"That includes stones, gravel, tailings and slag," said Anna Carin Gripwall, co-author of the study. ![]() These precious metals - extracted mostly in Asia, Africa and Australia - need to be mined.Ī study by Swedish waste management and recycling association Avfall Sverige calculated the invisible waste generated for a typical smartphone and 3-kilogram laptop to be about 86 and 1,200 kilograms (190 and 2,645 pounds) respectively. Among the myriad tiny components of an Apple iPhone are gold, silver and palladium. Mining precious metalsĪ typical smartphone, for example, can comprise up to 62 different metals. Electronics are comprised of numerous components, most of them sourced and manufactured in different locations around the world before being assembled somewhere else entirely. Most of this is totally invisible to the average consumer and difficult to quantify. Producing electronics involves high levels of hazardous chemicals, greenhouse gases and water drainage. Household waste is only the tip of the garbage mountain Image: Imago Images/photothek/F. "Most of the pollution and waste from electronics happens long before people have their devices in their hands," said Lepawsky, who is also a professor of geography at the Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. This is especially true for electronics, which is the world's fastest growing trash stream and one of the largest sources of invisible waste. Hidden in the difficult-to-trace processes of resource extraction, manufacturing, transportation and electricity production is the bulk of the world's waste - generated to make the stuff we buy. ![]() "The waste we deal with as consumers is a tiny percentage of the overall waste - only about 2 to 3% of it," said Josh Lepawsky, author of a book on the global impact of making digital technology. It's the cardboard box their new laptop arrives in, and that laptop itself, once it's no longer useful.Įvery year, the world produces roughly 2 billion metric tons of garbage. It's the plastic they rip off their broccoli and toss in the bin. ![]() Most people think they know what waste is.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |