The Waste of E-Waste

 Recycling of e-waste must urgently be ramped up because mining the Earth for precious metals to make new gadgets is unsustainable, scientists say. The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) says there now needs to be a global effort to mine that waste, rather than mining the Earth.

"Our tech consumption habits remain highly unsustainable and have left us at risk of exhausting the raw elements we need," said Prof Tom Welton, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry, adding that those habits were "continuing to exacerbate environmental damage".

One study estimated that the world's mountain of discarded electronics, in 2021 alone, weighed 57 million tonnes.  The amount of e-waste generated is growing by about two million tonnes every year. Less than 20% is collected and recycled.

Volatility in the market for elements is causing "chaos in supply chains" that enable the production of electronics. Combined with the surge in demand, this caused the price of lithium - another important component in battery technology - to increase by almost 500% between 2021 and 2022. 

"All this volatility in supply chains really just reinforces the fact that we need a circular economy for these materials. At the moment, we're just mining them out of the ground constantly." explained Elizabeth Ratcliffe from the Royal Society of Chemistry, adding that many of us were "unwittingly stockpiling precious metals in our homes", in old phones and defunct computers.

• Gallium: Used in medical thermometers, LEDs, solar panels, telescopes and has possible anti-cancer properties
• Arsenic: Used in fireworks, as a wood preserver
• Silver: Used in mirrors, reactive lenses that darken in sunlight, antibacterial clothing and gloves for use with touch screens
• Indium: Used in transistors, microchips, fire-sprinkler systems, as a coating for ball-bearings in Formula One cars and solar panels
• Yttrium: Used in white LED lights, camera lenses and can be used to treat some cancers
• Tantalum: Used in surgical implants, electrodes for neon lights, turbine blades, rocket nozzles and nose caps for supersonic aircraft, hearing aids and pacemakers
• Mine e-waste, not the Earth, say scientists - BBC News