Recycling e-waste - Good for business and the environment | DW Documentary

Summary

This script explores the burgeoning issue of e-waste, highlighting innovative recycling solutions. It features the repurpose of used solar modules into balcony power plants in Hamburg and the EcoWork project in India, providing safe dismantling spaces. The script also delves into the potential of recycling precious metals from e-waste and the 'right to repair' movement, emphasizing sustainability in the electronics sector to reduce environmental impact and resource dependency.

Takeaways

• 🌐 The rapid turnover of tech leads to significant e-waste, highlighting a new environmental issue that many are unaware of.
• 🔍 There's potential to salvage up to 70% of e-waste, recovering raw materials without releasing toxic fumes.
• 🏠 Hamburg is pioneering the use of recycled solar modules on private balconies, contributing to renewable energy and waste reduction.
• 💡 Engineer Martin Wilke's work in recycling old photovoltaic panels offers a more sustainable and cost-effective solution for solar power.
• 🌞 Secondhand solar modules provide immediate climate benefits, as they require less energy for their initial production compared to new ones.
• 🛠 The EcoWork project in India aims to improve the dangerous working conditions of e-waste dismantlers, promoting safety and health.
• 🚫 India's struggle with illegal e-waste imports highlights the global issue of improper disposal and the risks associated with it.
• 💼 Swiss entrepreneur Dea Wehrli is creating safer spaces for e-waste recycling, aiming to reduce health risks for workers and their families.
• 📱 Commown promotes sustainable electronics through a rental model, incentivizing device longevity and reducing the release of new models.
• 🔄 The EU's 'right to repair' initiative is supported by businesses like Commown, which encourage device repair and part reuse to extend product life.
• 🌱 The potential to recycle valuable materials like silver and silicon from solar modules presents an opportunity to reduce dependency on raw material imports.

Q & A

What is the primary concern regarding e-waste mentioned in the script?

The primary concern is that e-waste can contain hazardous materials that pose risks to both the environment and human health, especially when not properly recycled or disposed of.

What percentage of e-waste can ideally be salvaged according to the script?

Ideally, 70 percent of e-waste can be salvaged.

How does the script suggest reducing and recycling e-waste?

The script suggests innovative ways such as recycling old photovoltaic panels into renewable power plants installed on private balconies, and creating safe workspaces for dismantling e-waste in places like India.

What is the cost difference between new solar modules and the recycled ones mentioned in the script?

New modules cost around 200 euros, whereas the recycled ones cost less than a third of that, around 60 to 70 euros.

What is the environmental benefit of using secondhand photovoltaic modules as stated in the script?

Secondhand modules provide an immediate climate benefit as they do not require the energy expenditure for their own production that new modules do.

What is the potential environmental impact of the growing amount of used solar modules in Germany by 2030?

By 2030, there will be one million tons of used modules in Germany alone, which is enough to cover an area larger than 11,000 soccer fields. This could lead to significant e-waste if not properly recycled.

What is the EcoWork project in India aiming to achieve?

The EcoWork project aims to create a safe and healthy working environment for workers who dismantle hazardous e-waste, improving their working conditions and reducing exposure to toxic substances.

How does the Commown cooperative approach the issue of sustainable electronics?

Commown focuses on renting devices rather than selling them, providing comprehensive support, repairs, and replacements, which incentivizes manufacturers to create devices that last longer and are easily repairable.

What is the significance of the right to repair movement mentioned in the script?

The right to repair movement advocates for consumers' ability to repair their own devices or have them repaired by third parties without voiding warranties, which can help reduce e-waste and extend the life of electronic products.

How does the script describe the process of recycling solar modules for raw materials?

The script describes a process where a startup has developed a method to extract silicon and silver from solar modules, separating these valuable raw materials for reuse, which is important for reducing dependency on raw material imports.

What is the potential amount of silver that could be recovered from the expected one million tons of old modules in Germany by 2030?

The potential amount of silver that could be recovered is 700 tons, which is almost half the amount used by the solar industry worldwide every year.

