How a robot recycles our electronic waste – BBC News

It’s estimated that the amount of e-waste generated last year was more than 57m tonnes.

Phone recycling is on the rise, but most handsets still end up in landfill sites, reports BBC technology programme Click.

The majority of modern smartphones contain about 30 elements, including rare earth materials such as gold and tin.

The World Economic Forum has warned that some elements could be completely depleted in 100 yeas.

#Recycling #Click #BBCNews

[dwarfyuki]

The real amazing thing here is how this man has a more stable grip on his phone with no hands than most of us with two

[vinny]

If Apple really care, they would have not made it so difficult for us to use parts from a broken phone to fix another with software locks.

[marygreen]

Wow. I was so pleased to see a reporter who is physically different than most. He did a great job! Good for BBC for being inclusive - hopefully not to meet some quota, but because the reporter was good!

[joshi]

Respect to this guy he lost his limbs but he is actually doing a better job than me. Just inspire me to work harder and maybe smarter.

[daveswarbrick]

So instead of repairing a perfectly good Iphone, apple lock them so you can't fit another part or you can't buy the part to repair them, a good phone that only needs a small repair goes to land fill and Apple get a new sale ! Right to repair, no chance with Apple ! just throw your phone away! perhaps the BBC should look into this and why Apple won't make parts available to 3rd party repairs.

[SGNedtiz]

My mum bought a refurbished Iphone 6 back in 2018 for 200$ and its still going strong except for the broken home button and battery durability. After showing this to my mum she was disbelief saying that those phone have so much potential left but instead they were destroyed

[MDSR]

This is a good invention and this way of recycling should be implemented to every electronic company in every country

[emilyarchibald]

I'm still using a galaxy s8. It still works for me! I'll be using it as long as I can. The last time I upgraded was only because my old phone wasn't compatible with many newer apps.

[Onlyme.n.u]

I think all tech companies need to do that around the world, and not just Apple in US. This will solve many potential environmental challenges, environmental issues and perhaps create new jobs in the process.

[satyasyasatyasya]

Wouldn't have to if planned-obsolescence wasn't a thing...

[danielwhyatt]

This is literally what I’ve wanted them to do in the first place, it looks like it’s funny coming to ahead. We need to actually have robots that can identify separate models of phones, tablets and other computers and deconstruct them from the panels, screws and components so they can be directly recycled rather than using the brute force scrapping/shredding and melting method.
This’s the right step forward.

[thePilotOfSkeld]

I feel empathy with that reporter with no arms

[edh]

The cost of recycling should be included in the price, just as it is in automobile tires in the U.S.

[KJSvitko]

Everything needs to be made with recycling in mind.

[TheImperfectReader]

This is fantastic this makes me happy that we scrap everything we can and resale back to get materials back into the supply chain.

[readthebible]

Great video sir. I only purchase refurbished iPhones and have never had a problem with any of them. Greetings from Reynosa, Mexico 🇲🇽

[samsonsoturian]

In Ghana they still do this by hand. Not much money in it, but it what gives the country access to the internet.

[KJSvitko]

All new plastic products need to be made with 100% recycled materials.
No new single use plastic products need to be made.
Manufacturers need to use recycled materials so there is a market for these materials.

[Peter_A]

And still they don't make parts available for component level repairs... Repair is a lot more sustainable than just recovering the expensive materials.

[JohnSheppardWasTakenThxYT]

The last sentence of this report is the most importent one, so I'm pretty unhappy it was only that one sentence. Apple only has this method because it is cheaper to get the materials out of the "old" phones than buying them new. If they'd actually care about reducing e-waste, they would make their phones repairable and not call them "end of life" when they are actually perfectly fine, but the unchangeable battery has died. A part that may cost 10-15€, that could very well extend the devices life by years. But Apple in their infinite wisdom have actually created many absolutly unnecessary steps in production an many horribly anti-consumer methods for their devices to actively make repairing them harder. That is what Apple is all about. Don't think for a second they would create something like this because they care about the environment or recycling. It is greed, nothing else. Sadly this report doesn't mention anything about this.