4 ms·

im not expert in this, but is hardware able to be broken back down into the elements that they came from to be reused?

ghaff 11y ago
There is recycling for various electronics components and, in some locales, certain components are legally supposed to be recycled (CRTs, lithium batteries). I don't know the details of what happens in the recycling process however.
- Plasmoid 11y ago
  Sadly, the process is often to ship to Africa or China and just dump it. There might be some government paperwork that says this particular open-air debris garden is just the storage lot for a proper recycling operation, but often the closest thing to recycling is locals picking through the mounds of trash looking for anything of value.
  - adrianN 11y ago
    There is a free to watch documentary about the problem in Ghana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUCoToorc9M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUCoToorc9M
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    In China they'll recycle it and sell it back to you. And it's fine, most re-used components aren't worse than the new ones.
TeMPOraL 11y ago
It can, and it is, but there's only few places on Earth where it makes sense on a larger scale. They do it in China, and I suspect that a lot of old components make their way into new phones, but haven't seen any numbers yet. Electronic components generally don't wear much, there's nothing that makes them unsuitable for use in new devices except that ordering new parts is probably cheaper thanks to economies of scale. Come to think of it, maybe it could be changed? Recycling electronic components is mostly about melting the elements off the PCB and then sorting them to correct bins; the latter part is what usually involves humans. With proper design and sufficient automation, maybe there could be a fully-automated recycler that takes random electronics junk as input, and gives out spools of components ready to be used by a pick&place machine?

ghaff 11y ago

There is recycling for various electronics components and, in some locales, certain components are legally supposed to be recycled (CRTs, lithium batteries). I don't know the details of what happens in the recycling process however.

Plasmoid 11y ago
Sadly, the process is often to ship to Africa or China and just dump it. There might be some government paperwork that says this particular open-air debris garden is just the storage lot for a proper recycling operation, but often the closest thing to recycling is locals picking through the mounds of trash looking for anything of value.
- adrianN 11y ago
  There is a free to watch documentary about the problem in Ghana: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUCoToorc9M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUCoToorc9M
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  In China they'll recycle it and sell it back to you. And it's fine, most re-used components aren't worse than the new ones.

TeMPOraL 11y ago

It can, and it is, but there's only few places on Earth where it makes sense on a larger scale. They do it in China, and I suspect that a lot of old components make their way into new phones, but haven't seen any numbers yet. Electronic components generally don't wear much, there's nothing that makes them unsuitable for use in new devices except that ordering new parts is probably cheaper thanks to economies of scale. Come to think of it, maybe it could be changed? Recycling electronic components is mostly about melting the elements off the PCB and then sorting them to correct bins; the latter part is what usually involves humans. With proper design and sufficient automation, maybe there could be a fully-automated recycler that takes random electronics junk as input, and gives out spools of components ready to be used by a pick&place machine?