Recycle, this is the imperative. Pollution is no
longer a distant mirage, but a daily reality to be reckoned with. The planet we
live on is slowly dying out due to the huge amount of waste we produce. A large
part of the blame goes to E-waste recycling service, which
causes a tremendous environmental impact.
Gold, silver
and precious materials: what is hidden in electronic waste?
From this awareness comes the need to give a second
life to devices that are thrown or forgotten for years in some drawer. Those
that are enclosed under the name of electronic
waste, are not only one of the most harmful products from an ecological
point of view, but they hide real treasures inside.
The Japanese are leading the way in electronic
recycling: from 47,500 tons of electronic waste, 28.4 kilos of gold, 3,500 kg
of silver and 2,700 kilos of bronze have been extracted. What will happen to
these precious materials? They will be used for 2020 Olympics medals - a great
way to recycle electronic waste.
According to a study conducted by Peking and Sydney
Universities, 350 grams of gold can be found in one ton of electronic waste.
Going specifically, it turns out that every single smartphone contains about
0.034 grams of gold, 0.34 grams of silver, 0.015 grams of palladium and even 25
grams of aluminum and 15 grams of copper. Not only that: smartphones also
contain various materials that are widespread on the earth's crust, but whose
extraction is complex, such as yttrium, lanthanum, terbium and neodymium.
There are those who have well thought of recovering
electronic waste by making jewels, such as the British designer Eliza Walter,
who with her brand Lylie's creates jewelry collections for which only gold and
silver recycled from electronic devices are used.
How to
properly dispose of electronic waste
A market, that of electronic waste recycling is constantly expanding, considering
that every European citizen produces, on average, 15 kilos of electronic waste
every year (smartphones, tablets, computers, televisions and all other
household appliances). Figures destined to increase, due to the frequency with
which we change our devices.
Upstream there is also the problem of disposal. How
do you dispose of electronic waste consisting of batteries, chips, sensors,
cables, screens? They cannot be thrown in the household garbage, but must be
treated in the appropriate WEEE centers (waste electrical and electronic
equipment). This is the fate of 10% of smartphones: all other devices are not
disposed of properly.
Smartphone
recycling: refurbished phones, like new
Each of us is personally called to act to stem a
situation of global danger that is getting out of hand. How can we contribute
to tackling the environmental emergency constituted by electronic waste? First
of all by disposing of them correctly, but also and above all by giving old
smartphones a new life.
Thanks to apps such as Anymote Smart it is
possible, in fact, to transform the smartphone into a universal remote control
with which to operate the television, the air conditioner, the hi-fi system.
The smartphone can also become a small surveillance camera, with the Alfred
application.
But the second life par excellence of smartphones
concerns refurbished devices . How many times have we thought we wanted to
change devices after a few months of its purchase, attracted by the desire to
own the latest model? What happens to this "electronic waste"? The
old model becomes an antique and consequently its value plummets. The circular
economy calls for smartphones that have been granted a second life to be put
back on the market. Devices branded Apple, Samsung, Huawei, OnePlus and Xiaomi
are used models that are regenerated, reset and very often equipped with a new
battery to then be sold at a competitive price and much lower than that of the
top of the range. Buying them is a convenient and ecological choice!
The refurbished market has approximately 10 percent
of the phones sold worth $ 17 billion and 120 million remanufactured handsets
globally. Therefore, more and more people are choosing to limit waste and stem
a serious problem such as that of electronic waste.
The reprogrammed smartphone survive programmed
obsolescence of equipment and software. In this way, iPhones and all other
models of electronic devices will last longer than the manufacturers had
predicted.
Read also: Hardware
disposal: what do you need to know?
In the United States, refurbished smartphones can
be purchased on every street corner. In India, the regenerated device market
has exploded only in the last period. By purchasing a refurbished you will find
in your hands the smartphone model you have always wanted at a really
affordable price. The quality and performance remain practically the same, and
the convenience of the remanufactured is striking. This is a saving that in
many cases exceeds 50%. A relief for pockets and for the environment: the
refurbished smartphone does not affect the environmental impact, it does not
end up accumulated in the electronic waste to be disposed of, nor to collect
dust in a drawer. The new life of your old smartphone becomes new life for the
planet Earth as well.
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