. residents have access to waste and recycling collection (26), yet illegal dumping and littering are still widespread, incurring high costs to municipalities for prevention and cleanup (27). Although the estimated amount of dumped material represents a small percentage of total waste generated, it is a large mass because the U.S. population generates the most solid waste of any country in the world.’
We’re using microbes to clean up toxic electronic waste – here’s how
The Conversation 19.08.20
New methods on the horizon to tackle this global problem:
‘Of the 44.7 million metric tonnes of electronic waste (often shortened to “e-waste”) produced around the world in 2017, 90% was sent to landfill, incinerated, or illegally traded. Europe and the US accounted for almost half of this – the EU is predicted to produce 12 million tonnes in 2020 alone. If nothing is done to combat the problem, the world is expected to produce more than 120 million tonnes annually by 2050… In a recent study, we reported how we managed to extract copper from discarded computer circuit boards using this method and recycle it into high-quality foil. Different metals have different properties, so new methods must be constantly developed. Extracting metals by bioleaching, though pollution-free, is also slower than the traditional methods. Thankfully though, genetic engineering has already shown that we can improve how efficiently these microbes can be used in green recycling. After our success recycling metals from discarded computers, scientists are trying other types of e-waste, including electric batteries. But developing better recycling techniques is only one piece of the puzzle. For a completely circular economy, recycling should start with manufacturers and producers.’
The treasure trove hidden in discarded computers
BBC 09.06.20
Tech waste products should absolutely be recycled. Processing rare earth minerals is very harmful to the planet:
‘Neodymium is a rare earth metal - chemical elements considered essential ingredients in many of today’s must-have technologies, from smartphones to TV screens. Neodymium is used, among other things, to make magnets that turn the motors that drive electric vehicles. Prof Walton believes that in the next 10 years, his company could be recycling enough neodymium to meet a quarter of the UK’s demand - almost all of which is currently imported from China…
Prof Walton believes that if Britain acts now and creates a scaled-up rare earths recycling industry, it could become a world leader. The opportunity is huge, with many emerging technologies such as 5G demanding rare earths, on top of the growing need for established technologies such as phone handsets, microprocessors and wind turbines.’
Highest Level of World’s Most Toxic Chemicals Found in African Free-Range Eggs: European E-Waste Dumping a Contributor
BAN 24.04.19
‘New research from IPEN and Basel Action Network (BAN) reveals dire human exposures and food chain contamination from highly toxic plastics in waste in Ghana that includes toxic e-waste shipped from Europe. Researchers have found the highest levels of brominated and chlorinated dioxins— some of the most hazardous chemicals on Earth— ever measured in free-range chicken eggs in Agbogbloshie, Ghana. The contamination results primarily from the breaking apart of discarded electronics (e-waste) and burning plastics to recover metals. Plastics from vehicle upholstery are also burned on the site and contribute to the contamination…
The adoption of the strict new levels proposed by IPEN would effectively end this toxic trade. Researchers also call for the listing of brominated dioxins in the Stockholm Convention.
"Europe needs to contend with its toxic e-waste rather than routing it to developing countries, such as Ghana, where hazardous chemicals contaminate populations (especially the vulnerable) and the environment, as a result of mishandling and existing indiscriminate disposal practices. African countries should not be used as e-waste dumping ground anymore as we do not have technological capacity to deal with waste containing high levels of persistent organic pollutants," said Sam Adu-Kumi of the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency and former President of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention.’
Recycled laptops triggering toxic fumes in Thailand
Independent 10.12.19
Electronic waste in Thailand leading to toxic fumes:
‘“E-waste has to go somewhere,” said Jim Puckett, executive director of the Basel Action Network, which campaigns against trash dumping in poor countries, “and the Chinese are simply moving their entire operations to southeast Asia.” “The only way to make money is to get huge volume with cheap, illegal labour and pollute the hell out of the environment,” he added.’
5G Report 2019
Crucial Compass 22.08.19
In ‘The Lean ICT Report’, IoT devices and all communication interfaces are set to grow from 8.4 billion in 2017 to 20 billion in 2020 with new toxic chips attached. The report brilliantly argues that because the recycling of some smartphone components such as indium, gallium, tantalum and germanium is less than 1%, there will be a technological dead end as these same metals must be used for renewable energy devices and their production is extremely limited.
“While there is no hard limit (energy efficiency technology, discovery of new reserves etc. will stretch the limit), rare metals/minerals like cobalt, lithium etc. are non-renewable and will eventually run out”, Dr. Parakram Pyakurel, postdoctoral researcher at the Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering wrote in an email to RT.
To add to this, no two IoT device manufacturers share the same API (Application Programming Interface). Because this race for 5G has enlisted and encouraged a capitalist grab-and-go mentality, no open-source database has been offered to this new industry that would make the actual connectivity real.
But a more environmentally-destructive aspect of 5G device’s production is in the mining of rare earth metals. In a 2013 article by Yale, a rare metal earth plant would produce unregulated and non-decommissioned waste, emitting low levels of carcinogenic radioactivity for centuries, according to scientists. And China, which has been buying swathes of Africa for mining, having probably depleted its own supply, is now holding the carrot with this ongoing trade war with the US.
An environmentally and politically toxic scenario all round.