For years, we have become increasingly aware of the importance of recycling waste products. Yet while we are fully aware of the impact of waste on the environment, one area that is often left rather untouched in terms of discussion is e-waste. Electronic waste has become a major problem in that we create so much hardware today that landfill sites are loaded with old hardware that could be used and recycled for long-term human benefit. Therefore, that’s why the development of systems for upcycling e-waste trash into something more useful is a positive step in the right direction.
With global e-waste expected to double by the year 2050, we are already watching a ticking clock count down rapidly. We need to try and find ways to make the most of e-waste, though, as many resources exist within the piles that could still be of benefit to humanity somewhere down the line. That is why innovations in e-waste recycling could be a crucial industry in the years to come. As it stands, training programmes are being developed to help give people a long-term future in an industry that is going to become very important indeed.
Today, the use of old and damaged electronic waste products is often nil. When they work anything less than 95% well, they get dumped and left to rot. Instead, intelligent people – such as poultry farmers in nations like Ghana – are using items like old refrigerators to create solutions for keeping eggs warm, automatically rotating eggs, and generally just doing the kind of tasks they need on a daily basis.
By taking an old fridge and converting it with the help of a local company called Appcyclers, Ghanaian farmers were able to make poultry farming even easier. Are these innovations common, though?
Is there a future in e-waste recycling?
Almost certainly. Many nations have grown sick of seeing mass landfill sites full of items that could be used and re-adjusted in some way to help them deliver a specific purpose. From the example above to countless other ideas turned into reality, e-waste recycling has gone from a pipe dream for scrap hunters to a legitimate long-term career path for many people.
And it is easy to see why; e-waste recycling is all about using a product that might otherwise be useless and giving it a renewed purpose. While that old fridge might no longer be useful for refrigeration, some short mechanical changes turned the fridge into something visibly useful and helpful to the owners.
Today, many companies specialise in the art of taking an old piece of waste and recycling it accordingly. By finding a use for a product long deemed useless, this gives people the help that they need to turn an e-waste recycling opportunity into something they can actively benefit from today.
It’s for this reason, then, that innovations in e-waste recycling is not something you should turn your nose up at. Make no mistake: e-waste recycling is possible, and the results can be simply incredible to see.