SoftBank Group Corp CEO, Masayoshi Son, predicted in 2016 that by 2036 there will be a trillion devices connected via the Internet of Things (IoT). While this is good for us in a technological and interconnected sense, increased demand is likely to increase the amount of “e-waste” the world makes.
In 2016, the UN concluded that the total weight of the world’s electronic trash was about 44.7 million metric tons. By 2021, it’s believed this number will increase to 52.2 metric tons.
Experts believe that two situations are primarily causing this increase in e-waste:
- products that several years ago didn’t require a semiconductor now do, and
- the life span of our devices is getting shorter.
Previously, our computing devices would last up to 15 years before they would age out and need replacing. Today, we’re lucky if we can get five years out of our devices before they need to be replaced to keep up.
Some of the connected devices we’ve become attached to (i.e. jewelry, trackers, and other wearables) don’t have a life span that extends past their battery life. Once the battery dies, the entire device will need to be replaced.
For example, Wilson, the sporting equipment company, recently developed a Bluetooth-enabled basketball. Developers tried for some time to include a replaceable battery in the basketball that wouldn’t hurt its performance. When they failed, they decided that the basketball would no longer be connected once the battery died.
Another company that makes disposable connected devices is Tile, which creates small Bluetooth devices that allow you to track the devices in your life you lose the most (your keys, cellphone, and wallet, for example). The company previously offered a discount to returning customers if they sent back their old unit for disposal in the mailer (included with their original purchase). They have since stopped this program.
A third company that produces disposable tech is Spire. They’ve developed a wearable that adheres to the body to track breathing and activity level. It has an expected battery life of 18 months. Like Tile, they ask their customers to ship the dead units back to be recycled.
Some companies that aren’t designing short-term products are working to create programs to easily recycle some of the disposable tech before it becomes e-waste.
For example, Dell utilized gold from its old computers to build their new computers that need gold components. They’re able to reuse 3,000 kilograms of gold each year.
We need more tech companies to chip in and for more consumers to recycle their technologies so we don’t get buried under tons of e-waste. For more on the growing technology industry, continue reading our blog.