What’s the context?
Humane’s Ai Pin and other AI wearables are difficult to recycle, threatening to worsen the world’s global e-waste problem.
This article is a bit of a mess. What the fuck does AI have to do with the amount of glue used in a device?
And why focus on a limited run from a failed product rather than the literal millions of successful wearable products like airpods that are equally hard to recycle?
Also
Meanwhile, the use of the technology is only expected to grow.
Very insightful
Oh and not to question the professor’s expertise but you can’t blame the consumers for this one. Literally NOBODY asked for one of these pins.
“These products are designed based on the consumers’ desires and affordability,” said Berrin Tansel, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Florida International University.
Making them easier to recycle would require the cost of the material recovery process to be fronted by the manufacturer, making them more expensive, Tansel told Context.
Well, make the manufacturer responsible for eol recycling costs then.
There’s an e-waste recycling fee tacked onto some electronics (TVs mostly I think) in Canada. Maybe it needs to be expanded to other things?
It should be expanded to everything. Why do we allow corporations to build things that can’t be recycled, and not have them pay for the waste management of the products they create? Taxing them for hard to recycle packaging and products would spur them to create more sustainable alternatives. Why do we let consumers buy shit but distribute the cost of their waste management across all tax payers? Consumers should be charged extra for buying products which are hard to dispose of.
NOTE: you just charge the companies for the waste management of their products, which will be passed onto consumers.
That won’t work in this case since the company is out of business
if you set up something like this, they would have to pay at the time of manufacturing.
If only we had a way to collect money from companies as they operate. Damn.
Edit: I know you said in this case, but taxing companies for this makes sense and needs to be said
And why focus on a limited run from a failed product rather than the literal millions of successful wearable products like airpods that are equally hard to recycle?
Because there are a lot of people with an hateboner for everything with ‘AI’ mentioned with it and it brings clicks.
When I was a kid, I remember my parents frequently taking electronics for repair. Our old VHS and Television had been repaired 7 times over and lasted years.
It really does grip me that every tech device made these days which relies on a battery is near impossible to self service. For years I built PC’s for people so not unfamiliar with components but I can’t change a battery on Samsung / iPhone or change the battery in my £300 Sony Bluetooth ear buds.
The problem is everywhere not just tech as such. Recently my kettle element gave up the ghost. No problem I thought, I can pick up an element for a few quid and change it.
Kitchen Aid however have decided to internally solder their elements so once that’s gone, throw it. £250 kettle with literally not a blemish on it, in the bin because a component that costs all of about 50p to manufacture is no longer replaceable.
I find it so egregious and wasteful…… I do look as far as possible at repairability before buying anything these days but alas, it’s a bloody uphill struggle and as other have said, with so much crap also being manufactured we’re in a pretty sad state which is only going to get worse :(
