The electronic gifts destined for e-waste mountain

Some of the top-selling devices will act as a diversion for just a few weeks, days, or even a few hours after Christmas dinner before being put in a drawer and forgotten come the spring.

Emma Armstrong, Sustainable Electronics Ambassador and Group Commercial Director at In2tec Ltd, says: “Technology has transformed our lives for the better, enhancing communication, streamlining workflows, and revolutionising the way we consume entertainment.

“But our society is still addicted to cheaply produced tech that ends up in landfill after barely being used. Throwaway electronics have a devastating ecological impact, ruin the health of waste pickers in developing countries, and waste staggering amounts of rare earth elements, aluminium, copper, and steel – and none of this is necessary.

“There is a solution to e-waste that combines economic and environmental viability – the reuse, repair, and refurbishment of electronics, so think before you throw away or hoard. There is always a solution to ensure the materials in these products are used in another life cycle.”

Here are just some of the throwaway electronics that are likely to lay dormant in drawers, lofts, and garages, or simply get tossed in the bin.

Photo data sticks

Photosticks automatically find, sort, and save photos and videos across any of your devices. They are marketed as a single backup of all images across all your devices for, saving them in one physical location.

However, the advent of Cloud technology means its more than likely you’ll never need this level of backup and it will likely languish in a dark corner with all your other old memory sticks.

Translators

Translation apps aren’t perfect and may rely on Wi-Fi access, so many travellers have turned to dedicated devices where the speaker simply clicks the button and starts talking for an immediate translation.

While this sounds useful, many customers have slammed the devices, claiming the performance is sketchy and the translations are difficult to hear. As mobile phones improve and apps evolve, it won’t be long before this gadget is jettisoned from luggage everywhere.

Electronic sleep aids

These handheld devices claim to aid natural sleep and reduce anxiety by sending electronic pulses that, manufacturers claim, calm your brain.

However, there is very little scientific evidence they are effective, and many reviewers say they are at best a placebo, at worst an absolute con. One said: “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

If you are struggling to rest, speak to a trained professional, and leave these waste electronics alone.

Plug-in wall heaters

Plug-in mini heaters bought online are not only ineffective and expensive to run, but they may also be dangerous. Which? tested the electrical safety of 10 of the devices, which are mostly fan heaters that sit on sockets, and discovered all of them failed and are therefore illegal to sell in the UK, while four of them presented a fire risk. If you have bought a plug-in mini heater, don’t use it and get it recycled at a certified e-waste recycling centre.

In2tec is committed to building a waste free world working to slash the harrowing environmental and societal impact of e-waste and provide innovative solutions to the growing problem of throwaway electronics.

The company’s signature ReUSE and ReCYCLE 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 not possible when using conventional PCBA processes or materials.