Technology waste - who will deal with it?

[Son_of_Perdition]

One of my favorite websites is 'Linux Today' I frequently try to read all the articles at least once a week, an article about support of the 32bit computers caught my eye. It's noted that there is an ongoing drive to focus more on the 64bit hardware. Time & technology move one. As the article points out the cost associated with maintaining the code to support it. There will still be a few distros that will continue to write 32bit updates but the sources will be limited in the near future. One of the main selling points of open source is the ability to restore an older PC to a usable device. Granted it is somewhat slower & has lost some of the luster of the newer units, but it still makes it reasonable to bring to life an older piece of hardware.

It brings to mind a question that has played on my mind, with the concept of IOT (internet of things) moving forward. Having the resources to monitor your personal space for security reasons along with having the ability to look in your fridge while you're at the grocery store to help you shop has it place I guess. Cameras installed in your high end TV to keep track of your viewing, changes to your room & invading your privacy are buy offs that we are adopting for whatever reason. Games such as the latest game rage 'Pokemon GO' monitoring your movements & locations makes one wonder just how accepting humans have become to allowing their personal habits made available to the world.

Now my question is, 'What is going to happen to all the newer autos & devices, many of whom are so reliant upon computers, circuits, firmware,,,etc when they become obsolete?' I have been in the computer field for over 50 years, seen how technology has a limited life span of usefulness. I've been involved with upgrading equipment, installing newer mainframes, (I personally was assigned the task to manage the removal & install of a large upgrade of our data center years ago). I used graphic software to create current & future layout, power requirements, air handlers of all the equipment. It was to be done over the Thanksgiving weekend, that gave us 4 days to be up & running on the new equipment. I worked with the upgrade team for months & successfully met our goal. The old equipment was moved outside to a staging area to be salvaged. I stood in awe noting the equipment that our company had purchased for $8M+(ongoing leases & annual fees for software) only 8 years earlier. My company paid a salvage company to remove the offending boxes.

So as the technology devices we use today become 'junk' what is going to happen to our environment? Land fills are becoming overloaded, plastics have to be processed for reuse, the chemicals required to salvage the precious metals will enter our air & water supplies, what are they going to do with the excess? How will governments & big business convince us that we are safe?

 

[AprilT]

Funny you mention this, earlier today I was having similar thoughts about the ever ending need for more and more equipment technological advancements in these areas and the point of being one step of head and for the sake of considering one's place on the ladder of success and how is it truly making the world a better place for all to live in.

 

[Son_of_Perdition]

Funny you mention this, earlier today I was having similar thoughts about the ever ending need for more and more equipment technological advancements in these areas and the point of being one step of head and for the sake of considering one's place on the ladder of success and how is it truly making the world a better place for all to live in.

Love acronyms, always wanted to work at IBM & make up acronyms, what you are referring to is FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Businesses can't make money without Planned Obsolescence (OP), upgrading old, can't grasp the concept of KISS. When in doubt, reorganize.

 

[AprilT]

Love acronyms, always wanted to work at IBM & make up acronyms, what you are referring to is FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Businesses can't make money without Planned Obsolescence (OP), upgrading old, can't grasp the concept of KISS. When in doubt, reorganize.

Oh yes, but, this is a world wide problem as it relates to how we keep economies one step ahead of each other, bigger stakes at hand. I don't have time to elaborate on what more I was thinking, I have to go catch a bus, left my shoddy technology on a bus and have to pic it up from their security office as they would just let the driver hand it over on his next rotation out my way. Sigh.

 

[Don M.]

So as the technology devices we use today become 'junk' what is going to happen to our environment? Land fills are becoming overloaded, plastics have to be processed for reuse, the chemicals required to salvage the precious metals will enter our air & water supplies, what are they going to do with the excess? How will governments & big business convince us that we are safe?

Most of the Electronic Junk winds up in China....where it is creating major pollution and health issues.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/30/world/asia/china-electronic-waste-e-waste/index.html

 

[Son_of_Perdition]

Most of the Electronic Junk winds up in China....where it is creating major pollution and health issues.

The company I worked for had at it's peak over 17,000 employees during the 90's & turn of the century. We did a technology refresh every 3 years to stay current with the newest innovations. The first refresh we staged all the replaced PC's in a warehouse, they gave the team members access to the parts. After that someone figured they could make a little money on salvage. The companies who took on the challenge to recycle the old equipment wanted complete components. According to info we got they were recycled to overseas poorer nations. Many went to India, SE Asia & China. That was the order of business until I retired. At least 3 times they moved 10K+ overseas. 30K units was only tip of the iceberg, as I'm sure many more companies were onboard with recycling.

My concern is what are they going to do with all the autos & other IOT castoffs that will become obsolete & useless. You won't see reality shows about someone re-purposing the grundle of laptops, tablets & smartphones like you do now about the ones that restore classic cars, who wants a classic PC? Frank & Mike will have their hands full.

 

[Don M.]

The company I worked for had at it's peak over 17,000 employees during the 90's & turn of the century. We did a technology refresh every 3 years to stay current with the newest innovations. The first refresh we staged all the replaced PC's in a warehouse, they gave the team members access to the parts. After that someone figured they could make a little money on salvage. The companies who took on the challenge to recycle the old equipment wanted complete components. According to info we got they were recycled to overseas poorer nations. Many went to India, SE Asia & China. That was the order of business until I retired. At least 3 times they moved 10K+ overseas. 30K units was only tip of the iceberg, as I'm sure many more companies were onboard with recycling.

