Value of Technological Artifacts

Benjamin Hale and Lucy McAllister

Abstract
Electronic waste (e-waste) is the fastest growing form of waste worldwide (Sthiannopkao 2012), associated with a huge range of environmental, health, and justice problems. Unfortunately, e-waste does not enter the waste stream in the same manner as most other waste and recyclable material. For instance, US households hoard over 747 million electronic or electrical products, even while they continue to buy newer technological products at an increasingly rapid pace (Saphores et al., 2009). This has generated an enormous backlog of undiscarded e-waste that poses significant challenges for the future. The biggest problem is that technological artifacts left on shelves or forgotten in drawers eventually must be recycled or discarded. In turn, while they are kept out of the waste and recycling stream, technology moves forward, resulting in the loss of a significant amount of virgin minerals from the recycling stream, the likelihood that technological artifacts may become obsolete with age and thus harder to recycle, and the fact that these products will eventually exacerbate the social and environmental harms already associated with the e-waste stream. There seems to be no good reason why people hoard these technologies. They have no utility value, no market value, and only arguable sentimental value. This paper aims to address the reasons why we might hold value in our technological artifacts. Answering this question can give us clarity on how to move forward with more successful e-waste management programs.