An electronic wasteland
The importance of recycling used electronics.
Published on September 30 2013 | McGill Daily
Written by Chris Mills
There’s no better symbol of ‘noughties’ consumerism than the iPhone: the quintessential smartphone, coveted by millions and the pride and joy of many a teenager. But after a few years of hard use, these status symbols often get unceremoniously trashed, in a process that’s creating a growing problem for the economy and environment alike.
Technology, in general, has a fairly terrible lifespan. The components are not built to last – the lithium-ion batteries that power most electronics have a shelf life of around two years. Additionally, the rapid improvements in computing power render modern software too resource-needy for old machines (just think of trying to install the latest version of Windows on a PC from a few years ago).