My concern is what are they going to do with all the autos & other IOT castoffs that will become obsolete & useless. You won't see reality shows about someone re-purposing the grundle of laptops, tablets & smartphones like you do now about the ones that restore classic cars, who wants a classic PC? Frank & Mike will have their hands full.

The Two biggest issues with consumer waste...at least here...are probably Plastics and Consumer electronics. It is cheaper to create "New" in these areas than it is to "recycle". Hence, the mountains of plastic and electronic waste continue to grow. Things like old cars and major appliances are increasingly chopped up and recycled for their metal content, and the metal sent to the smelters for reuse. Even old tires are being ground up and combined with asphalt for new road surfaces.

When I worked for IBM, they had 3 big depots across the country where the huge old mainframes, etc., were sent to and dismantled for their reusable and recyclable contents. However, in recent years, "mainframes" have become little more than large banks of PCs, coupled together to gain the necessary power. I doubt that recycling those is still a high priority....and they probably join the Dells, HP's and Lenovo's that wind up in China.

I have seen reports about a massive "plastic graveyard" floating in the Pacific, north of Hawaii, that contains millions of tons of waste plastic. One can hardly go down any street, or roadway, without seeing a collection of plastic bags and water bottles, etc., carelessly thrown out of car windows, etc. The worlds landfills are creating billions of tons of Methane gas that is far worse than CO2, in terms of creating airborne pollution that contributes to Climate Change.

Bottom line...humans are creating an environment that is going to prove to have major consequences in the future. We will probably see some graphic evidence of this when the Rio Games start up in a few weeks...IF the Brazilian government allows the media to broadcast the filth and pollution that surrounds that city.

 

[Myquest55]

Rest assured that e-waste is also on the minds of creative and entrepreneurial kids! I remember when we lived in Rhode Island that some fifth grade kids won the Science Fair Prize with an amazing plan. It is now operating on a global scale. Here is an article about that:

http://www.takepart.com/article/2010/04/05/alex-lin-teenage-activist

If you search for e-waste plans there are several others that are gearing up. The Recycle center here in TN takes electronic waste but not TVs. I think that most towns recycle electronics now and if they don't in your town perhaps you should propose a program.

Also - not sure that plastic graveyard raft in the Pacific is as real. I checked with Snopes.com and the garbage raft in the Pacific is just a rumor. Its not all bad but we should all try to have more respect for the earth! No argument there.

 

[jujube]

I wish I could remember the titles and authors of the books I read, but..... Anyway, I read a great novel last year about a Chinese couple who had to flee from their village because the wife was facing a mandatory abortion (they had exceeded their permitted family). The couple and their children ended up in one of the electronic-waste-recycling villages. Because of the work these people were doing, the Chinese government were more lax in enforcing laws there. The description of the living conditions, the illnesses and the children born with birth defects was horrifying.

 

[Son_of_Perdition]

Rest assured that e-waste is also on the minds of creative and entrepreneurial kids! I remember when we lived in Rhode Island that some fifth grade kids won the Science Fair Prize with an amazing plan. It is now operating on a global scale. Here is an article about that:

http://www.takepart.com/article/2010/04/05/alex-lin-teenage-activist

If you search for e-waste plans there are several others that are gearing up. The Recycle center here in TN takes electronic waste but not TVs. I think that most towns recycle electronics now and if they don't in your town perhaps you should propose a program.

Also - not sure that plastic graveyard raft in the Pacific is as real. I checked with Snopes.com and the garbage raft in the Pacific is just a rumor. Its not all bad but we should all try to have more respect for the earth! No argument there.

It would be great if I could share your optimism, but too many pie in the sky solutions have fell by the wayside. Money is the driving force & if something is not making money it too will fail. Alternative fuel sources are a good example. Costs are too prohibitive for the 99% to take advantage of it. It was going to feasible to recover oil from shale if the price of gas would get to $1.75. What happened to that. Fuel cells, great idea that has never came to fruition. Electric cars are a luxury of the elite, not the minimum wage earner. Sorry but my contribution will be to demand less & try to get by with what's available.

@jujube - I wish I could remember the titles and authors of the books I read, but..... Anyway, I read a great novel last year about a Chinese couple who had to flee from their village because the wife was facing a mandatory abortion (they had exceeded their permitted family). The couple and their children ended up in one of the electronic-waste-recycling villages. Because of the work these people were doing, the Chinese government were more lax in enforcing laws there. The description of the living conditions, the illnesses and the children born with birth defects was horrifying.

I remember the Chinese Olympics a few years back, great progressive industrial nation, the air pollution was so thick you couldn't see more than a few miles when they showed the skyline. If Brazil is anything like they say, it can't be a positive image for our future. It's a great legacy we are leaving our children & grand children to deal with.

 

[Don M.]

Also - not sure that plastic graveyard raft in the Pacific is as real. I checked with Snopes.com and the garbage raft in the Pacific is just a rumor. Its not all bad but we should all try to have more respect for the earth! No argument there.

The "Snopes" reference to the Pacific Garbage Patch concerns a picture someone posted about the aftermath of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami that hit that area in 2011....and incorrectly labeled as part of the Pacific Garbage Patch. As such, Snopes is correct...regarding that picture. However, the Pacific Garbage Patch IS Very real, and it covers an area twice the size of Texas. Here are a bunch of pictures that have been taken of that mess.....

https://images.search.yahoo.com/sea...ic+Ocean+Garbage+Patch+Aerial+View&fr=yfp-t-s