Comment by adrianN
18 hours ago
I’m relatively sure that electronics are not recycled properly anywhere. At best some of the metals are extracted (hopefully not by mixing the ashes with mercury).
18 hours ago
I’m relatively sure that electronics are not recycled properly anywhere. At best some of the metals are extracted (hopefully not by mixing the ashes with mercury).
What would be properly recycling electronics, if not extracting the metals? should the worthless based board to be melted and used for bottles?
Not burning all the ICs and all the other components that still work perfectly fine would be a good start imo.
That would fall under Reuse rather than Recycle. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle are in the order of best to worst. Recycling is the last ditch effort to not completely waste something. It's always going to feel like a half measure, because it is.
To do WHAT with? Catalog and categorize the millions of random penny-priced ICs that MIGHT be usable for something else?
Isn't that the point of recycling? To reuse the reusable materials like plastic?
If salvaging 100% of the materials that make up something is the only way to "properly" recycle, we are not recycling anything properly. Some components are not recyclable.
I won't speculate about whether the plastic on the board is recyclable, or ecological to recycle. I don't know. This is what I'm asking.
what about best buy and staples? that's where I take mine
I can't tell if this is a tongue-in-cheek comment or not, but all of that is shipped off to 3rd party "recyclers" who pinky promise that they will dispose of it properly. Very often those 3rd parties rely on other 3rd parties until the it ends up in a waste pile in a developing country, but with a long enough chain of differed responsibility that nobody can be held accountable.
The fundamental problem with "recycling" is precisely the fact that we just hand it off and don't ask questions about where it ends up, all while feeling great about ourselves afterwards. Bestbuy and Staples are offering accountability laundering so that you don't have to feel bad and in exchange are more likely to become a customer. The 3rd parties working for them do the same thing, but they usually want cash for it.
sounds like cynicism without any factual basis. I just checked and ERI says otherwise: https://eridirect.com/blog/2025/01/rare-earth-metal-recovery...