Maintenance and repair are on the agenda. In October 2018, The Economist declared repair to be, “as important as innovation” and went so far as to proclaim, “in a disposable society, to repair is to […]
Think you know e-waste?
Almost everything you know about e-waste is wrong Josh Lepawsky, Memorial University of Newfoundland Many of us think we know what electronic waste is because we wonder what to do with devices we no longer […]
New report – electronics repair and maintenance in China
The electronics repair and maintenance sector in China offers significant conservation value when measured in terms of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Under the scenarios we examine the RMC sector avoids between 65 million and 212 […]
Pollution release and transfer data
I have a paper published called, “Mapping chemical discardscapes of electronics production” (it’s free to download). It’s about pinpointing what researchers can learn about the electronics sector and the chemicals that are released during the […]
New Report – Electronics Repair and Maintenance in the European Union
The EU’s electronics repair sector reduces carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) by 3-10 million tonnes over new manufactures.
A World of Repair in 2030
A world of 2030 in which repair could be part of the scaffold that builds it is one based not on efficiency, but sufficiency. — Lepawsky (2020)
Sources and streams of electronic waste
Within one or two decades, the mass of electronic devices discarded by consumers could exceed 100 million tons annually. Yet, far more pollution and waste arise “upstream” during the mining for and manufacturing of electronics. […]
E-waste, Pollution, and a Sense of Scale
Usually when e-waste is discussed, the story defaults to a post-consumer view of the problem: e-waste is what happens when people (consumers) throwaway their devices. Of course, post-consumer discarding happens but this is actually the […]
Reassembling Rubbish & Worlding Electronic Waste
A talk by invitation from VIVO Media Arts Centre and hosted at Simon Fraser University.
When you want to know how things really work, study them when they're coming apart.
William Gibson, Zero History.
New paper: Planet of Fixers?
This paper explores the geographical distribution of independent and do‐it‐yourself information and communication technology maintenance and repair (INDIY ICT M&R) activity around the world. Josh Lepawsky, GEO: Geography & Environment
Electronic Planet Research Lab 
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