Outlines

00:00

🔄 E-Waste Recycling and Solar Energy Reuse

This paragraph discusses the issue of electronic waste (e-waste) and the potential for recycling and reusing old technology. It introduces the concept of salvaging 70% of e-waste and recovering raw materials without releasing toxic fumes. The script highlights an innovative approach in Hamburg where old solar modules are repurposed for renewable energy on private balconies, significantly reducing costs for consumers. The narrative also introduces Martin Wilke, an engineer who has shifted his focus from traditional power plants to solar panel recycling, and the SoliSolar association that helps people install balcony power plants. The paragraph emphasizes the environmental and economic benefits of reusing secondhand solar modules and the broader implications for energy transition and sustainability.

05:03

🌏 Global E-Waste Challenge and Safe Dismantling Initiatives

The second paragraph delves into the global scale of the e-waste problem, particularly in Germany, where the Renewable Energy Sources Act has led to a surge in used solar modules. It projects that by 2030, Germany will have one million tons of used modules, equivalent to covering over 11,000 soccer fields. The paragraph introduces Dea Wehrli's EcoWork project in India, which aims to create safe working conditions for workers dismantling hazardous e-waste. It discusses the health risks associated with improper e-waste recycling and the EcoWork project's goal to provide a safe and healthy working environment, including tools and protective gear, to improve the current conditions where e-waste is dismantled in unsafe environments.

10:03

📱 The Value of E-Waste and Sustainable Electronics

This paragraph examines the value of e-waste, especially in extracting precious metals like gold from mobile phones, and contrasts this with the unsafe conditions faced by those dismantling electronics. It discusses the efforts to prevent e-waste production through sustainable practices like renting electronics, as exemplified by Commown, a cooperative that promotes long-lasting and easily repairable devices. The narrative highlights the benefits of renting over buying, including comprehensive support, lower costs for customers, and reduced e-waste. The paragraph also touches on the importance of device durability and repairability, showcasing a new notebook designed for easy part replacement.

15:03

🛠️ Promoting Repair and the Right to Repair Movement

The fourth paragraph focuses on the 'right to repair' movement and the efforts to encourage consumers and manufacturers to prolong the life of electronic devices. It features Commown's business model, which rents out devices and provides support for repairs and replacements, incentivizing the use of technology for as long as possible. The narrative also introduces Elie AssÈmat, the founder of Commown, who is dedicated to sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint of electronics. The paragraph discusses the cooperative's growth and its impact on reducing e-waste, as well as the challenges of convincing businesses to adopt sustainable practices.

20:04

♻️ E-Waste Recycling and the Future of Raw Material Recovery

This paragraph explores the potential of e-waste recycling, particularly in recovering valuable raw materials from solar modules. It discusses the process of salvaging raw materials from e-waste, which is often lost in the shredding process, and introduces a young startup that has developed a new process to extract silicon and silver from solar modules. The narrative highlights the importance of this innovation for reducing dependency on raw material imports and the potential to revolutionize the recycling market for solar modules.

25:07

🌿 Sustainable Practices in Electronics and Raw Material Recovery

The final paragraph emphasizes the importance of sustainable practices in the electronics sector, from repairing devices to recycling raw materials. It discusses the efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and e-waste through renting sustainable electronics and the potential of new recycling technologies to recover valuable materials like silver and silicon from e-waste. The narrative concludes with the vision of reducing the overall demand for raw materials by promoting repair and reuse, thus contributing to a more sustainable future.

Keywords

💡e-waste

e-waste refers to electronic products that are discarded after becoming obsolete, damaged, or no longer needed. It is a significant environmental concern due to the toxic materials contained in electronics, which can be harmful if not disposed of properly. In the video, e-waste is a central theme, highlighting the innovative ways to reduce and recycle it, such as repurposing old solar modules for balcony power plants.

💡sustainable recycling

Sustainable recycling involves the process of recovering raw materials from waste in an environmentally friendly manner without releasing harmful substances. The video emphasizes the importance of sustainable recycling in the context of e-waste, showcasing initiatives that safely dismantle hazardous waste and recover valuable materials like gold from mobile phones.

💡photovoltaic panels

Photovoltaic panels, commonly known as solar panels, convert sunlight directly into electricity using semiconductor materials. The script discusses the recycling and reuse of old photovoltaic panels, which have reached the end of their life cycle in large solar parks, to create balcony power plants, thus extending their utility and reducing e-waste.

