Never too late to start recycling electronics

The news earlier this week that Apple had recycled about 1 tonne of gold from its various devices, for a net value approaching $40 million, should sound, or resound should I say, as a wake-up call to Jordan.

For a company known for enjoying the world’s absolute top spot, amongst all enterprises of any size, in terms of cash availability, it is certainly not the “meagre” lot of $40 million that has motivated Apple to recycle this way. For after all recycling, however it is done, does take time and effort.

The motivation behind the action can only be the honest, honourable, laudable protection of the environment, in a global manner. Whether it is to reduce waste and preserve our planet’s resources, like when recycling gold as in the above case, or to avoid poisoning the phreatic zones of the earth with lead and mercury, each year that passes makes the whole concept a more pressing matter. And we’re not even mentioning plastics that still constitute the bulk of a device’s mass.

The accelerated rate of equipment replacement, more particularly when it comes to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, simply is making the whole situation clearly worse, in all regions where nothing or so little has been done so far.

The issue was already mentioned in this very column two years ago. Apparently no systematic new recycling initiatives have been launched since; at least none the population is aware of on a large, national scale.

Apple is doing its part, France is taking measures to seriously implement a 2013 law that forbids using plasticbags, and Scandinavian countries, as it is often the case, are showing the world the way to protecting the environment. A plasticbag is manufactured in one second, is used for an average of 20 minutes, but then pollutes the ecosystem for 200 to 400 years.

Because of the various raw materials used in manufacturing them, most being non-biodegradable (think of the rechargeable batteries for example), the negative impact of electronics in general, and of all computer-based devices is one of the biggest and the worst. It is strange that to date no governmental or private initiative has been taken in Jordan to systematically address the issue.

There was a time when the Jordan Computer Society that was established in the early 1980s had a word to say; alas those days are gone. Perhaps the Jordan Engineering Association could do something about it, since this is where computer and electrical engineers are formally registered. Perhaps some good willing private industry or entrepreneur, perhaps…

The issue is not to underestimate. We are generally more concerned about the speed of our Internet connection, the size of our smartphone’s screen and the capacity of our cloud storage. Taking steps to recycle electronics in an organised and comprehensive manner should be included somewhere on our priory list, preferably near the top.

Perhaps a project that would be called iRecycle, somewhat à la Apple, could motivate the authorities.