(phone ringing) - Hello?

Oh, it's not.

Hello?

Is this one?

(phone ringing) Hello?

Hello, hello.

Oh yeah, you wanna know what to do with all your electronic junk?

Yeah, me too.

I'm Brooke Butler and welcome to "What do I Do With This?"

The show that untangles the mess of modern waste.

The show that untangles the mess of modern waste.

So you don't have to.

In this episode, we're unplugging electronic waste.

So what is E-waste anyway?

The EPA defines electronic waste, or e-waste, as any gadget nearing the end of its useful life that's tossed, donated, or recycled.

So think of anything around your house with a cord or battery that needs to be tossed, and you'd be contributing to the 6.9 million tons of e-waste generated in the US each year.

And with our increasingly technological world, that numbers just gonna get bigger.

But why should we care?

Despite making up less than 2% of America's trash, e-waste delivers two thirds of heavy metals in landfills, lead, mercury, and other nasty stuff can leach into soil and water.

So your ex laptop may be ghosting the groundwater right now.

But don't let your spaghetti monster of cord scare you.

There are plenty of ways to keep your trash unplugged.

Reduce.

Maybe you don't need that new wireless smart air fryer, blender toaster gadget.

Repair.

Don't look at me, but I know some people.

Reuse or redistribute.

One person's trash flat screen may be another person's treasured entertainment center.

And of course, recycle.

And we got an up close look at the nuts and bolts of that operation.

(upbeat music) - All e-waste has something in it of value, right?

Because we're looking at metals and circuit boards and even, and batteries.

- [Brooke] Greg Cooksey is the senior director of business development at MRC and he gave us an inside look at their demanufacturing facility in Park Hills, Missouri.

This is where all of the end of life electronics collected by MRC end up, but the first stop is their refurbishing facility in Imperial, Missouri.

- So, the kinda the mantra is the highest form of recycling is reuse.

That's the first step in the process is, is this something that somebody else would want, right?

And does it have value, you know, taking a laptop and doing data destruction on the hard drive, right?

Sanitizing the hard drive, reloading the operating system on the laptop and then, and then the laptop is available for some for, it's got a new life, right?

So somebody else can now use the laptop.

- [Brooke] MRC aims to refurbish about 20% of the electronics they collect.

The other 80% gets deconstructed into individual components and shipped out to downstream vendors, which refers to the companies that either resell or dispose of these components.

And 0% ends up in the landfill.

But how do we know that for sure?

- So, you know, we bring in an air conditioner and we pump the Freon down.

Freon goes to a downstream vendor, but then we take the compressor out that goes to a downstream vendor.

The metal goes to a different downstream vendor.

Maybe there's some plastic on it that goes to a different, so you, we may be looking at multiple downstream vendors that are gonna get all these different types of materials and further process those.

And we wanna make sure that they don't just take the positive value, good stuff and throw the rest in the landfill.

- [Brooke] That's where an R2 certification comes into play.

Responsible recycling standard for electronics recyclers is an accreditation to ensure worker health, data protection and environmental care.

MRC is also registered with the EPA and enforce environmental laws like the clean air and water acts.

- So what's the difference between that and somebody that doesn't have a certification?

Well, everything I just told you isn't required.

So are they doing all that stuff?

I don't know.

We don't know.

Nobody knows.

We know that when we're selecting downstream vendors, if they have that same certification that we do, we're all playing by the same rules, right?

And then department of Natural Resources also comes into our facilities.

Typically, that's usually annually.

It's kind of a surprise.

It's unannounced visit, you know, they'll want to see like your universal waste area and how you're handling batteries and that's something else too.

So, lithium batteries are-- - That's a huge problem.

- Well you had asked a question earlier like what is one huge challenge for, what are some challenges?

That's one.

- Yeah.

- That we're really struggling with right now because lithium ion battery fires, right?

- Oh, I've seen TikTok videos of like dumpster trucks, you know, catching on fire.

- [Greg] Yeah, so we're... - In October of 2024, the lithium ion battery processing facility in Fredericktown, Missouri caught fire.

These batteries are increasingly necessary for electronics such as cell phones, laptops, and electric cars.

But they pose a lot of challenges in both manufacturing and disposal or recycling.

So let's talk about some common household batteries and how to safely get rid of them.

These are your everyday batteries.

AA, AAA, nine volt, they power remotes, clocks, toys, you name it.

Most communities allow these in regular trash, but the EPA recommends recycling them when possible.

What do you guys do with these?

Button cell batteries.

When I was a kid, I stuck one of these up my nose.

