The world has a plastics shortage, and PC-makers may be responding with a little greenwashing
- Reference: 1624856470
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/06/28/recycled_plastics_in_tech/
- Source link:
The Reg ’s interest in recycled materials was piqued by a series of announcements that emerged around April 2021’s Earth Day. [1]Acer , for example, touted the first of a new range of greener products that featured post-consumer recycled plastic. [2]Lenovo reminded us that it uses millions of kilograms of recycled plastic each year.
Dell has a [3]2030 goal of reusing or recycling an equivalent product for every product a customer buys, while using 100 per cent recycled or renewable packaging materials and having more than half of product content made from recycled or renewable materials.
[4]
That news got us wondering if recycled material makes a difference that readers might notice in a product. We also wondered if the burst of enthusiasm for recycled materials was mere virtue signaling, or a signal of real change.
[5]
[6]
A former Dell design engineer, who has moved on to pastures new in a related field, shared the following observation:
I think it started out as trendy but a lot of companies are struggling with unexpected material bottlenecks. I’ve heard that plastics are getting difficult to get and I’m sure that sheet metal isn’t far behind.
Analyst firm Gartner appears to have confirmed that idea. The firm recently surveyed supply-chain pros and [7]found 51 per cent expect that the focus on their circular economy strategies will increase from 2020 until 2022.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the strengths of globalised supply chains can become a weakness when raw material availability and access plummet during a crisis,” said Senior Director Analyst Sarah Watt.
KPMG’s partner and Head of Supply Chain, Rakesh Agarwal, told us he’s seeing plastics shortages of sufficient severity that they’re disrupting production. He told The Register :
Plastics are used across the semiconductor industry extensively in circuit boards, hard disk drives, integrated circuits, etc. A shortage of plastic and a slowdown in its production are huge factors causing material shortages or supply chain disruption in electronics manufacturing.
He cited other factors — such as COVID-19, weather disruptions, and the Suez Canal container ship blockage — as having all contributed to the shortages, adding:
Major producers such as those in the US announced force majeures following the winter storm, causing facilities that can produce approximately seven million tonnes a year of polypropylene (PP) production to be shut for around two weeks.
Agarwal added that another reason manufacturers are using recycled materials could be to reach sustainability goals, and not just to survive the ups and downs of supply chains.
“Increased awareness and focus on sustainability globally are encouraging computer manufacturers to use more recycled parts in the manufacturing process," he said.
[8]iFixit slams Samsung's phone 'upcycling' scheme for falling short of what was promised
[9]Apple, forced to rate product repair potential in France, gives itself modest marks
[10]Semiconductor-flinger SK Hynix raises $1bn to green up its act
[11]India's PM calls for e-waste to enter 'circular economy' while also promoting subsidies to factories that make e-waste
Environmental regulations are also changing behaviour. He said:
Governments around the world have developed national e-waste policies in their journey to deliver on sustainability goals. Over 78 countries have a policy, legislation, or regulation governing e-waste in place, covering 71 per cent of the world’s population.
With legislation, supply chain problems and public perception pushing recycled materials, Gartner seems right — we’re likely to see this "trend" continue.
One more thing: we asked if recycled plastics might change the experience of using a product. We were unable to find evidence that recycled materials make a noticeable difference to performance. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://news.acer.com/the-acer-group-joins-re100-commits-to-100-renewable-energy-use-by-2035
[2] https://news.lenovo.com/pressroom/press-releases/earth-day-2021-global-environmental-sustainability-goals-and-progress/
[3] https://corporate.delltechnologies.com/en-sg/social-impact/reporting/2030-goals.htm
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YNmdw-GaToaZQnS3MZcSjwAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YNmdw-GaToaZQnS3MZcSjwAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YNmdw-GaToaZQnS3MZcSjwAAAEQ&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2020-09-22-gartner-survey-finds-more-than-half-of-supply-chain-professionals-expect-a-greater-focus-on-circular-economy-strategies-over-the-next-2-years
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/05/19/ifixit_samsung_upcyling/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2021/02/27/apple_recycling_scores/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/14/sk_hynix_raises_1_billion/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2020/12/09/india_ewaste_telecoms/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: The world has plenty of plastic
Going by the carrier bag full of waste plastic generated by shopping for a week's worth of food for two of us, the World has way too much plastic rather than enough.
The same depackaging process produces almost as much carton.
All this just to get the product from the producer to the shop and then the consumer.
