It is estimated that as of 2023, the United States is producing about 6.9 million tons of electronic waste (e-waste) each year (U.S. Public Interest Research Group 2023), of which the 151 million phones that are disposed of each year (or 416,000 per day!) make a significant contribution (World Economic Forum 2021). Not only does e-waste fill up landfills and expose the environment and the public to hazardous materials, the processing and recycling of this waste in addition to a host of other sources contributes to the overall carbon footprint of the Information Technology (IT) industry. It is estimated that the global carbon footprint of IT, which includes emissions from data centers, networking, and user devices, was between 1.0 and 1.7 billion tons and accounted for 1.8% to 2.8% of global emissions (see Freitag et al. 2021). This number will likely increase substantially over the coming years as artificial intelligence continues to take a more prominent role in our lives. To provide some comparison, annual global carbon emissions from the IT industry have passed those emitted each year by all commercial aviation operations, which peaked at about 1.0 billion tons in 2019 (see Graver et al. 2020).
Is it easy to repair my electronic device?
A major step towards reducing e-waste is to reduce the need to dispose of electronic devices when they break; essentially, we need to make them more repairable. During the 2023 legislative session, 33 states and Puerto Rico considered legislation focused on reducing e-waste (often referred to as “Right to Repair”) by giving consumers the ability to repair their own electronic or appliance products. Unfortunately, only California, Minnesota, Oregon, and Colorado have successfully enacted such provisions that cover equipment such as laptops and smartphones.
One of the most accepted measurements of the fixability of a particular laptop or smartphone is provided by an organization named Ifixit. Devices are given an Ifixit score that rates their repairability from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating easier repairability and modularity. From a high level, this means that it should be straightforward to replace or repair whatever is broken and that the required parts and manual(s) are provided. Sporting a top score of 10 for all of its products, Framework is a company focused on making laptops as modular as possible; their latest laptops are the Framework 13 and 16. Many of the recent laptops coming from major brands such as Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, LG, and Samsung have received Ifixit scores of 9 or 10. Microsoft’s laptops and tablets typically receive an average score, while most of Apple’s MacBooks round out the bottom with scores of 1.
As many laptops are moving towards enhanced repairability, which is evident from the high scores mentioned above, there is a much wider range of scores for smartphones. The clear winner here is the Fairphone with all of its products sporting a perfect score of 10. Fairphones are easy to disassemble/reassemble using only simple tools, contain a battery that can be replaced in seconds, and come with a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) service manual; original replacement parts are readily available for any repairs that are needed. In contrast, almost all major brands have much lower scores. The Nokia G22 and iPhone 14 Plus are the exceptions with scores of 8 and 7, respectively, while other phones made by Apple, Google, and Samsung have scores ranging from 3 to 6. The use of glue and other adhesives seems to be the major factor leading to these low scores.
Another assessment of laptop and smartphone repairability was performed by the Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). In their report, they rated Asus and Acer the highest among laptops (7.7 and 7.3 out of 10, respectively), while Apple received the lowest score of 4.3; Framework was not included in the assessment. It was noted that most companies are a member of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) and/or TechNet, both of whom actively lobby against “Right to Repair” legislation; Acer was the only company that was reported as not being a member of either group, while Apple, Dell, and HP are members of both groups. Among major smartphone manufacturers, Motorola was rated the highest followed by Apple, Google, and Samsung; Fairphone was not included in the assessment. It should be noted that Motorola is neither a member of the CTA nor Technet, while Apple, Google, and Samsung are members of both organizations.
Objective
Consider the following two objectives regarding the contribution of electronic waste (specifically concerning your laptop and smartphone) to your personal carbon footprint:
Use your current laptop and smartphone as long as is practically possible.
If you need a replacement, consider purchasing a refurbished device or one of the laptops or smartphone brands mentioned above having an Ifixit score close to 10.
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