We are a technology-driven society, with tech innovation being developed faster than ever. As a consequence, the rate of old tech devices being replaced and discarded is also rising. Electronic waste, or e-scrap, from discarded devices is a significant environmental issue. Proper e-scrap recycling is critical, both for reducing pollution and recovering valuable materials from electronic devices. Today, AI is changing how e-scrap recycling takes place, making it a safe, more efficient, and environmentally friendly process.
What Is E-Scrap?
It’s estimated that around 50 million tons of electronic waste is generated globally every year. E-scrap refers to the entire range of electronic waste, from smartphones that are replaced with updated versions every year, to computers, televisions, and kitchen appliances.
When electronic devices are created, they’re built with valuable materials, including gold, silver, copper, and platinum. It’s beneficial to recycle e-scrap and repurpose these precious resources. However, dangerous substances such as mercury, lead, and cadmium are also used, presenting challenges and a sense of immediacy in properly recycling e-scrap to prevent harmful contamination of the environment.
Why E-Scrap Is a Growing Problem
Still, the process of e-scrap recycling is challenging. In addition to metals, there are other materials such as plastic and glass that can be difficult to efficiently separate. The risk of toxic chemical exposure to workers is a concern, as is the risk of exposure to nearby communities as it’s beyond the capabilities of local landfill and community recycling programs to handle this waste efficiently.
A lesser talked about problem with growing amounts of e-scrap is exportation. A significant amount of e-waste produced in the United States and other developed countries is exported. The reasons for this span from the costliness of e-scrap recycling to tight regulations around e-scrap recycling infrastructure. By exporting e-waste, it can be recycled using cheaper labor, and with the absence of strict regulations.
Much of the world’s e-scrap exports land on the doorstep of Southeast Asia, along with North and West African countries. One of the largest global dumping grounds can be found in Agbogbloshie, Ghana, where concentrations of chemicals in the water and soil climbed to levels more than a hundred times what’s allowable. This type of exportation of e-waste produces significant human health consequences in these areas, as well as posing a risk to the environment.
Beneath the surface is also a growing concern of data safety with e-scrap recycling processes. While businesses and agencies may be smart about properly disposing of electronic waste in a way that protects any data these devices contain, the average person disposing of a phone, laptop, or tablet, might not be as judicious.
A potential solution to all of these issues is to not continually allow e-scrap to pile up in the landfills of developing countries, but to drive innovation toward more effective, sustainable, and safer e-scrap recycling practices. This is where AI enters the picture, with the potential to restructure the industry as we know it.
E-Scrap Recycling Revolution Through AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is moving to the center of e-scrap recycling, with powerful machine learning that can eliminate human error and inefficiencies from the picture. In the realm of e-scrap recycling, this means improving multiple aspects of the recycling process.
Sorting
A main pain point in e-scrap recycling is the sorting of the different materials used to build electronic equipment. As it has stood, human workers have been responsible for manually separating these materials, with a significant margin of error. Between errors and the cost of labor invested in this timely process, the sorting process can be viewed as overall inefficient.
With new technology in AI-powered sorting systems, we’re seeing improvements across the board in accuracy, efficiency, and costs. Machine learning algorithms are capable of using visual data to quickly identify materials, eliminating the need for less efficient processes. Common materials, such as glass, plastic, aluminum, and copper can be separated for recycling with impressive accuracy and speed.
Disassembly
Anyone who has ever disassembled electronic equipment understands the complexity involved with so many small components packed into a small space. Robotic equipment, powered by AI technology can more easily disassemble electronic equipment, and with a greater level of precision than human labor.
This is especially true for two main contributors to e-scrap, which are smartphones and laptops. With these devices, disassembly is notoriously a labor-intensive task. AI technology streamlines this process.
Predictive Maintenance
E-scrap recycling facilities must also manage recycling equipment, ensuring that each piece is working efficiently. Maintenance is an ongoing challenge, but knowing when a piece of equipment is likely to break down can help to solve problems before they’re an issue.
Advanced AI systems are capable of assessing e-scrap recycling equipment, monitoring them on a continual basis, and predicting when the performance of a machine will begin to degrade due to the need for maintenance. AI predictive maintenance is key for avoiding costly downtime caused by equipment malfunction.
Process Optimization
Perhaps one of the most important roles of AI in e-scrap recycling is its influence on process optimization. Through AI technology, the entire e-scrap recycling process can be analyzed. AI technology can assist in optimizing how materials are sorted and processed, and it can offer insights in real-time, providing recycling centers with immediate input on how to improve efficiency.
Benefits of AI’s Role in E-Scrap Recycling
AI technology can enhance the e-scrap recycling process in numerous ways. One of the most important is taking over areas where human labor lacks accuracy and efficiency, allowing that labor to be used at other points of the e-scrap recycling process where it is most needed.
In addition to accuracy, AI is capable of meeting faster processing times. Machines that are equipped with AI technology can work non-stop, without the need for breaks, and work at a faster pace. The improvement in processing speeds means that larger volumes of e-scrap can be processed, minimizing the amount that needs to be shipped off to other locations due to facilities being overburdened.
The improved accuracy and efficiency also mean that less e-waste ends up in landfills, which is key to protecting the environment and the communities surrounding dump sites around the world. More materials are recovered and recycled, with less being lost in inefficient recycling processes.
Challenges and Limitations of AI in E-Scrap Recycling
With all the benefits that come with the use of AI in e-scrap recycling, there are also a number of challenges that are faced when adopting the technology. For starters, implementing AI technology comes with high initial costs. While the technology pays for itself in the long run, the up-front investment can be cost-prohibitive, especially for smaller processing facilities.
The adoption of widespread AI in the e-scrap recycling industry reduces the need for manual labor, while also increasing the need for skilled workers with the expertise to manage and maintain the AI systems. Ideally, those in the manual labor sector could be trained or receive education in managing AI systems, offering enhanced career opportunities rather than job displacement. However, all of this requires time and an initial investment in skilled labor upfront.
Finally, one of the biggest challenges is that while AI can learn to be highly accurate, it’s not perfect. There’s a heavy reliance on data for AI technology to achieve maximum efficiency. If insufficient data is available, or the available data is inconsistent or inaccurate, this can result in errors throughout the e-scrap recycling process.
How AI Is Shaping E-Scrap Recycling for the Future
AI is continually evolving as we’re finding new ways to implement the technology into our lives. For the e-scrap recycling industry, AI brings increased automation and lessens the human burden of e-waste. From improved accuracy that reduces landfill pollution to optimizing the process to a point that developed countries no longer need to ship e-waste to underdeveloped nations, AI has the potential to change every aspect of e-scrap recycling for the better.
