WE NEED TO
RE-THINK
RECYCLING
RECYCLING
RECYCLING
RECYCLING
An internal, experimental project.
Here’s a work-in-progress share, with more to follow soon.
We’ve been exploring the systemic challenges of e-waste recycling, asking how design can tackle this complex, wicked problem.
We’ve been exploring the systemic challenges of e-waste recycling and the ways in which we can tackle this complex, wicked problem.
e-waste
It’s the fastest-growing waste stream globally:
a complex problem to solve.
Assemblies of metal, plastic and rare earth elements, which are rapidly used, disposed of and shipped to the other side of the globe.
Smashed up, set alight, with the smouldering remains mined of any value or practicality.
Vast mines and immense waste piles, leaking toxicity into the rivers, lungs and life nearby.
This is a systemic issue, with problems to solve at both the micro and macro level: fair treatment of workers, ethical mining, elimination of toxic minerals, financial incentives for circularity... plenty to unpick and resolve.
We’re curious about the disassembly of low value electronic products. How do we deal with the increasing flow of cheap household goods?
Personal grooming devices, hand-held kitchen gadgets, computer peripherals… the list goes on.
We should design them to be repairable, which may make them more expensive and more complex.
We should re-evaluate ownership, introducing rental and leasing models.
We should also design them to be more durable: requiring a shift in our collective desire for new, alongside tackling the commercial challenges that come with selling less.
We’ll be developing this thinking further in the coming months. Stay tuned!
To solve climate change, it’s not only what we eat, but how we eat
Eating less meat and reducing waste will require a major change in behaviour. Designers are starting to envision products that could help.
Five signs sustainability is (finally) disrupting the consumer tech industry
We reflect on the success of Fairphone, the world’s first modular smartphone, and examines the progress made in the industry since its first release.
Surfing the web isn’t just bad for your brain – it’s terrible for the environment
How can consumers, designers, and companies can create a better Internet?
