The solution to waste fires sparked by cheap throwaway technology
Modular electronics can halt a rise in blazes at recycling facilities...
A visionary UK electronics manufacturer is urging tech manufacturers to embrace recyclable electronics to stem the rising tide of fires at waste recycling plants.
Sustainable tech pioneer In2tec says OEMs and regulators must tackle the blaze risk presented by cheap, unbranded electrical products, especially those with lithium-ion batteries like e-bikes, vapes, and chargers.
These counterfeit or substandard devices, usually bought online from third-party sellers on online marketplaces, often lack the safety mechanisms present in branded goods and can overheat and ignite when crushed or damaged.
Even those that are classed as ‘reusables’ are still being used as single-use devices and put into general waste. A disturbing trend that has a significant impact.
Waste disposal giant Biffa recently called battery-related fires in bin lorries and waste facilities a “growing epidemic” that threatens lives, infrastructure, and the environment.
Emma Armstrong, Sustainable Electronics Ambassador and Group Commercial Director at In2tec, is an advocate for modular technology, where electronics are designed to be disassembled so components can be easily repaired, replaced, and recycled.
She said: “The fire hazard is just one of the many consequences of ewaste, which causes untold environmental, financial, and medical damage.
“The ban on disposable vapes is a step in the right direction, but there ultimately needs to be a revolution in the way we view electronics. Cheap expendable products must be ditched in favour of state-of-the-art renewable technology.”
“Every stakeholder has an essential role; simply imposing bans will not change behaviour. We require systems, infrastructure, design standards, and consumer education that collaborate to foster a necessary circular shift.”
Millions of tonnes of ewaste are recycled informally and unsafely every year, releasing up to 1000 chemical substances into the environment, including dangerous neurotoxicants such as lead.
In2tec aims to slash the harrowing environmental and societal impact of ewaste and provide innovative solutions to the growing problem of throwaway electronics.
It produces electronics that overcome the technical challenges that have made circularity in the electronics industry economically unviable. The opportunity to recover viable components is limited by the stress caused to de-soldered components and methods that are inefficient, destroy value, and use a lot of energy.
The company’s signature ReUSE® and ReCYCLE™ are alternatives that comprise a closed-loop process, allowing manufacturers to remove components from existing electronics at the end of their useful life and reuse them.
ReUSE® is a series of materials, processes and design principles used to manufacture printed circuit board assemblies (PCBAs), while ReCYCLE™ is the ultra-low energy process for unzipping PCBAs – the foundation of nearly all technology – to the original bill of materials (BoM).
The technology's versatility allows global commercialisation and a vast reduction in the overall energy used to manufacture and process when it reaches its end of life, something that is impossible when using conventional circuit board processes or materials.