The Future of E-waste
The Future of E-waste: From Linear to Circular Economy
In 2013, the Woe Lab in Lomé, Togo made the first 3D printer using scrap materials. They repurposed old printers, computers and scanners that would have otherwise been e-waste sitting in a landfill. Since then they have built many more products. As part of their vision for democratizing access to technology in their community, they have provided some of their 3D printers to local schools in order to inspire young people to have confidence in themselves and practice developing their own projects. Their project is not only impactful in the sense that it involves community outreach but it is extremely relevant to the global e-waste problem. This group of innovators has taken advantage of the growing issue of western countries using developing countries as dumps for their discarded electronics in order to make something positive.
The entrepreneurs in the Woe Lab are showing an incredible example of what we need to adopt as a whole: movement into a circular economy, where we take advantage of existing products as much as possible. To do this in the realm of e-waste, here are some key strategies:
- Rethink production of electronics for durability and repairability.
- Use 3D printing as a tool to create spare parts for broken devices.
- Continue innovating our recycling approaches to optimize our use of the materials in e-waste.
- Better legislature regulating the recycling and disposal of e-waste.
- Better producer responsibility: make companies accountable for managing the e-waste they produce.
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