💡renewable energy

Renewable energy comes from natural resources that are constantly replenished, such as sunlight, wind, and rain. The video mentions renewable power plants, particularly those installed on private balconies using recycled solar modules, which contribute to the energy transition and help individuals produce their own clean energy.

💡energy transition

Energy transition refers to the shift from conventional energy sources to renewable, cleaner, and more sustainable energy sources. The script illustrates the energy transition through the example of individuals installing balcony power plants made from recycled solar modules, which allows them to generate their own renewable energy.

💡raw materials

Raw materials are the basic materials used to produce goods before they have been processed or manufactured into a finished product. The video discusses the recovery of raw materials from e-waste, such as precious metals like gold and silver from mobile phones, emphasizing the economic and environmental benefits of recycling these valuable resources.

💡right to repair

The 'right to repair' is a consumer right that encourages the repair and maintenance of products rather than discarding them. The video mentions this concept in the context of a cooperative promoting sustainable electronics through renting devices, providing comprehensive support, and encouraging repairs to extend the life of electronic products.

💡solar power

Solar power is electricity generated using sunlight through the use of solar technologies, such as photovoltaic panels. The script focuses on the recycling of old solar panels and the use of secondhand modules to create balcony power plants, which is a cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to harness solar energy.

💡electronic waste recycling

Electronic waste recycling is the process of treating and processing electronic waste to recover valuable materials and reduce environmental harm. The video script describes various initiatives, such as the EcoWork project in India, which aims to provide safe working conditions for dismantling e-waste and recovering metals like copper and iron.

💡solar module recycling

Solar module recycling involves the process of breaking down used photovoltaic panels to recover materials like silicon and silver. The script introduces a new technology that could revolutionize the recycling market for solar modules by efficiently separating and recovering these valuable raw materials, reducing dependency on imports and e-waste.

💡CO2 emissions

CO2 emissions refer to the release of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere, primarily through the burning of fossil fuels and other industrial processes. The video script highlights how renting sustainable electronics and promoting device durability can help reduce CO2 emissions by decreasing the production and disposal of electronic waste.

Highlights

The increasing issue of e-waste and its environmental impact is highlighted, with a focus on salvaging 70 percent of discarded tech modules.

Innovative recycling methods are presented that recover raw materials from e-waste without releasing toxic fumes.

The potential of using recycled solar modules on private balconies in Hamburg as a renewable energy source is discussed.

Engineer Martin Wilke's transition from gas-fired power plants to focusing on recycling old photovoltaic panels is noted.

The economic benefits of using recycled solar modules, costing a third of new ones, are emphasized.

The immediate climate benefits of using secondhand photovoltaic modules over new ones are outlined.

The EcoWork project in India aims to improve the working conditions and safety of e-waste dismantlers.

Swiss entrepreneur Dea Wehrli's efforts to create a safe space for dismantling hazardous e-waste in Delhi are featured.

The illegal import and backyard recycling of e-waste in India, posing serious health risks, is exposed.

The high value of precious metals like gold extracted from mobile phones in the e-waste recycling process is revealed.

Commown's business model of renting sustainable electronics to reduce e-waste and promote device longevity is presented.

The cooperative's strategy of providing comprehensive support, repairs, and replacements to extend device life is highlighted.

Elie AssÈmat's vision for transforming the electronics sector through sustainable practices and the reduction of CO2 emissions is discussed.

The potential of recycling used solar modules to recover valuable raw materials like silicon and silver is explored.

A new process developed by a startup to efficiently recycle solar modules and recover high-quality raw materials is introduced.

The projected amount of silver recoverable from the anticipated surplus of used solar modules by 2030 is calculated.

The importance of reducing dependency on raw material imports and the long-term sustainability of e-waste management practices is underscored.

Transcripts

Weíre forever buying new tech and throwing out old stuff.

Iíd never thought about it before, e-waste was a new topic for me.

And there are treasures to be found if you know where to look.

Usually these modules would all be discarded,

but ideally, we can salvage 70 percent.

Raw materials can be recovered from e-waste,

without releasing toxic fumes in the process.

Many people arenít aware of the risks.

There are many innovative ways e-waste can be reduced and recycled.

Let's take this with us.

