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By Rob Enderle
Mar 15, 2021 4:00 AM PT
We have a massive problem with electronics waste. Globally, we throw out 50 million tons of it every year, which is the equivalent of 1,000 laptops every second.
Recycling is still not universal, and often it costs more to recycle something due to how it was built than the materials inside the device are worth. On top of that, 70 percent of electronic waste is toxic. As this waste makes its way into groundwater or the oceans, it will increasingly hurt our health and longevity.
This month the EU stepped up to address this problem with a comprehensive "right to repair" law that should dramatically reduce this electrical waste. The U.K. is close behind -- and they don't have a choice if they want to sell to the EU -- and I expect that the same driver will force the U.S. to comply with this regulation if it wants to sell to the EU or U.K.