I work at an e-waste recycling company, and I have some thoughts:
I've been seeing some interesting hardware that I wouldn't have otherwise. I have a Microsoft Surface Hub sitting around that I've yet to list. It's a 55" 1080p touchscreen videoconferencing monitor. It has an embedded PC (4th gen i5), but (if I recall) it was likely bricked several months ago by a firmware update that deleted the certificates it used to verify its bootloader.
We don't have a Windows distribution license (and little willingness to provide support), so we can't install Windows on anything we sell. We usually install Linux, and it's cool to think we're helping to move the needle on Linux usage.
If we can't sell something, we take the RAM and drives, because the AI rush drove up prices for those. The scrap gets sold to refiners who shred it and dissolve in acid to extract materials, like you would with mined ore.
Microsoft has been fighting local accounts on Windows 11 very hard so MDM locking works more often. It locks a PC to a corporate domain, so when you install Windows, it forces you to login to a specific domain, and it won't let you get around it. Many of these machines we get are quite valuable otherwise (e.g. Dell Precision laptops with good GPUs), but we have buyers that will pay good money for them, even when MDM locked.
> Sure the hardware vendors love it. And it's all spun up as "we're keeping you secure and better."
Only for Microsoft to keep pushing AI harder and harder, and at some point your data will be stolen to train the model. (If they can't, they can unilaterally update the terms of use to allow it.) At least you can ask it for your credit card number.
Computers never received security updates for 20 years so this isn't really a new situation. I'm not sure why people are making a bigger deal out of this one.
> A record 62 million tonnes (Mt) of e-waste was produced in 2022, Up 82% from 2010; On track to rise another 32%, to 82 million tonnes, in 2030; Billions of dollars worth of strategically-valuable resources squandered, dumped; Just 1% of rare earth element demand is met by e-waste recycling
> The 62 million tonnes of e-waste generated in 2022 would fill 1.55 million 40-tonne trucks, roughly enough trucks to form a bumper-to-bumper line encircling the equator, according to the report from ITU and UNITAR.
> Meanwhile, less than one quarter (22.3%) of the year’s e-waste mass was documented as having been properly collected and recycled in 2022, leaving US$ 62 billion worth of recoverable natural resources unaccounted for and increasing pollution risks to communities worldwide.
> Electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the fastest growing solid waste streams in the world (1). Less than a quarter of e-waste produced globally in 2022 was known to be formally recycled; however, e-waste streams contain valuable and finite resources that can be reused if they are recycled appropriately. E-waste has therefore become an important income stream for individuals and some communities. People living in low- and middle-income (LMICs), particularly children, face the most significant risks from e-waste due to lack of appropriate regulations and enforcement, recycling infrastructure and training. Despite international regulations targeting the control of the transport of e-waste from one country to another, its transboundary movement to LMICs continues, frequently illegally. E-waste is considered hazardous waste as it contains toxic materials and can produce toxic chemicals when recycled inappropriately. Many of these toxic materials are known or suspected to cause harm to human health, and several are included in the 10 chemicals of public health concern, including dioxins, lead and mercury. Inferior recycling of e-waste is a threat to public health and safety.
There has never been a larger volume of electronics out there. They wear down, break, and get destroyed. They contain materials that are environmental hazards.
I work at an e-waste recycling company, and I have some thoughts:
I've been seeing some interesting hardware that I wouldn't have otherwise. I have a Microsoft Surface Hub sitting around that I've yet to list. It's a 55" 1080p touchscreen videoconferencing monitor. It has an embedded PC (4th gen i5), but (if I recall) it was likely bricked several months ago by a firmware update that deleted the certificates it used to verify its bootloader.
We don't have a Windows distribution license (and little willingness to provide support), so we can't install Windows on anything we sell. We usually install Linux, and it's cool to think we're helping to move the needle on Linux usage.
If we can't sell something, we take the RAM and drives, because the AI rush drove up prices for those. The scrap gets sold to refiners who shred it and dissolve in acid to extract materials, like you would with mined ore.
Microsoft has been fighting local accounts on Windows 11 very hard so MDM locking works more often. It locks a PC to a corporate domain, so when you install Windows, it forces you to login to a specific domain, and it won't let you get around it. Many of these machines we get are quite valuable otherwise (e.g. Dell Precision laptops with good GPUs), but we have buyers that will pay good money for them, even when MDM locked.
> Sure the hardware vendors love it. And it's all spun up as "we're keeping you secure and better."
Only for Microsoft to keep pushing AI harder and harder, and at some point your data will be stolen to train the model. (If they can't, they can unilaterally update the terms of use to allow it.) At least you can ask it for your credit card number.
E-waste is a fake problem.
Computers never received security updates for 20 years so this isn't really a new situation. I'm not sure why people are making a bigger deal out of this one.
https://ewastemonitor.info/the-global-e-waste-monitor-2024/
> A record 62 million tonnes (Mt) of e-waste was produced in 2022, Up 82% from 2010; On track to rise another 32%, to 82 million tonnes, in 2030; Billions of dollars worth of strategically-valuable resources squandered, dumped; Just 1% of rare earth element demand is met by e-waste recycling
> The 62 million tonnes of e-waste generated in 2022 would fill 1.55 million 40-tonne trucks, roughly enough trucks to form a bumper-to-bumper line encircling the equator, according to the report from ITU and UNITAR.
> Meanwhile, less than one quarter (22.3%) of the year’s e-waste mass was documented as having been properly collected and recycled in 2022, leaving US$ 62 billion worth of recoverable natural resources unaccounted for and increasing pollution risks to communities worldwide.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/electronic-...
> Electronic waste (e-waste) is one of the fastest growing solid waste streams in the world (1). Less than a quarter of e-waste produced globally in 2022 was known to be formally recycled; however, e-waste streams contain valuable and finite resources that can be reused if they are recycled appropriately. E-waste has therefore become an important income stream for individuals and some communities. People living in low- and middle-income (LMICs), particularly children, face the most significant risks from e-waste due to lack of appropriate regulations and enforcement, recycling infrastructure and training. Despite international regulations targeting the control of the transport of e-waste from one country to another, its transboundary movement to LMICs continues, frequently illegally. E-waste is considered hazardous waste as it contains toxic materials and can produce toxic chemicals when recycled inappropriately. Many of these toxic materials are known or suspected to cause harm to human health, and several are included in the 10 chemicals of public health concern, including dioxins, lead and mercury. Inferior recycling of e-waste is a threat to public health and safety.
“Fake problem”
> E-waste is a fake problem.
There has never been a larger volume of electronics out there. They wear down, break, and get destroyed. They contain materials that are environmental hazards.