Found in watches, hearing aids and car remotes can contain lithium or heavy metals.

It's still there.

It's still what keeps me going.

Never toss them in the trash.

They can be dangerous if swallowed or damaged or put up your nose.

Drop them off at a specialized recycler, take back program or hazardous waste collections.

You can tape the terminals or bag them individually to prevent sparks.

Which would you rather have in your nose?

A battery or a tic tac?.

Lithium single use batteries are in devices like cameras, smoke detectors and handheld games.

They can be mistaken for regular batteries but should not go in the trash.

Find a recycling location near you.

Rechargeable batteries, power tools, phones, cameras, even e-bikes and laptops.

These are the bad boys.

Never throw them away.

Many contain metals that can spark fires or damage.

Take them to a certified recycler, electronic retailer or hazardous waste program.

Now I'm just gonna talk.

Some other tips for safe battery recycling are to keep them in a cool dry place.

Never in the heat or direct sun.

A plastic container is ideal.

Avoid metal because it can cause sparks.

If you see a swollen or bulging battery, stop, don't toss it, it's gonna bust out of here.

Should I be holding this in my hand right now?

Place it in sand or kitty litter if you have it.

And keep it in a cool spot while you contact the battery manufacturer for next steps.

You should aim to recycle your batteries within six months.

That gives you time to collect them and ensure they're still safe to handle.

Now this isn't an extensive list, so when in doubt, always check the label or call your local waste authority.

And of course, it's not always this simple.

I've definitely had this bucket of battery sitting around for longer than six months.

RIP.

Transporting these things takes well, transportation, time planning and sometimes costs money.

- What we know is that if it costs too much money to recycle something, then the knee jerk reaction is to do what?

Not recycle it.

About 90 to 95% of the material that comes into our facility we don't charge for.

- Wow.

- So we're charging for, you know, TVs, right?

And stuff that contains Freon, appliances that contain Freon like refrigerators and dehumidifiers and freezers because you know, there's additional labor costs in that and Freon recovery that we do.

Think about those old tube TVs, we'll see people drop those off and they'll say like, hey, it still works.

The tube that's in that TV has lead in it.

It's going to go to a fully vetted downstream smelter.

But that TV lasted 20 years, right?

Flat screen TVs today, they're not lasting 20 years, right?

What, maybe they're lasting five years.

So planned obsolescence.

- [Brooke] Planned obsolescence is the business strategy where products are intentionally designed to break or become out of date within a set amount of time.

You've probably run into this when you update the software on your phone only to notice the device now runs more slowly.

This entices consumers to spend more money by continuously upgrading their device and in turn producing more e-waste.

So why can't we just repair our devices?

- Right there?

You're going down a rabbit hole.

Oh my gosh.

- [Brooke] That's Missouri State representative, Emily Weber.

- I'm the state representative for District 24, which is the midtown downtown area of KC.

- Representative Weber is the sponsor of House Bill 582, the right to repair, which just as it sounds would give an individual or smaller retailer the right to repair electronic devices.

Right to repair isn't necessarily a new concept.

It's why I can take my Honda to any Joe Schmo auto shop.

But for electronics it's a bit trickier.

The example Representative Weber gives is your iPhone, say the screen cracks or there's a software issue, you would have to take it to a certified Apple repair shop to get it fixed.

- And a lot of the times when I talk to folks in the rural areas, this is how I explain it, where's your closest Apple store?

And they're like, oh, it's like two and a half, two and a half hours away.

So you gotta make an appointment with Genius Bar.

You gotta drive two hours to your Apple store so you can get your iPhone worked on to the point where they can usually say, oh, you don't have AppleCare, or... - Exactly, yeah.

- Or it's outdated and you need to buy a new phone.

- So I was just gonna say, or just it's cheaper to upgrade, - But cheaper to upgrade or your screen's cracked.

Well, can't fix the screen.

Now with right to repair, what this piece of legislation is doing is allowing smaller mom and pop shops or you, you know, the tools necessary.

Sometimes it has to deal with the certain codes, things like that.

You can purchase that and then fix it yourself or have the mom and pop shop fix it.

It allows consumers to do what's necessary for them and put the money back in their pocket.

And then of course the environmental sustainability pieces.

A lot of these, a lot of these parts, it's just going into a landfill and let's maybe try not to do that.

- When it comes to sustainability and being more environmentally friendly with consumer products, I feel like sometimes the responsibility is too much on the consumer and not on the manufacturer.

But it, but I think something that consumers aren't aware of is that there is legislation, you know, bills being talked about every day to make that easier on the consumer.

