What are the Impacts of E-Waste?
Electronic waste, or e-waste, is the fastest growing waste stream in the United States and across the world. The average American has 24 devices per household, and with the constant release of new products, it’s no surprise that the world generates over 63 million tons of e-waste each year, which outweighs the Great Wall of China.
Electronic gadgets consist of precious resources and materials, such as metals and glass, which necessitate significant energy for extraction and production. In contrast, recycling these materials consumes considerably less energy. The precious metals found in electronic waste can be repurposed for manufacturing new products, thereby diminishing the need for freshly mined or produced materials.
Most tech items are considered hazardous waste because they contain toxic compounds such as lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, chlorine, bromine, and flame retardants. When not disposed of properly or landfilled, these harmful chemicals leach into soil and groundwater. If electronic devices are incinerated, these chemicals go airborne and create dangerous air pollution.
Unfortunately, not enough people are aware of the hazardous nature and high recyclability of electronics, and only about 12.5% of e-waste is recycled in the U.S., according to the EPA. Please do not throw electronic devices into the trash!
Electronic energy requirements
In addition to the impact of physical electronic waste, the energy and resources consumed by these products is significant. One study found consumer electronics responsible for 4-5% of U.S. electricity consumption. 94% of that comes from TVs and computer monitors.
Then there’s the data centers, massive internet servers that can consume millions of gallons of water per day in order to keep servers cool, a process that can account for 40% of a data center’s energy use. As of March 2024, there are 5,381 data centers operating in the United States, which is by far the most in the world; Germany is second with 521. This currently adds up to approximately 2% of our country’s electricity use, and data center demand is projected to increase by 10% per year until 2030, especially with the addition of AI.
Read about the carbon footprint of an email.
Tips to Decrease Your Digital Footprint
Read more about decreasing your digital carbon footprint from the World Economic Forum.
Go Green: Resist the need to upgrade
With the speed that technology advances, new products with more exciting features and performance are constantly being released. And the marketing for these devices is very persistent. Many companies design products with a limited lifespan to encourage frequent upgrading. By sticking with your current device for longer, you can reduce the demand for this practice and help shift the market toward more durable electronics.
You don’t need every new upgrade. If your iPhone is still functional, you don’t need each new upgrade. The difference between one version to the next step up will likely be minimal and less dramatic. Older phones can still operate with similar features and security improvements through software updates without the need for new hardware.
Frequent upgrades creates more e-waste, and adds to the pressure of sourcing more resources, such as the mining of materials like cobalt and lithium, which are sometimes sourced unethically or with harmful labor practices​ and have environmental consequences.
And finally, skipping upgrades will result in more money in your pocket. Who doesn’t love that?
Go Green: Declutter your digital data
Between social media posts, digital photo albums, and video streaming–which constitutes 60% of internet traffic, the average household uses 429GB of internet data per month, as opposed to 17GB/month in 2011. Approximately 90% of all data is never accessed 3 months after it is stored.
You can help decrease data center energy consumption by deleting old data. I think we all have nonessential files, duplicate or poor quality photos, and years old emails. I know, going through all this sounds excruciating. Digital Cleanup Day, a non-profit dedicated to bring awareness to this issue, shares many tips to decrease data on phones, computers, and email accounts.
Consider saving files to your hard drive rather than the cloud. The combination of transmitting your data and storing it in a data center probably requires about 3 to 7 kWh per gigabyte. That’s about a million times more than the energy you use to save to your hard drive.
Before you write this off as being insignificant change, consider these numbers I asked ChatGPT to calculate.
If each person in the U.S. (approximately 330 million people) deleted 1 GB of unnecessary emails, photos, and other files, it could potentially reduce storage needs by 330 million GB (330 petabytes). Given that storing 1 GB of data for a year consumes about 0.5 kWh, this would result in energy savings of around 165 million kWh annually. For perspective, that’s enough electricity to power roughly 15,000 U.S. homes for a year (based on average U.S. home consumption of 10,715 kWh/year).
Each kWh of electricity used by a data center generates carbon emissions, depending on the energy source. In the U.S., the average COâ‚‚ emissions from electricity are about 0.92 pounds per kWh. Saving 165 million kWh could prevent approximately 151 million pounds of COâ‚‚ emissions, which is equivalent to the annual emissions of around 14,000 cars.
So you see, cleaning out email inboxes and cloud photos could save significant amounts of data storage and energy, leading to reduced demand on data centers, lower electricity consumption, and fewer carbon emissions. Even small actions like deleting old emails and unnecessary cloud storage can have a meaningful environmental impact when done collectively. (Which is pretty much the story for anything sustainability-related). Besides, who wouldn’t feel better having organized inboxes and photo albums, more storage availability on devices, and spending less money on cloud services.
Go Green: Consider repair before replacing
You can try to DIY with the help of ifixit, or use a company like ubreakifix. Find more repair locations here.
