Another interview on BBC!
Could manufacturers help reduce electronic waste?
The manufacturers of electronic goods such as mobile phones, laptops and tablets, frequently update their models and consumers, keen to have the latest device, discard their old goods. This contributes to an electronic waste mountain, that, according to a UN estimate, weighed more than 53 million metric tonnes in 2019. So is there a way out of this culture of disposable electronic goods?
Nirav Patel is CEO and founder of Framework - a computer start up that is making laptops that are designed to last. He says many manufacturers create devices that are “perfect shiny objects” and not made to be modified or repaired by the consumer. He thinks the answer is to make devices more long lasting, whether by making them easier for the owner to renew elements such as batteries, or by making them possible to trade with another owner or organisation.
“The core problem is the idea that electronic goods are disposable”