- I try to talk about right to repair a lot, especially with AG folks, climate folks.

It's a weird piece of legislation where a lot of different groups that you wouldn't think would come together for this piece of legislation.

And so it's, if the general public is, if this is something that they're wanting or they're passionate about, it would be, you know, contact the speaker, tell 'em that they want to bring this bill up for a vote or a hearing.

If more public were aware of pieces of legislation like this, you know, it would be to help us push it, help us get it out there, you know, understand the importance and need of this.

- So more responsibility from the manufacturer and not so much from the consumer?

- Well, certainly.

- Or both, right?

- Both, I think both.

I mean, as a consumer, maybe that's something that we need to be asking ourselves.

Like when we buy that device, okay, when we're done with it, what are we gonna do with it?

- Yeah.

- Hopefully you bring it and you drop it off to us and we do the right thing with it.

- Yeah.

- You do the right thing by bringing it to us and once we have it, we do the right thing.

- So the Right to Repair Act focuses on securing access to the information and tools we need to fix our own devices.

But some people aren't waiting around for policy changes.

Just down the street or maybe even in your own neighborhood, maker spaces are full of people who are ready to work.

We visited one of those places where electronics are getting repaired, repurposed and reimagined.

- Achreactor is a maker space hacker space, and I like to call it a social club as well.

(label pinging) A group of people approximately 14, 15 years ago realized that every single one of them owning a 3D printer wasn't the best economical decision.

So they all gathered togethers, I think 20 of them, and said, Hey look, if we just collectively pool our money and just buy three 3D printers, then you know, we can all use them at different times because some people work at nighttime, some people work in the day.

And so that's how it started.

But we have a wide range of interests that range from the nerdy to the dirty and sweaty.

- There's stuff that's flexible.

So I've been running the 3D printer meetups for the last 12 years.

It's grown exponentially.

We've gone from such a small space with limited resources to a huge space with a ton of resources and a ton of equipment to provide not only an educational space, but a free space that people can come to kinda nerd out over the tech and what's coming, what we've seen in the past.

And just kind of go from there.

- This old speaker that I had for one of my studio monitors, just like a driver from that speaker box that blew and sounded awful.

And the, the place I took it to get it repaired, they were just gonna swap it out.

And I'm like, I could have done that.

I was like just give it back.

And so then I was trying to figure out a use for it.

Well there's a type of microphone called a subkick and that's all it is.

It's a speaker wired backwards and then you plug it in to your microphone input and you put it in front of a bass drum, kick drum.

- Yeah.

- And it gives it more thump.

And so I made one and... - Well, and see and I guarantee if you would've went out and bought a speaker, you wouldn't be talking about it like this.

- Like, you're proud of this, right?

This is cool.

- Yeah, this is part of the family now.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- I'd say approximately half the membership that we have here uses this space primarily for reusing or repairing the things that they've owned.

We have people who will work on their cars in the back lot, maybe basic improvements.

We have one guy who was converting, I wanna say an old sprinter van into like an RV that he can travel around the country with.

We have a lot of people that come here specifically for electronic repairs 'cause we have a soldering station back there.

We have a lot of folks that will come here not knowing a lot, but want to gain knowledge from other members on how to keep their computer going.

- We'll take cases of hard drives that we take apart, we'll melt them down and we'll take and pour them into basically like a muffin tin.

- [Brooke] But even if a device is beyond repair, which is rare for an arch reactor, there are other creative uses like these hard drives, turn jewelry or this steel found on the side of the road that after a 3000 degree roast will be repurposed into something new.

Yeah, I know this doesn't have to do with electronics, but it was just fun pretending to be a blacksmith.

- The two main things that I find important about repairing things is one, obviously saving money, saving the environment.

That's very important.

But two, you gain a very extreme sense of ownership and over the device that you've built and so you appreciate it more.

It, and it sets you up for like better repairing and better reusing in the future.

So for me, the biggest important part is it's yours and you've worked, you know, the insides and outs and you can feel more proud about the fact that this computer, that may have been slow, well you replaced the hard drive inside of the whole thing and now it's faster.

And so you're just a more learned, smarter, cooler person in my book.

- Thanks for watching this episode of "What do I do with this?"

And I hope watching this means your trash will never catch on fire.

I'm leaving that one in.

Do you have something you wanna know what to do with?

Let us know at I'm Brooke Butler.

Can I tell you my party trick is that I can balance anything on my head.

- That's actually... - Ah, watch it explode.

That's how I go out.

That's how I leave this world is batteries.

All right.

- Brooke.

- [Brooke] Brooke Unplugged.