Obviously, when you actually use the goods there is another layer of plastic, carton or metal waste produced.
One of the worst plastic offenders is expanded polystyrene as it is difficult and costly to recycle, there needs to be research to either improve the recycling process for it or find an economical altrrnative.
Re: The world has plenty of plastic
Expanded polystyrene is easy enough to recycle, but it's bulky and lightweight so it's relatively expensive to transport to the recycling plants. Meanwhile, the recycling targets are usually set in tonnes or a percentage of waste by weight, so recycling something bulky and lightweight is not attractive compared to tin cans and glass bottles.
Re: The world has plenty of plastic
Unless I'm horribly mistaken, the USA and most western nations do NOT dump plastic into the oceans, at least not deliberately. This has been the case for DECADES as I understand it, starting with things like [1]THIS .
I wonder who DOES dump all of that plastic?
If it's collecting in mats in the ocean on its own, so much the easier to dredge it. I wonder how much money you'd make recovering it... (or maybe just a worth-while charity that cleans the oceans up)
In any case, I'm of the opinion that when recycling is free and easy, EVERYONE will do it. I put the blue can out every other week, and rarely need to put the other one out. The fast majority of household trash (for me) is of the 'recyclable' variety - cardboard, plastics, etc. and that all goes into the blue can.
[1] https://archive.epa.gov/epa/aboutepa/epa-history-ocean-dumping-ban-act-1988.html
Re: The world has plenty of plastic
worth-while charity that cleans the oceans up
No, the usual suspects, like Coca-Cola and other junk-producing Corps should be spending an agreed percentage of their profit on running a fleet of plastic collectors - ships for oceans obviously. They can then spend a bit more on properly converting the recovered waste to a usable material.
Of course we need a global overseer to manage all this - maybe the United Nations could grow a pair and do this job?
Define 'plastic'
Of course there are lots of different kinds of plastic. Are we talking about the sorts used to make cases? The specialist types used for friction surfaces or bearings? Paints and dyes? Fabric-type materials?
Or all of them?
Not forgetting, of course, that there has been an increased demand for plastics in general over the last 18 months as people and companies bought facemasks, hand sanitiser dispensers, the bottles of sanitiser themselves, those Perspex partitions you see at shops and suchlike.
Even the syringes used to deliver vaccines are plastic.
I suspect that even without disruptions, the supply of various plastics would have been tight this year.
On the other hand, there was a story just last week that [1]cardboard is in short supply , partly due to increased home deliveries (and people not recycling the packaging) and partly because high street shopping is down so it's more difficult to collect bulk cardboard for recycling. Some supermarkets have had to switch to plastic eggboxes!
M.
[1] https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57568239
Re: Define 'plastic'
Having just disassembled one of my old server cases, the plastic on the front is ABS. 99% of the rest being sheet steel. Supposedly very easy to recycle once separated.
Hopefully these shortages will drive demand for recycled plastics, encouraging more recycling. Last year my city considered stopping curbside recycling because demand for plastics and cardboard was so low that they were having to pay ever increasing prices to get rid of it. And even then, they couldn't be certain that it wasn't just ending up in a landfill.
I made the point that we had to start somewhere, and separating recyclables at the source was the correct place to do it. Even if we had to pay to dispose, and they still ended up in a landfill. Because if we didn't do it, it was guaranteed to be trash. Paying for principals. But it also means the supply is there, we just need companies to start demanding it.
Re: Define 'plastic'
I've been using PLA to 3D print things. PLA has the advantage of being made from plants [as I recall] and is very biodegradable. Downside, it's biodegradable, meaning it'll fall apart after a while. But for testing designs, it works pretty well.
An online search shows that there are PLA food containers and single-use water bottles out there. This is definitely a good step in the right direction, in my bombastic opinion.
In the mean time there seem to be a lot of electronics recyclers. Occasionally they'll pick stuff up that you put out on the curb (at least in my area). So when the manufacturer cannot use PLA (due to lack of durability or some other reason) those can still be recycled through the usual places. And if it's convenient and easy, EVERYONE will recycle [more ore less]. In my bombastic opinion, at least.
So for the purposes of plastic pollution of the ocean and recycling plastics to make ABS and other structural things, I will assume that PLA is not included in that particular definition.
The world has plenty of plastic
It is just in the wrong place... like
- the middle of the Ocean
- in our drinking water
In fact, there is literally nowhere (other than under an Antarctic glacier but probably not for much longer) on this planet that has not been invaded by this stuff.