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Is there good data on goods that are the largest contributors to e-waste? A toaster is a great test case for learning about repairable design, but I can only i

by TOMDM 2y ago

Is there good data on goods that are the largest contributors to e-waste? A toaster is a great test case for learning about repairable design, but I can only imagine most people will only buy on average 1 or 2 toasters in their life. Framework seems like they're tackling laptops, which to my gut feel like they're largely responsible for consumer waste.

Neikius 2y ago
I'd say mobile phones are worse, many more produced so even considering phone size. And harder to take apart even though laptops are getting worse. But this is all anecdotal, don't have any hard info.
mattlondon 2y ago
Probably a lot in generic household appliances - washing machines, microwaves etc. They've all get electronics in these days. In my limited experience, things that get hot and or wet as part of their function tends to break more often than those that don't. So basically anything in your kitchen or laundry.
ShinTakuya 2y ago
Not sure where you people are getting these multi decade toasters, I need to replace mine every 5-10 years. Obviously not the worst case of e-waste either way but 1 or 2 seems like a severe underestimate but that could just be my own experience. Usually a heating element dies or similar. If it were easier to replace the heating elements I'd think it'd help reduce waste, but as you and others have noted, that wasn't the point of the article.
- Mister_Snuggles 2y ago
  I've only bought two toasters in my life. The first was a two-slice Kenmore (RIP Sears) which still works. It cost $20 and was purchased close to 25 years ago. I only used this a couple times a week and now the usage is very sporadic, but it always works when I need it to. The second was a Cuisinart toaster oven, which is not exactly a toaster but has ended up being our primary toaster. I have no idea how old it is since we bought it at a garage sale for $5 about 5 years ago. This is used almost daily, sometimes multiple times a day, and for a lot more than just toast. I can see buying one more toaster, meaning a toaster oven, in my life, but it will probably be to get new functionality (e.g., air fryer, larger capacity, etc) instead of replacing something broken.
  - xp84 2y ago
    I, too, would bet that your Cuisinart is likely to outlast you and me. That's what I have, and it's been in daily use for close to a decade now. Other than the silkscreened buttons losing their labels (easy fix: cut out some clear labels made with the P-Touch) it's as good as when it was new. We like it so much that we still kept it when we got a drawer-based air fryer 2 years ago which is my favorite kitchen purchase of all time.
- mrweasel 2y ago
  We have a toaster with a built in FM radio. That thing is pushing 15 years now. Obviously adding an FM radio to a toaster is idiotic and we don't use that feature, but the toaster part just works. It was a Christmas present from my wife's employer, so I can't imagine it being all that expensive. But I see your point, we've had multiple other toasters, some toasted themselves to death by melting their own plastic casing. The saddest failure was a Krupp coffee maker, that thing was amazing, made the best coffee. Sadly I melted the power cord on a stove top. This was before I had a proper set of tools, so I gave up trying to remove the "security" screws, that would have let me open it and replace the cord.
xp84 2y ago
For contributors to e-waste in terms of quantity of items, I'd assume somewhere in the top 10 you'd for sure find vape pens, cell phones, tablets, and all manner of computers. By weight there is probably a lot of large appliances, since their PCBs and chips are so unreliable, usually only lasting a couple of years, and people feel like suckers spending the ~$500-700 of labor and parts (mostly labor) that every repair costs on these, both because they feel like 'this one must be an especially bad design, so maybe I should buy a new one / a different brand' and because it seems insane to spend like 70-100% of the purchase price on a repair. So the whole thing is chucked in the landfill. Of course, the replacement will be a P.O.S. too, but what choice do we have?
mauvehaus 2y ago
1-2? I'm on 6 or 7, and I'm hoping to get another few decades in. I've spent as little as $10, and as much as $50. When the last one died, I gave serious consideration to the Dualit, but the slots aren't long enough for my usual bread. So I went with Wirecutter's $30 recommendation and fully expect it to die within the decade as well. Admittedly, I eat toast for breakfast at least 340 days a year, but I do sort of wish someone would sell a toaster that lasts so I could quit putting crappy ones in the landfill.
protocolture 2y ago
Based on my experiences in eWaste: Tech thats not getting properly recycled is LCD Monitors, was CRT's but they became profitable to mine for copper and gold. People are too sensitive to scratches on their screen and just throw it out. Once a monitor hits an eWaste bin that only gets worse. But the much larger problem with eWaste is packaging. Theres more packaging, with different grades of plastic, than there is shit inside of it that can be repaired or recycled. Phones are collected and recycled. Batteries are collected, sorted and recycled. Ancient Desktop computers are often marked as scrap, "recycled" to a developing country where they are suddenly reborn as... desktop computers and live a third or fourth life. Otherwise desktops are fairly recoverable, they go straight to "ex government" style stores, ebay, what have you. Laptops are pretty bad too, because of the integrated screen. Hard drives, some people like to destroy instead of wipe for security reasons. But the metals are fairly recoverable. Networking gear tends to live on in someones home or study lab, or it goes to developing nations. I actually find that appliances were quite unlikely to even hit an ewaste bin, likely going to landfill instead.

by TOMDM 2y ago

Neikius 2y ago

I'd say mobile phones are worse, many more produced so even considering phone size. And harder to take apart even though laptops are getting worse. But this is all anecdotal, don't have any hard info.

mattlondon 2y ago

Probably a lot in generic household appliances - washing machines, microwaves etc. They've all get electronics in these days. In my limited experience, things that get hot and or wet as part of their function tends to break more often than those that don't. So basically anything in your kitchen or laundry.