Careful with the rail.

Itís possible to do your part for the energy transition

in the comfort of your own home.

In Hamburg, renewable power plants are being installed

on private balconies.

Theyíre constructed out of used solar modules.

Itís great that we have modules

that can be given a second lease on life.

I'm very pleased about that.

Theyíd have landed in the shredder otherwise.

Engineer Martin Wilke used to research the efficiency

of gas-fired power plants.

Heís now switched his focus to solar power

specifically, to recycling old photovoltaic panels.

Customers are very satisfied.

Theyíre eager to produce their own solar power.

New modules probably cost around 200 euros.

Ours are less than a third of that

60, 70 euros.

Martin Wilke finds buyers through the SoliSolar association,

which helps people assemble balcony power plants

and connect them to the grid,

generating up to 600 watts of power.

A used module is an even more sustainable solution.

A normal photovoltaic module has to be in action

for two years to produce the electricity

that was used for its own production.

But with a secondhand module,

thereís an immediate benefit for the climate.

How sensitiveís this surface?

Stefan Grofljohann has bought two used modules.

Heís learning how to install them.

We all have to think about how weíll

produce electricity in the future.

A balcony power plant is the simplest way to do that.

Two modules with 600 watts of power provide enough electricity

to run a washing machine and refrigerator.

A saving of more than 100 euros per year.

Stefan Grofljohann lives close by.

With the help of his wife,

it takes him just a few hours to install the system on his balcony.

Look, weíll have solar power when the sun shines.

So where exactly do the used modules come from?

Careful, we need to get out of the way

Weíre dismantling the panels

and taking the modules down.

Martin Wilke is now in Magdeburg.

40,000 solar modules have been producing solar power

here for more than 10 years.

Some of them are being dismantled

because the site needs to be renovated.

At the waste management company he worked for,

Wilke saw mountains of solar panels end up in the shredder

even ones that were still functional.

His plan to reuse them opened up a new line of business.

The motivationís simple:

We want to avoid unnecessary e-waste.

In 50, 100 yearsí time, I want my children and grandchildren

to still have a planet worth living on.

These solar panels had been underperforming

which is why the operating company hired Martin Wilke.

The modules donít have any obvious cracks or defects,

but they are underperforming.

When the sun is shining,

each of these photovoltaic panels should produce

235 watts of electricity.

After 10 years, the output might be slightly reduced.

For a solar panel park geared to maximum profit, thatís a problem.

If the output dropped by four or five percent,

theyíd still be perfect as a balcony power plant.

Itís a business model with great potential.

Germany is facing a surge of used solar modules.

Thatís partly due to the Renewable Energy Sources Act from 2000,

which guaranteed fixed prices for solar power for 20 years.

Many solar parks will go out of operation when exposed

to the much lower market price.

Experts predict by 2030,

there will be one million tons of used modules in Germany alone

enough to cover an area larger than 11,000 soccer fields.

Every salvaged solar panel means 20 kilos less electronic waste.

Is this one coming away?

E-waste will also be recycled in this warehouse in India.

Swiss entrepreneur Dea Wehrli is creating a space

where workers can safely dismantle hazardous waste.

In India, in Delhi, e-waste is taken apart in neighborhoods

where there children are playing, where food is being cooked.

Wehrli wants to help put an end to that.

Tens of thousands of people in India make their living off e-waste

risking their health in the process.

In a suburb of Delhi,

the EcoWork project wants to improve their working conditions.

Dea Wehrli developed the concept together with an Indian-Swiss team.

Here theyíre building up to 40 workstations,

which will be available to rent.

Thereís a lot of light, sturdy tables.

We give them tools.

They also have gloves.

The idea is that they have a safe and healthy working environment.

which they urgently need.

Recycling e-waste produces toxic fumes,

endangering not only workers but also their families.

Many people arenít aware of the risks.

Most get into the business because itís in the family,

and itís always been done the same way.

EcoWork wants to show people they do have options.

The team regularly visits districts in Delhi that are hubs

of the informal e-waste industry.

Today Anurag Gupta is accompanying Dea Wehrli.

You see that? LCD screens.

Alright, that's all screens.

The import of e-waste has been banned in India for many years.

