e-waste
Latest
Samsung adds foldables to its self-repair program for the first time
Samsung's self-repair service is expanding so that more Galaxy products, including foldables and tablets, are included.
Chromebooks' short lifespans are creating 'piles of electronic waste'
Chromebooks may not be such a good deal after all, according to a new report called Chromebook Churn from the US Public Interest Research Group.
Best Buy’s new recycling program will let you mail in your old electronics
Best Buy announced today that it’s extending its gadget recycling program to include a new mail-in option. The retailer will now sell you a box for your used electronics that you can ship back for recycling, saving a trip to the store.
Samsung’s display injunction leaves repair technicians worried
Several companies have tried for years to kill independent repair businesses. Samsung may have found the silver bullet.
Samsung and iFixit now offer self-repair parts and tools for Galaxy devices
Samsung and iFixit have finally launched a promised self-repair program for Galaxy phones and tablets.
Senators call for a common charger standard in the US
US Senators are joining the EU in demanding a common charger standard for mobile devices.
Europe may require all phone manufacturers to use USB-C charging
Europe may require all manufacturers to use USB-C charging for all phones and electronic devices, according to a new EU Commission ruling proposal.
Google's Pixel 6 won't have a charger in the box
Google has confirmed that the Pixel 6 won't include a charger — the Pixel 5a will be the last phone with a bundled brick.
UK urges tech companies to help tackle excessive e-waste in damning report
The country generates more e-waste per person than any country besides Norway.
Ikea will stop selling non-rechargeable alkaline batteries by October 2021
The days of strolling into an Ikea and plopping down a few dollars for a 10-pack of Alkalisk batteries are coming to an end. The Swedish furniture-and-meatball purveyor announced earlier this morning that, due to concerns over waste and sustainability, it plans to stop selling nearly all non-rechargeable batteries around the world by October 2021.
Sonos gives a lame reason for bricking older devices in 'Recycle Mode'
Sonos has a good reputation for building quality speakers, but its latest move has disappointed some buyers. Recently, the company offered a trade-up program, giving legacy customers 30 percent off the latest One, Beam or Port. In exchange, buyers just had to "recycle" their existing products. However, what Sonos meant by "recycle" was to activate a feature called "Recycle Mode" that permanently bricks the speaker. It then becomes impossible for recycling firms to resell it or do anything else but strip it for parts.
Dell says it will power all of its facilities with renewable energy by 2040
Dell has announced new sustainability initiatives as part of the "Progress Made Real" plan the company shared on Tuesday. The centerpiece of the company's new climate change plan is to source 75 percent of the power for all of its facilities from renewables, and 100 percent by 2040. Dell also plans to make its supply chain and devices more energy efficient along the way. For comparison, Apple announced that as of last year all of its facilities were powered by renewables -- though it was able to achieve that milestone by taking advantage of carbon offsets and credits.
Tokyo unveils its recycled e-waste Olympics medals
The organizing committee for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo have unveiled the designs for the medals. The baubles that'll hang from the necks of the winningest athletes in each game reflect their struggle for brilliance in the years before the games themselves begin.
Tokyo will achieve its goal of making 2020 Olympic medals from e-waste
To make a statement about sustainability, Japan recently announced it would forge its 2020 Olympic medals from recycled smartphones, laptops and other gadgets. It just revealed that it has nearly met that goal after collecting nearly 48,000 tons of e-waste. The committee collected its 2,700 kg (5,950 pounds) target of bronze back in June, 93.7 percent of its 30.3 kg (67 pound) gold target and 85.4 percent of the 4,100 kg (9,000 pounds) of silver it needed. All told, over five million unwanted devices have yielded over $3 million worth of metals.
Europe takes another stab at standardizing phone chargers
The European Union has been trying for nearly a decade to get smartphone manufacturers to voluntarily agree to a common mobile phone charger. That apparently hasn't worked out so well, so the EU Commission may now take more forcible action, according to Reuters. "Given the unsatisfactory progress with this voluntary approach, the Commission will shortly launch an impact assessment study to evaluate costs and benefits of different other options," said EU competition Chief Margrethe Vestager.
E-waste levels are surging in Asia
If you thought our throwaway gadget culture was already having a nasty effect on the environment, watch out... it's getting considerably worse. A United Nations University study has revealed that the volume of e-waste in East and Southeast Asia surged 63 percent between 2010 and 2015, reaching 12.3 million tonnes. Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and mainland China were unsurprisingly the largest local generators. But why the rapid spike?
The Galaxy Note 7's death creates an environmental mess
Samsung's decision to discontinue the Galaxy Note 7 and recover remaining units isn't just a blow to smartphone fans... it's not so hot for the environment, either. Experts speaking to Motherboard point out that phone recycling is still a very young field, and that many of the rare earth elements (such as cobalt and indium) won't be recycled at all. There's going to be a significant amount of e-waste when all is said and done, in other words. And while the waste from about 2.5 million barely-used Note 7s isn't going to trigger an ecological disaster, it's considerably worse than refurbishing those phones.
Japan may forge Olympic medals from recycled smartphones
If you caught Japan's teaser for the 2020 Summer games in Tokyo, you know the nation is planning to lean hard on its pop-culture icons -- but Tokyo may also use the Olympics to make a statement about sustainability. According to a report from Nikkei, the organizers of the 2020 games are thinking about using recycled electronics to forge the next summer games' Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals.
Europe doesn't properly recycle most of its electronic waste
You probably know that you should recycle your old tech when you're done with it, but getting other people to do the same? That's quite hard, apparently. The United Nations and INTERPOL have found that only 35 percent of the European Union's electronic waste in 2012, about 3.2 million imperial tons, was recycled properly. The rest (6.1 million tons) was either exported, recycled improperly or trashed. And that's a problem beyond just the expected environmental issues, such as toxins making their way into landfills. Many crooks take advantage of this lapse by scavenging and smuggling e-waste -- that old laptop you chucked out might be a gold mine for a bootlegger hoping to sell its parts or raw metals.
'Nano-paper' chips end up in compost heaps, not landfills
Today's cast-off gadgets are far more likely to end up in a landfill than they are being responsibly disposed of. In fact, 41.8 million tons of e-waste were scrapped last year alone. To combat this, a team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has invented a radically new kind of ecologically-friendly semiconductor chip made from wood. No, seriously.
