E-Waste: Is it time to dial back on how we treat our tech?

In this guest post, Gavin Miller, CEO of Asurion Europe, shares his insights on the global e-waste problem and provides clear steps for businesses to reduce and reuse more technology in their operations.

Mobile phones have always been a status symbol. From the giant Wall Street walkie-talkie to the ‘all business’ Blackberry, making sure we have the latest gear has been important at home and at work. It can feel essential to keep up, but at what cost? The phrase ‘fast fashion’ is pretty well known these days, but what about ‘fad tech’? And what do consumers – and businesses – know about e-waste?

When the first mobile phones came on the scene back in 1973, it would have been impossible to imagine that in just five decades there would be more than 15 billion mobile devices in the world, expected to rise to 18.22 billion by 2025. That’s an incredible increase of 4.2 billion from 2020 levels.[1]

In the UK, 98% of the adult population have a mobile phone, making 1.37 active connections per head of population, and there are 15 million gadgets containing a sim card connected to mobile networks. [2] Again, the number of connections is only expected to rise further, with the growth of smart meters, connected cars and environmental monitoring.

A mountain of minerals

Accordingly, that means that globally, e-waste is rising too and is expected to continue doing so, increasing from around 61 million metric tonnes of waste in 2023, to just under 75 million metric tonnes by 2030.[1] With an estimated 85% of this e-waste from laptops, smartphones, printers and office electronics sent straight to landfill, this means that rare and precious metals like lithium, tungsten and manganese[2] are simply being tossed aside instead of appreciated as the finite resources that they are.

In fact, some academics estimate that these resources are becoming so rare that they will have run out before the end of the century.[3] It’s essential that we start focusing on ways to prolong the lives of the tech we use for home and work – as well as reusing and recycling the items we consume far more efficiently.

There are as many as ten different substances in mobile devices which could be used to create solar panels, wind turbines, car batteries and healthcare technologies like pacemakers[4], but instead represent a danger to both planet and population due to irresponsible disposal by individuals and organisations alike.

So…to business

The UK is one of the world’s largest exporters of electronic waste, with some estimates reporting that 40% of the electronic waste collected is sent overseas.[1]

In the government response to the 2020 Environmental Audit Committee report ‘Electronic waste and the Circular Economy’, there’s a heavy focus on the ‘polluter pays’ principle. A major part of the Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) Regulations, this ensures that producers who place more than five tonnes of electronic and electrical equipment onto the market each year must finance the costs of collection, treatment, recovery and recycling of those materials when they become waste.

The regulations also state that businesses which fail to comply with WEEE regulations on e-waste can be prosecuted and fined up to £5,000 at a magistrates’ court or receive an unlimited fine from a crown court.[2]

But what about small businesses, and businesses which are consuming rather than producing technology?

Circling back

What more could an estimated 5.6 million UK businesses do to reduce their e-waste?[1]

The theme for this year’s International E-Waste Day on the 14 October 2023 aims to shed light on invisible electronic waste. So conducting an audit to find out how many items with a plug, battery or cable an organisation uses would be a useful first step, and an essential part of any Environmental Social Governance (ESG) strategy. With the average British household hoarding 20 unused electronic items in cupboards and drawers, including enough cable to circle the earth five times[2], who knows how many random wires and unloved laptops are lying in offices or at-home workspaces? Rounding these up and disposing of them correctly would be a great initiative – and businesses could even try making it easy for employees to recycle by providing collection points for small electricals at their place of work.

Love tech for longer

Once the audit is complete, it’s time to think about how that tech is used. A next step could be to examine replacement plans. Some larger businesses may automatically upgrade tech after a couple of years, but is this necessary? Could maintenance be performed on the equipment instead? Do employees know and use the best methods for taking care of their tech? There are multiple organisations that encourage reuse and repair across the world encouraging individuals and businesses alike to bring in their faulty gadgets, with the hope of giving them a new lease of life., In fact, research from Restart conducted in conjunction with the West London Waste Authority in early 2023 found that, of 599 electronic products brought to be recycled, 36.2% of them – or 217 – could have been immediately reused, with 57 items (9.5%) needing only minor repairs. Almost half of the electricals could have had a second life in the hands of someone who needed them.[1]

Tech protection is another answer. Some insurance products comprehensively cover device maintenance, installation, optimisation, repair and trade-in options – a great way to save money while reducing environmental footprint.

In fact, a recent report from Asurion Europe shows that, as a result of extending the life of a smartphone, tablet or laptop device by 12 months and remembering to trade in that device, the carbon footprint of manufacturing replacement devices is reduced by an average of 99kg of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) per person – or over 4.5 million tonnes of CO2e across the UK. That’s equivalent to 0.9% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions.[2]

Donating unwanted tech could be another way for businesses to realise their ESG responsibilities. From Oxfam accepting all old mobile phones, to Computer Aid taking laptops and computers, there are ways to dispose of e-waste that benefit others.

Computer Aid uses a manual disassembly process to break down items into their constituent parts for recycling, reducing waste and creating efficiencies, and works to ISO accreditations including ISO 14001 Environmental Management Standard. Although not a legal requirement, displaying these kinds of standards publicly could enable businesses to show how they meet regulatory or contractual requirements when it comes to environmental responsibility.

Finally, pressure from businesses on government on the reduction of e-waste can only be beneficial. Pushing for action on some of the pledges made in the 2021 government response mentioned earlier in this piece might mean calling for information to be included on electronic items with regards to planned obsolescence, extending right to repair regulations to cover smartphones and laptops^[3], or labelling products with a ‘repairability score’ that enables businesses and individuals to make better choices about the products they buy in the first instance.

Don’t waste any time

The valuable rare resources used in our electronics are already the subject of geopolitical struggles, at the heart of supply and demand issues and a major cause of environmental damage. Taking steps to reduce personal and business e-waste is essential.

Last year, nearly 200 organisations from 72 countries across six continents marked E-Waste Day with their own activities and campaigns – why not join them?

About Author
As CEO of Asurion Europe, Gavin Miller is leading the expansion of the global tech care company in the region.

Gavin started his career at global customer experience company Sitel (now Foundever) before moving on to C-suite roles supporting rapid growth and acquisition in a range of businesses, including the largest telephone fundraising specialist in the UK, a commercial contact centre business and a provider of debt management services.