Yet an estimated 50,000 tons are illegally imported

from Western countries every year.

According to Indian law,

defective equipment can only be dismantled

by officially licensed companies.

But in reality,

more than 90 percent of the scrap is illegally taken apart in backyards.

We canít reveal exactly where this man is working.

The police could turn up at any time.

This is all copper.

This is all iron core.

The worker is extracting metal from old transformers.

He earns the equivalent of just one euro per hour.

The company he works for buys e-waste

and sells the metals to recyclers

thatís where the money is made.

But for the worker, one kilo of copper is worth just 10 euros.

Dea Wehrli knows to get him into the EcoWork hall,

she has to convince his boss.

It's not easy, but this type of solution-oriented work

and starting up a business with a great team

is very gratifying and energizing.

Most people in these backstreets are make a living dismantling

and recycling electrical parts.

Dea Wehrli wants to take the industry out of the confines

of city neighborhoods.

Electronic waste contains highly toxic substances, including lead,

cadmium and mercury.

A safe workplace would help protect workers

from the health risks of exposure to these substances.

I am dealing with air conditioner, fridge,

washing machines, cameras, CCTVs

Aslam Malik is a major player in the e-waste sector.

Convincing him to get on board would

be a breakthrough for the EcoWork team.

Would it be interesting for you to get a workspace there

and continue working there?

Actually, I am very excited to do some business with you there.

We are very excited as well.

Onto the next e-waste dismantler, just a few streets away.

Again, we canít reveal the exact location

like most people in the sector,

this man works under illegal conditions.

So many cellphones.

Hi, I am Anurag.

The young man specializes in cell phones.

He buys them for about 20 cents each.

Here camera.

This is camera.

13,000 rupees per kilo.

Thatís about 145 euros.

The circuit board with chips is the most valuable component.

Itís worth 75 cents.

It contains precious metals.

250 grams of gold can be extracted from one ton of mobile phones.

Compared to only five grams of gold

from one ton of gold ore from a mine.

Electronic scrap is a precious commodity here.

But the dismantlers are in desperate need of safe working conditions.

6,000 kilometers away, efforts are underway to prevent e-waste

from being produced in the first place.

Britta Berndt runs 10 day-care centers in Strasbourg, France.

If a team memberís cell phone breaks, itís a crisis.

But she knows who to call if it does.

A colleague had her phone in the pocket of her hoodie,

and accidentally put it in the washing machine.

I assumed it was a lost cause,

but we called this service and in just 24 hours,

my colleague had a phone again.

A broken display?

No problem.

A replacement device is delivered in no time at all

and at no extra cost.

Priscille Cadart works for Commown, a cooperative promoting

sustainable electronics.

Their business model focuses on renting.

It's the only business model that makes manufacturers

reduce their range and stop issuing new models all the time.

Then manufacturers and rental companies

have an interest in the device lasting as long as possible.

The basic idea of Commown is that devices

are rented out rather than sold.

Customers get comprehensive support, repairs, and replacements.

And the longer a device is rented for, the lower the cost.

Commown's headquarters are just a few kilometers away.

The broken display is replaced immediately

so that the cell phone can go back into circulation as soon as possible.

Nothing is thrown away here.

If a device canít be fixed, at least its components can be recycled.

The cooperative was founded by Elie

AssÈmat, whoís now in his late 30s.

He grew up on an organic farm and studied physics.

Heís always been interested in sustainability

and was keen to tackle the overproduction of electronic products.

We try to keep the devices in circulation as long as possible,

including the parts.

All these modules here have been checked and can go

to customers when they need something replaced.

The idea is to reuse them as often and for as long as possible.

This only works with technology that can be easily repaired.

Today Elie AssÈmat is meeting with computer manufacturers

from Switzerland.

Theyíve brought along a new Notebook,

to add to Commown's existing range of products.

This is our current product range, mainly Fairphones,

for example the Fairphone 4, and computers from why! open computing.

The common feature of all these devices is durability.

As most devices are used for far too short a time,

more than 57 million tons of electronic waste

are produced worldwide every year

the equivalent weight of more than 5,000 Eiffel Towers.

This could double to 110 million tons by 2050

if consumer habits donít change.

Who will time me while I change the keyboard?

Hold on...

OK, go.

