*2.3. The Challenge of e-Waste*

The speed and scope of development, change, and the wish to provide consumers with smaller, lighter, more portable products with access to more data and storage capability, increasing processing speeds, product convergence, and functionality have all significantly influenced the design and manufacture of physical products. In the majority of cases, they have been and are designed for the present and life in use, which is generally limited by the design and life span of operating systems and firmware rather than failure of physical components.

The wish to both fulfil, and drive, consumer expectations has also driven developments in data centre equipment design. As previously mentioned, DCs may be repurposed spaces in commercial premises, but an increasing number are purpose built; size depends on location but generally, DCs have few windows. These centres are full of racks with servers, (which are, fundamentally, computers without screens), routers, switching and telecommunications equipment, mains and backup power supplies (such as batteries and generators, which are used to ensure uninterrupted service in the event of mains power failure), and cooling systems. The equipment is mainly comprised of metal and plastic cases and housing, and electrical and electronic components, the majority of which are made from a mixture of materials. Since the invention of integrated circuits, transistors and silicon chips, components have also decreased in size, but the underlying design principles of the equipment have not really changed.

This practice, in conjunction with rapid evolution of the sector, means that, in addition to other electrical and electronic products and sectors, the DC industry is contributing to the growing volume of e-waste/WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) produced every year; in 2020 this was around 54 million tonnes (equivalent to 7.3 kg per person) and, unless there is a major change in culture, behaviour and treatment of equipment at end of life, this will increase to 120 million tonnes per year by 2050 [16]. This growth has been, and is being exacerbated, by the design and manufacture of products and components themselves, which makes separation of sub-components and materials either very difficult or impossible; although there is some evidence of steel, aluminium, and copper (i.e., larger components) recycling and gold recycling (which is found in relatively high concentrations in mobile phones and computers), the relatively low cost and size of the majority of individual components make recycling uneconomic unless executed at scale. It is impossible to say how much e-waste is actually recycled: while 17.4% is documented as collected and properly recycled, the remaining 82.6% cannot be accounted for; it is estimated that 8% is discarded in waste bins in high-income countries and that 7–20% is exported as second-hand products or e-waste to low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs) [16]. Although the exact whereabouts of the majority of e-waste is unknown, a considerable percentage is exported for processing and/or landfilling e.g., in Africa and China and similar countries, where practice and processes are frequently unregulated, often hazardous, and damage the environment and health.

Electrical and electronic equipment is complex and embodies approximately 69 elements: they include iron, aluminium and copper as well as precious metals (gold, silver, platinum, palladium, ruthenium, rhodium, iridium, and osmium), iron, aluminium, and copper as well as at least seven Critical Raw Materials (CRM). CRM are defined as such because they are economically and strategically important while availability is determined by concentration of production, geo-political location, potential of substitution, and current recycling rates. In 2011, the EU identified 14 such materials, but this increased to 20 in 2014, to 27 in 2017, and to 30 in 2020. They are already essential to renewable energy generation and low carbon technologies (such as wind turbines and batteries) and are becoming increasingly important to high technology products and emerging innovations [17,18], and like more mundane electrical and electronic products, demand is increasing.

Unlike older and other technologies, products, and materials (e.g., furniture, vehicles, clothing, mechanical equipment, electrical equipment), which can be repaired and recycled at end of life with comparative ease. As stated above, electronics do not; furthermore, recycled and resource reclamation infrastructure remains limited; there is also evidence of ring-fencing reserves, and China is purchasing mines and land in Africa, for example [19] as well as limiting export of rare earth minerals [20]. The combined impact of these factors is a threat to and potential disruptor of the supply chain, which will affect manufacturing capability unless manufacturers have materials reserves.
