The Unseen Waste Behind Technology

It’s no doubt that global warming is increasing at a dramatic rate. We are rocketing towards a climate that is harming humans and destroying 20–30% of the world’s species. Therefore, today’s society is pushing towards an eco-friendly world. Businesses are being forced to take on an environmentally conscious approach, adapting to the needs of the global community. This means that many are moving to online, technological platforms. The aim of this is to reduce paper and plastic production. But is technology really a better option? I took a deeper look into the hidden environmental waste behind technology.

There are many benefits of moving towards a more technologically-focussed lifestyle. Using email, online banking, or spending on your phone for example, will reduce the need for printing paper, including letters or receipts. Not only are receipts damaging to the environment due to the printing of paper, but the chemicals that receipts contain are highly toxic. Receipts contain chemical bisphenol A (BPA). This can cause a range of health problems such as prostate or breast cancer, heart disease, obesity, and disruption of hormones.

In addition, during the current coronavirus climate, we have been forced to work from home, using Zoom, Google Hangouts or Skype. Working from home has limited the world’s travel. This reduction of travel means that harmful greenhouse gasses are not as frequently released into the atmosphere. For example, in New York, due to the restrictions on travel during the covid outbreak, levels of pollution fell by 50%. Of course, this would need to be continued for a long period of time to make any real impact. But it does reveal the positives of working remotely, and queries whether this is the best way to secure an environmentally healthy future. The reduction of paper, plastic and fossil fuels head in the right direction towards a technologically-oriented culture. These steps have the potential to reduce mass deforestation, and to diminish the unnecessary burning of toxic pollutants. But does this outweigh the environmental impact of technological waste?

Like most things, there are advantages and disadvantages to using technology. One disadvantage is the energy needed to power our machines such as laptops, phones, ovens, heating etc. Every time you plug in your device, energy is needed to power it. The production of this energy emits air pollutants. These are damaging to public health and wildlife. Additionally, although Cloud services provide us with endless storage and processing capacity, the energy needed to run these data centres is colossal. Thousands of servers in data centres must be powered constantly to allow us access to our data on any device, 24/7. On top of that, these servers require cooling systems due to the mass amounts of heat that servers generate. The air pollution that these generators emit has unfortunate environmental impacts, which contribute to global warming and the melting of the ice caps. The gases they release are dangerous to inhale, which could lead to long term personal impacts, as well as world impacts. To combat this, companies such as Google, Amazon and IBM have made huge advancements in server efficiency with the use of data centres. Many of these providers have pledged to “go green”, using entirely renewable energy to power their servers. With major companies taking steps like these, technology does seem to be moving towards an environmentally friendly system.

You may be tempted to throw away your electronic equipment to help the environment, but this is also a minefield. Almost all electronic waste contains unsafe chemicals. If these are not disposed of or recycled properly, they will decay and eventually release toxins into our water systems and food chain. In 2016 alone, the world produced 49 million tonnes of technological waste which was a 50% increase from 2015. It is expected that in 2021, this will hit 57 million tonnes. This figure only continues to grow. One reason for this expanding waste is that phone companies now create devices with a shorter life span. It’s widely reported that this is planned obsolesce to tactically increase sales of the product. The average person gets a new mobile phone every 12 to 18 months and only 10% are recycled. This means that the e-waste (electronic waste) is growing at rapid speed: with a predicted 110 million tonnes by 2050 according to the UN.

So what is being done about this? In July 2007, the EU’s directive on Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) was formed. WEE enforced that any business selling electronics must also accept electronics when they have reached their end of life to ensure they are recycled properly. As a consumer, I was blissfully unaware of this, as I’m sure many others are. This is evidenced by the fact that since the WEEE was formed, only 20% of all electronics have been properly recycled. So next time you’re on your way to collect a new device, take your old one with you to be recycled.

But what happens to the recycled waste? There are certain landfill sites dedicated to e-waste disposal, one of the largest being Guiya, China. Guiya has been receiving shipments of toxic e-waste from all over the world. But this has dangerous impacts on those living in the surrounding area. Most electronics contain toxic materials such as lead, zinc, nickel, flame retardants, barium and chromium. When released into the atmosphere, these can cause damage to human blood, kidneys and nervous systems. In fact, one of the biggest environmental impacts to the atmosphere is e-waste and according to the UN, e-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world. Electronic toxic materials seep into groundwater, affecting land and sea animals. Specifically in Guiya, the local residents exhibit considerable digestive, respiratory, bone and neurological damage. Due to this, China banned 24 kinds of solid waste in 2002, which caused a large problem for countries such as the UK, America, Australia and Japan. Until this point, China accepted 70% of the world’s electronic waste. Now, nearly 20 years later, rather than resolving the problem by producing less damaging technology, e-waste has continued to grow. Southeast Asia is becoming a growing hub for collection of e-waste, and now Vietnam and Thailand are becoming increasingly overwhelmed with the world’s technological waste. Due to the release of toxic chemicals, such as lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic, those working on landfills risk suffering from major, traumatic health issues such as miscarriages, cancers and diminished IQs. This certainly raises some ethical questions.

For all of these reasons, the world is rapidly becoming an enormous dumping ground for dangerous, electronic waste. So what can we personally be doing? It feels disheartening that the goal to protect the environment by moving towards technology has had its own negative environmental impacts. It seems we may never be able to eradicate the environmental waste, but surely we can find a way to minimise it. We all have a responsibility to protect our environment. We must look to lower our carbon footprints: buy refurbished electronics instead of necessarily buying brand new. If you are experiencing problems with your devices, seek to repair them before simply throwing them away. Take companies up on their legal requirement to accept your old electronic equipment to ensure they are being recycled efficiently. Attempt to resell or repurpose your products. For example, a washing machine can be repurposed as an outdoor fire-pit.

Although we cannot stop the production of these now-essential technologies in our everyday lives, we can reduce the amount of waste. At KodyPay we are eco-consciously working towards a paper and hardware-free payment process. We know that today our phones are essential to our daily needs: we’re not all going to surrender those machines! So why not use them? The KodyPay platform brings all of our in-store checkout process into one mobile app. This will, in time, remove the need for production of hardware such as tills. Receipts are also moved to the app, altogether resulting in the reduction of technological and paper waste. This will appease both sides of the environmental dilemma. If you’re going to use this electronic device anyway, why not use it with a clean conscience, knowing these small steps result in large impacts.