Government’s e-waste enquiry argues for improved device durability
Wednesday, July 31, 2019 - 15:14:17
Last week the Government launched an investigation into the growing issues associated with the UK’s output of electronic waste, with politicians arguing that manufacturers need to take more responsibility and make their devices sustainable.
The Telegraph reports that member of parliament Mary Creagh is keen to return to a time when consumer gadgets and appliances were built to last decades, rather than being rendered obsolete in just a couple of years.
She also said that the designs of modern devices were far less durable than those produced in the past. This means that everything from fridges to smartphones end up becoming faulty or obsolete and are discarded rather than retained for a prolonged period.
Each year the UK generates almost 45 million tonnes of electronic waste, with the vast majority of this either being sent to landfill sites or dealt with in some other unregulated, problematic way.
Experts are also eager to make sure that people do not needlessly throw out devices which contain valuable minerals which could otherwise be recovered and reused in the production of more devices.
The issue of durability is certainly an interesting one to consider, especially in the context of smartphones. These portable devices have to put up with a lot of punishment and while designs have factored in waterproofing in recent years, they are still ultimately fragile, reflecting the market's pressure on slim, large screen format designs.
Plenty of mobile owners invest in protective cases for their handsets, but with the lure of a new upgrade being offered every 12 to 24 months, even perfectly functional devices are being discarded.
Manufacturers are also responsible for introducing new software updates that cause issues for older devices, meaning that even people who want to keep their phones for longer might find that they fall victim to built-in obsolescence.
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