Go Green: Make sustainable electronic purchases
- Buy a refurbished model.
- If possible, choose a gadget with multiple functions rather than multiple gadgets.
- Consider upgrading the hardware or software for your computer or laptop instead of buying a brand new product.
- Buy eco-friendlier electronics that are Energy Star-certified and/or EPEAT certified by the Global Electronics Council.
EPEAT was formed by a grant from the EPA and is managed by the Global Electronics Council. Registered products must meet environmental performance criteria that address: materials selection, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, design for circularity and product longevity, energy conservation, end-of-life management and corporate performance.
In 2020, the use of Energy Star appliances saved 520 billion kilowatt-hours, $42 billion in energy costs, and reduced emissions by 400 million metric tons. Energy efficient appliance use can save a household around $450 in energy costs per year.
Go Green: Take care of your devices to extend their lifespan
- Use quality cases/screen protectors.
- Keep devices clean to prevent dust, dirt, and grime from building up and preventing them from working properly. Read Bob Vila’s tips on how to clean various electronics, and find eco-friendly cleaners here.
- Care for your battery. General guidelines for extending the lifespan of lithium-ion batteries in cellphones, laptops, and other electronics include keeping them from extreme heat or cold and keeping devices between 20-80% charged for the majority of the time. Check manufacturers for brand-specific instructions.
- Use a surge protector.
- If storing a device, store it with battery life at ~50%.
Go Green: Trade in or donate electronics
Extend the life of your electronic devices after you no longer have use for them by passing them on to someone else.
Trade in, sell or donate unwanted electronics in working condition.
Some items may be traded in via the manufacturer, while Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, and Target have electronic trade-in programs. Trade in cell phones with your wireless carrier.
Go Green: Recycle old electronics
Did you know that many of the materials used in electronic devices are recyclable? And some of these materials are valuable substances: cell phones contain precious metals such as gold, silver, copper, platinum, and palladium. Imagine throwing those into the landfill! Plus, mining of these resources carries a significant environmental impact, and recycling them can decrease the need to obtain virgin materials. Any type of metal is recyclable, requiring only a fraction of the energy used and retaining its quality through the process.
Learn how to recycle electronics here.
More tips to combat e-waste
Audio/Video equipment
Go Green: Choose Energy Star certified equipment
Energy Star certified audio/video equipment can save up to 70% energy than other models. Consider unplugging when not in use.
Cell phones
Go Green: Skip frequent upgrades
- As mentioned above, skip an upgrade or two. Read Wirecutter’s advice on cutting back.
- Check the Global Electronics Council’s EPEAT registry for sustainable choices.
- Prolong the lifespan of your device’s battery by following these recommendations for iPhone and Android phones. Read more from PC Mag about whether charging your phone overnight good or bad for your phone.
Cell phone Accessories
Go Green: Plastic-free phone case
With every phone upgrade comes a new phone case. Try Pela, which are plastic-free and instead are made with plant based materials that can be composted. I have a case for my phone and watch strap for an Apple watch and I love them both. They have lots of cool designs and are very sturdy.
Another great option for eco-friendly Apple watch bands comes from Braxley Bands. This company sells machine washable PFAS-free bands made from organic cotton or recycled polyester.
Computers, laptops, and tablets
Go Green: Energy Star models; energy saving practices
- Energy Star computers use 25-65% less energy than other models. Check the Global Electronics Council’s EPEAT registry for sustainable choices for computers, as well as servers and other network equipment.
- Laptops use much less energy than desktop computers.
- The most important thing you can do to save energy is enable sleep mode when the computer is inactive. Power down if you’re not going to use it for more than a couple hours.
- Screen savers don’t save energy. They use power for the monitor and some will also keep the CPU from shutting down.
- Dimming your display to 70% can save nearly 20% of the energy used by a monitor.
- When left running in the background while multitasking, many popular computer games will not allow the computer to go to sleep – even if the game is paused.
Sustainable computer brands include HP, Microsoft, and Apple. These companies stands out for their recognition for being among world’s most sustainable and ethical companies. All three were on Just Capital’s Top 10 American Companies for Environmental Performance in 2022.
Check out Energy Star’s most energy-efficient computer monitors of 2023.
Copy Machine
Go Green: EPEAT registry copier
Check the Global Electronics Council’s EPEAT registry for sustainable choices.
Printers
Go Green: Energy Star certified printer
Choose an Energy Star certified printer and check the Global Electronics Council’s EPEAT registry for sustainable choices.
Scanners
Go Green: Energy Star certified scanner
Choose an Energy Star certified scanner. Check the Global Electronics Council’s EPEAT registry for sustainable choices.
Televisions
Go Green: Energy Star certified TV
Energy Star certified TVs use an average of 25% less energy than other models. Check the Global Electronics Council’s EPEAT registry for sustainable choices.
- Don’t keep videos playing after you leave a room or go to sleep. Streaming services are responsible for about 1% of greenhouse gases.