ShinTakuya 2y ago

Not sure where you people are getting these multi decade toasters, I need to replace mine every 5-10 years. Obviously not the worst case of e-waste either way but 1 or 2 seems like a severe underestimate but that could just be my own experience. Usually a heating element dies or similar. If it were easier to replace the heating elements I'd think it'd help reduce waste, but as you and others have noted, that wasn't the point of the article.

Mister_Snuggles 2y ago
I've only bought two toasters in my life. The first was a two-slice Kenmore (RIP Sears) which still works. It cost $20 and was purchased close to 25 years ago. I only used this a couple times a week and now the usage is very sporadic, but it always works when I need it to. The second was a Cuisinart toaster oven, which is not exactly a toaster but has ended up being our primary toaster. I have no idea how old it is since we bought it at a garage sale for $5 about 5 years ago. This is used almost daily, sometimes multiple times a day, and for a lot more than just toast. I can see buying one more toaster, meaning a toaster oven, in my life, but it will probably be to get new functionality (e.g., air fryer, larger capacity, etc) instead of replacing something broken.
- xp84 2y ago
  I, too, would bet that your Cuisinart is likely to outlast you and me. That's what I have, and it's been in daily use for close to a decade now. Other than the silkscreened buttons losing their labels (easy fix: cut out some clear labels made with the P-Touch) it's as good as when it was new. We like it so much that we still kept it when we got a drawer-based air fryer 2 years ago which is my favorite kitchen purchase of all time.
mrweasel 2y ago
We have a toaster with a built in FM radio. That thing is pushing 15 years now. Obviously adding an FM radio to a toaster is idiotic and we don't use that feature, but the toaster part just works. It was a Christmas present from my wife's employer, so I can't imagine it being all that expensive. But I see your point, we've had multiple other toasters, some toasted themselves to death by melting their own plastic casing. The saddest failure was a Krupp coffee maker, that thing was amazing, made the best coffee. Sadly I melted the power cord on a stove top. This was before I had a proper set of tools, so I gave up trying to remove the "security" screws, that would have let me open it and replace the cord.

xp84 2y ago

For contributors to e-waste in terms of quantity of items, I'd assume somewhere in the top 10 you'd for sure find vape pens, cell phones, tablets, and all manner of computers. By weight there is probably a lot of large appliances, since their PCBs and chips are so unreliable, usually only lasting a couple of years, and people feel like suckers spending the ~$500-700 of labor and parts (mostly labor) that every repair costs on these, both because they feel like 'this one must be an especially bad design, so maybe I should buy a new one / a different brand' and because it seems insane to spend like 70-100% of the purchase price on a repair. So the whole thing is chucked in the landfill. Of course, the replacement will be a P.O.S. too, but what choice do we have?

mauvehaus 2y ago

1-2? I'm on 6 or 7, and I'm hoping to get another few decades in. I've spent as little as $10, and as much as $50. When the last one died, I gave serious consideration to the Dualit, but the slots aren't long enough for my usual bread. So I went with Wirecutter's $30 recommendation and fully expect it to die within the decade as well. Admittedly, I eat toast for breakfast at least 340 days a year, but I do sort of wish someone would sell a toaster that lasts so I could quit putting crappy ones in the landfill.

protocolture 2y ago

Based on my experiences in eWaste: Tech thats not getting properly recycled is LCD Monitors, was CRT's but they became profitable to mine for copper and gold. People are too sensitive to scratches on their screen and just throw it out. Once a monitor hits an eWaste bin that only gets worse. But the much larger problem with eWaste is packaging. Theres more packaging, with different grades of plastic, than there is shit inside of it that can be repaired or recycled. Phones are collected and recycled. Batteries are collected, sorted and recycled. Ancient Desktop computers are often marked as scrap, "recycled" to a developing country where they are suddenly reborn as... desktop computers and live a third or fourth life. Otherwise desktops are fairly recoverable, they go straight to "ex government" style stores, ebay, what have you. Laptops are pretty bad too, because of the integrated screen. Hard drives, some people like to destroy instead of wipe for security reasons. But the metals are fairly recoverable. Networking gear tends to live on in someones home or study lab, or it goes to developing nations. I actually find that appliances were quite unlikely to even hit an ewaste bin, likely going to landfill instead.