Entrepreneur FranÁois Marthaler is proud

of how quickly the parts can be removed from the new Notebook.

The competition would take hours.

Voila!

It's out.

35 seconds!

The battery can be replaced in no time

a job that typically has to be done at a repair shop.

The trend is to use adhesives in devices.

We're trying to slow down this trend and convince people that today,

in 2023, even with a computer like the one Nicolas has been using

for almost 10 years, you yourself can do pretty much everything you need.

This is the first laptop released by Francois Marthaler

and his business partner Nicolas Guignard.

Itís been regularly upgraded and repaired

and still works flawlessly today.

An instruction manual is available online.

We encourage our customers to open up their devices themselves.

Other manufacturers say thereís no guarantee, but there is with us.

The EU Commission has introduced a ìright to repairî for consumers.

But Commown doesnít want to wait

until new legislation is approved.

The cooperative has rented out about 3,700 devices so far.

Sometimes Elie AssÈmat delivers equipment himself.

Today heís visiting some Commown

customers across the border in Germany.

Weíre off to a good start in Germany.

In the last two years weíve seen 60 to 70 percent growth in rentals,

not bad at all!

We want to keep that up.

Growth that

for once

doesnít result in yet more e-waste.

A batch of used solar modules from Magdeburg has arrived in Hamburg.

Theyíre being checked on this new test lane

which cost several hundred thousand euros.

So I can open this up, this is our sunlight simulator.

Once the lid is closed, the simulator lights up with 1,000 watts.

On the computer screen,

the team can see how much electricity the solar cells are still producing.

First impression, there's something wrong with the module.

Maybe itís damaged.

We'll look at the EL image.

EL is electroluminescence.

Special cameras scan the entire module

at the second inspection station

and produce a kind of X-ray image.

This reveals any damage.

Thereís definitely a crack, but it's not bad.

It generates 15 watts less than what the manufacturer says,

but you can still use it for a balcony power plant.

Once the used modules have been inspected,

they get a sticker and a two-year warranty.

2ndlifesolarís seven employees can check up to 800 modules per day.

The success rate is excellent.

There are parks where 80 percent of the modules are junk,

and there are parks where just 20, 30 percent are defective modules.

Usually these modules would be disposed of,

but we can ideally save 70 percent by running these tests.

But what happens to the 30 percent that fail the tests?

They contain valuable raw materials

that are lost in the shredding process.

Salvaging raw materials.

Thatís what workers will be doing at the EcoWork site in India.

So welcome to EcoWork, really great that you are here.

Three e-waste entrepreneurs are at the meeting, including Aslam Malik.

Just to envision

so this area here, that will be all work units.

The scrap metal dismantlers will be provided

with a fully equipped co-working space

with flexibly sized workspaces that can be rented

for days, weeks, or even months.

There will also be lockable storage areas,

as well as break rooms and conference rooms.

Big players like Aslam Malik could potentially join forces

with smaller businesses.

We can bundle their products, and send

larger volumes directly to processors.

And with a larger volume, you can usually get a better price.

Itís not yet clear what the service will cost.

In a first step, Dea Wehrli wants to recruit

mostly small entrepreneurs already paying rent for workshops

and base the fees on that.

Thereís still a lot of negotiating to do.

The hall is nice.

But it would be difficult to transport materials.

Itís a long way, so costs would be higher.

In the long run, the idea is for EcoWork to be self-supporting.

For now, the project is still financed

by the Swiss National Science Foundation and donations.

A trial run will start in the summer,

with an official license

so no one has to worry about police controls.

The best thing is that no one will stop us from working here.

We won't be chased away and threatened.

And, crucially,

everything thatís recycled here wonít end up

in unsafe backyard workshops,

but with licensed companies that work more safely and efficiently,

including in Western countries.

In Europe, there are plants that recover metals

and buy circuit boards from all over the world.

So circuit boards that are dismantled here at Ecowork

could find their way to Europe.

A key factor, given growing shortages of raw materials.

From India to southern Germany.

Commown founder Elie AssÈmat is visiting a mill.

Itís very dusty,

so any smartphones and computers used here must be extra robust

and easily repairable.

Elie AssÈmat is here with a German colleague.

