One of the problems damaging our planet is the number of things we throw away. Rubbish of all kinds is piling up in landfill and polluting our rivers and oceans. A more recent addition to the list of things we chuck away is e-waste – electronic items that are broken and not recycled. Now solutions are being found to give this stuff a new life.

 

Many millions of tonnes of televisions, phones, and other electronic equipment are discarded each year, partly because it’s cheaper to replace them than fix them, but also because we lack the skills to repair them. A UN report claims the 50 million tonnes of e-waste generated every year will more than double to 110 million tonnes by 2050, making it the fastest growing waste stream in the world.

 

However, there’s a growing trend for repair events and clubs which could be part of a solution to the growing amount of electrical and electronic junk. The BBC visited a Restart Project in London, which is one of many found around the world. One of its volunteers, Francesco Calo, said that "this project allows you to reduce waste, extend the life of objects, and it helps people who cannot afford to get rid of items that have developed a fault."

 

As many electrical items contain valuable metals, another idea is e-waste mining. An experiment at the University of New South Wales involves extracting these materials from electronic gadgets¹. It’s thought that doing this could be more profitable than traditional mining. With phones typically containing as many as 60 elements, this could be part of the solution to our appetite for new technology.

 

These projects make total sense - collections of e-waste for recycling are “stagnating or even decreasing” according to Ruediger Kuehr, of the United Nations University. And in countries where there is no legislation, much of it just gets dumped.  However, the European Union, for example, is trying to tackle the problem by insisting manufacturers have to make appliances longer-lasting and will have to supply spare parts for machines for up to 10 years.

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