4 ms·

Please, don't conclude that Apple (and now Google) products aren't recyclable because of a quote from Wired citing some "friends from the recycling industry".

by gnaffle 14y ago

Please, don't conclude that Apple (and now Google) products aren't recyclable because of a quote from Wired citing some "friends from the recycling industry". One thing I do know is that iPhones and other Apple products have high resale value, that there's an industry thriving on selling replacement screens, batteries etc. This wouldn't be the case if most people considered these devices crap and obsolete the day a new product was introduced. From my experience, people keep their Apple products for many years, often giving them to other family members when they upgrade themselves. If they weren't built to last, this would be impossible to do. The real landfill fillers are the crappy plastic phones that get scratced and damaged.

gms7777 14y ago
Don't confuse recyclable with reusable. I think your mental timescale here is a bit too small. "Built to last" means what? 10 years, optimistically. That means that in 10 years, those products will still be sitting in a landfill...for hundreds of millions of years. There are choices that hardware designers can make that will help mitigate this at least to some extent, but unfortunately, it appears as if we are moving further and further away from this (the glass glued to the display being one example).
- tbrownaw 14y ago
  That means that in 10 years, those products will still be sitting in a landfill...for hundreds of millions of years. Not true. Worst case, they end up in a museum when an archaeologist finds them in a couple thousand (not million) years.
- grecy 14y ago
  > Don't confuse recyclable with reusable. Remember, of the three things we're all supposed to be doing, recycling is the absolute worst. Followed by reuse, then reduce. It could be argued that making a device reusable is actually better than making it recyclable. The consumers of this world seem to be caught up in this "recycle it" craze. Somehow it's fine to churn through 30 plastic water bottles a week, because they are going in the recycling. In reality, the water bottles should be gone entirely.
  - gms7777 14y ago
    And if we were limited to choosing between reducing, reusing or recycling, then perhaps we would want to scrap recycling all together. But we're not. I would argue that making a device that can be reused and recycled is better than both. I'm not saying there is a problem with having items that are reusable (on the contrary, its great. The longer the lifecycle of an object, the less overall objects we produce). I'm just saying that while we are trying to limit the amount of "product" that is produced (the net effect of reusing and recycling), we also need to keep an eye on how to get rid of all this "product" once we are done with it. Besides recycling is just another form of reusing, is it not?
    - grecy 14y ago
      >And if we were limited to choosing between reducing, reusing or recycling, then perhaps we would want to scrap recycling all together. But we're not. We're not "limited" to doing any of those three things. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is all about choices. What we "should" be doing. What's "best". We should "aim" to reuse rather than recycle. > Besides recycling is just another form of reusing, is it not? Recycling uses exponentially more energy, especially when you're talking about glass and aluminum.
      - gms7777 14y ago
        > We should "aim" to reuse rather than recycle. I don't see why this is a XOR situation. Ideally, we would be reducing production, and what we do produce would be readily reusable AND (eventually, when we have gotten past the useful lifecycle of an object, and every object has one) recyclable.
- gnaffle 14y ago
  If people recycle them, they won't be in that landfill. And many countries (at least in Europe) now recycle all garbage. Even stuff glued together can be separated and be recycled. Making long-lasting, more expensive products certainly decreases the amount of devices that end up in landfills. And isn't the "glass glued to the display" simply one less piece of glass that needs to be recycled? The previous solution was a display unit with a thin piece of glass, and then a bigger protective piece of glass in front of that. (Please correct me if I'm wrong here).
MaxGabriel 14y ago
Per the Wired quote, Apple will recycle products you take to the store (edit: or mail to them), and offers either a gift card or 10% discount if you do so.
- gms7777 14y ago
  Wow, I never knew that. Thanks for sharing. Link to the program for anyone interested: http://www.apple.com/recycling/ http://www.apple.com/recycling/

by gnaffle 14y ago

gms7777 14y ago

Don't confuse recyclable with reusable. I think your mental timescale here is a bit too small. "Built to last" means what? 10 years, optimistically. That means that in 10 years, those products will still be sitting in a landfill...for hundreds of millions of years. There are choices that hardware designers can make that will help mitigate this at least to some extent, but unfortunately, it appears as if we are moving further and further away from this (the glass glued to the display being one example).

tbrownaw 14y ago
That means that in 10 years, those products will still be sitting in a landfill...for hundreds of millions of years. Not true. Worst case, they end up in a museum when an archaeologist finds them in a couple thousand (not million) years.
grecy 14y ago
> Don't confuse recyclable with reusable. Remember, of the three things we're all supposed to be doing, recycling is the absolute worst. Followed by reuse, then reduce. It could be argued that making a device reusable is actually better than making it recyclable. The consumers of this world seem to be caught up in this "recycle it" craze. Somehow it's fine to churn through 30 plastic water bottles a week, because they are going in the recycling. In reality, the water bottles should be gone entirely.
- gms7777 14y ago
  And if we were limited to choosing between reducing, reusing or recycling, then perhaps we would want to scrap recycling all together. But we're not. I would argue that making a device that can be reused and recycled is better than both. I'm not saying there is a problem with having items that are reusable (on the contrary, its great. The longer the lifecycle of an object, the less overall objects we produce). I'm just saying that while we are trying to limit the amount of "product" that is produced (the net effect of reusing and recycling), we also need to keep an eye on how to get rid of all this "product" once we are done with it. Besides recycling is just another form of reusing, is it not?
  - grecy 14y ago
    >And if we were limited to choosing between reducing, reusing or recycling, then perhaps we would want to scrap recycling all together. But we're not. We're not "limited" to doing any of those three things. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is all about choices. What we "should" be doing. What's "best". We should "aim" to reuse rather than recycle. > Besides recycling is just another form of reusing, is it not? Recycling uses exponentially more energy, especially when you're talking about glass and aluminum.
    - gms7777 14y ago
      > We should "aim" to reuse rather than recycle. I don't see why this is a XOR situation. Ideally, we would be reducing production, and what we do produce would be readily reusable AND (eventually, when we have gotten past the useful lifecycle of an object, and every object has one) recyclable.
gnaffle 14y ago
If people recycle them, they won't be in that landfill. And many countries (at least in Europe) now recycle all garbage. Even stuff glued together can be separated and be recycled. Making long-lasting, more expensive products certainly decreases the amount of devices that end up in landfills. And isn't the "glass glued to the display" simply one less piece of glass that needs to be recycled? The previous solution was a display unit with a thin piece of glass, and then a bigger protective piece of glass in front of that. (Please correct me if I'm wrong here).

MaxGabriel 14y ago

Per the Wired quote, Apple will recycle products you take to the store (edit: or mail to them), and offers either a gift card or 10% discount if you do so.

gms7777 14y ago
Wow, I never knew that. Thanks for sharing. Link to the program for anyone interested: http://www.apple.com/recycling/ http://www.apple.com/recycling/