E-cycling is saddled by a laundry list of potential risks, and it’s energy-intensive, challenging processors to run a safe, low-emissions operation while trying to get on top of a stream that inflates by 2.5 million tons each year, by estimates of the World Economic Forum.
Electronics contain toxic elements (arsenic, lead, and/or mercury among them). Lithium-ion batteries—among the industry’s greatest pain points—are filled with flammable solvent. Managing these materials is involved, and at the same time private data commonly living on devices needs to be destroyed.
Tasks from disassembly, shredding, crushing, and sorting materials require high-power equipment and plenty of other resources.
