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Ask HN: What if we registered products and charged manufacturers when dumped?

This is the only idea I have that I can imagine might curb the onslaught of cheap/unrepairable products from being created. When a manufacturer creates anything, before it's allowed to be sold to a member of the public, it gets registered with some global authority. Whenever you dump something in the local landfill, the manufacturer is charged for their product being dumped, not the consumer. The junk being dumped in landfills is not typically the consumer's fault. We all buy products in good faith that they are made well and will hopefully last us a lifetime. Why should we bear the brunt of disposing of some predatory manufacturer's built-to-fail product? Thoughts?

johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago
I try fixing everything that I have ever bought before I am forced to throw it out, but some products are literally built to fail. I bought a rechargeable electric razor once, worked for a few years, but eventually it wouldn't even run when plugged into the wall directly. The reason? The power supply went through two incredibly cheap, soldered in, rechargeable batteries before it went to the motor. I couldn't even circumvent the batteries, because the power that charged them was stronger than the power the motor drew. So frustrating.
aww_dang 5y ago
The consumer would still bear the costs either way.
- johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago
  Of disposing of the item in the landfill? How so?
  - aww_dang 5y ago
    Yes, the costs charged to the manufacturer would be passed on to the consumer.
    - johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago
      My thought is that over time, consumers would choose products who's cost did not comprise eventual disposal on top of the cost of creating and marketing the product. Take a dualit toaster for example. You'll never need to throw it out. Every single part is entirely replaceable.
gus_massa 5y ago
A few days ago, someone posted that where s/he lives you can get some money returning aluminum cans to the recycling center (or something like that). But the cans must not be crushed, because they must scan the barcode to identify the producer. The problem is that it is very inefficient to carry a lot of uncrushed cans, so this makes recycling more difficult. Identifying the products in their way to the landfill may be difficult.
- johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago
  There are reverse-vending-machines in New York State that operate like this. I'm thinking more like consumer electronics. If the product was damaged beyond recognition, obviously that's not the manufacturer's fault, and the person bringing the item to the landfill should pay the fine in that case. As for efficient transportation, perhaps special garbage trucks that pick up consumer electronics could scan the item at the curb before weighing/crushing it and carting it to the landfill?

johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago

I try fixing everything that I have ever bought before I am forced to throw it out, but some products are literally built to fail. I bought a rechargeable electric razor once, worked for a few years, but eventually it wouldn't even run when plugged into the wall directly. The reason? The power supply went through two incredibly cheap, soldered in, rechargeable batteries before it went to the motor. I couldn't even circumvent the batteries, because the power that charged them was stronger than the power the motor drew. So frustrating.

aww_dang 5y ago

The consumer would still bear the costs either way.

johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago
Of disposing of the item in the landfill? How so?
- aww_dang 5y ago
  Yes, the costs charged to the manufacturer would be passed on to the consumer.
  - johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago
    My thought is that over time, consumers would choose products who's cost did not comprise eventual disposal on top of the cost of creating and marketing the product. Take a dualit toaster for example. You'll never need to throw it out. Every single part is entirely replaceable.

gus_massa 5y ago

A few days ago, someone posted that where s/he lives you can get some money returning aluminum cans to the recycling center (or something like that). But the cans must not be crushed, because they must scan the barcode to identify the producer. The problem is that it is very inefficient to carry a lot of uncrushed cans, so this makes recycling more difficult. Identifying the products in their way to the landfill may be difficult.

johnnyApplePRNG 5y ago
There are reverse-vending-machines in New York State that operate like this. I'm thinking more like consumer electronics. If the product was damaged beyond recognition, obviously that's not the manufacturer's fault, and the person bringing the item to the landfill should pay the fine in that case. As for efficient transportation, perhaps special garbage trucks that pick up consumer electronics could scan the item at the curb before weighing/crushing it and carting it to the landfill?