They want to draw in corporate clients that use

a lot of computer hardware and electronic devices.

Theyíve brought along an especially robust smartphone for the boss.

Heís been testing another out for the last two weeks.

I can access the image remotely

and switch the machines on and off if necessary.

Miller Dennis Brosig needs the second mobile phone for his colleague

on the night shift.

A combination of dust and humidity means cell phones tend

to stop working properly here.

Some button breaks, or the screen, or the battery,

and unfortunately you can't repair it yourself.

And getting it repaired was getting too costly.

Now we have an alternative that will hopefully last five or ten years.

The robust mobile phone costs 21 euros 70 cents monthly

to rent in the first year.

In the second year, the price drops by 10 percent,

in the third year by another 30 percent

to 13 euros.

The fact that the entire company is now switching

to rented devices is thanks to Filip Krumpe.

The computer scientist started out as the mill's IT manager

and then became its sustainability manager.

We tend to think a lot about sustainable food,

sustainable agriculture, but itís only in the last couple of years

that I began thinking about how to make technology more sustainable

because it has a very large carbon footprint.

A lot of the hardware used here could be replaced.

But Commown has a policy.

As long as the equipment isnít broken,

the cooperative doesn't want to earn money by replacing it.

Filip Krumpe agrees.

It doesn't make sense to switch to something sustainable

if what you have still works.

We try to use and repair what we have for as long as possible.

Still, business is going well.

Elie AssÈmat expects a turnover of more than one million euros this year.

His vision is to transform the electronics sector.

If I do nothing, I can't face myself in the mirror in the morning.

I must do something that has a positive impact on the world.

Renting out sustainable electronics

and boosting durability saves on CO2 emissions and avoids e-waste.

But at some point, a solar module will be permanently broken.

Martin Wilke wants to find out how to recover

the valuable raw materials contained in them.

A young startup has developed a process

that entrepreneurs Fridolin Franke,

Jan Bargel and Jan-Philipp Mai hope will revolutionize

the recycling market for solar modules.

Until now, only poor-quality aluminum and glass

could be recovered from the shredding and sorting process.

Iím very curious about this technology.

Itís about extracting silicon and silver,

separating these raw materials, and that's very important to me.

This machine solves the first problem the young entrepreneurs faced:

Most of the modules have a glass layer on top thatís firmly attached

to the solar cells underneath.

First, Jan Bargel breaks off the glass pane with a chisel.

Then a special lamp heats the module to around 200 degrees

and loosens the adhesive.

The glass can then be pried off with a sharp metal spatula.

If the process goes well, there's nothing left

it's perfect.

Cleanly separated.

Thanks to this process, the fragments can be made into bottles and jars.

With conventional shredding,

the glass is so impure that it can only be used for insulation material.

The thick film that remains is especially valuable.

The printed conductors are made of pure silver.

Underneath are the solar cells, made of silicon.

The inventors are very proud of their second machine.

What does this machine do?

I canít tell you exactly

that's our trade secret.

I can tell you this much;

thereís a rotating tool that scrapes off the layers.

Itís a noisy process.

The tool first scrapes away a layer of plastic in tiny fragments

and then grinds off the silver tracks.

Whatís left is a glittering dust.

That's not pure silver, is it?

No, youíre right, it's silver dust,

there's about three percent silver in it.

But that's enough for the refinery

to purify it into pure silver.

There are about 14 grams of silver in each module.

This means that 700 tons of silver could be recovered

from the one million tons of old modules that are expected

to amass in Germany alone by 2030.

Almost half the amount used by the solar industry worldwide every year.

The residual foil with the silicon goes to a specialized partner company.

Whatís produced there are so-called silicon pellets.

They look like this and can be reused as metallurgical silicon.

Silicon is a critical raw material in Europe.

The world market for silicon is dominated by China.

The three entrepreneurs want to build a fully automated pilot plant

in the next few months that can

recycle up to 150,000 modules per year.

Itís very exciting.

I think one stepís missing until itís ready for series production.

Then itís a great solution to recover raw materials thatíve so far been.

Uncovering the treasure troves in e-waste reduces dependency

on raw material imports.

As does repairing devices instead of throwing them away.

And even better

in the long run,

fewer raw materials will be needed in the first place.