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AI growth may generate millions of tons of e-waste by 2030

AI growth may generate millions of tons of e-waste by 2030

GrafaGrafa2024/11/08 04:00
By:Isaac Francis

The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) is raising environmental concerns, with studies indicating a substantial increase in electronic waste (e-waste) over the coming years.

Research published in Nature by experts from China, Israel, and the UK projects that large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT and Claude, could contribute 2.75 million tons of e-waste annually.

By 2030, AI-related data centers are expected to produce up to 16 million tons of e-waste, posing significant challenges for waste management and environmental health.

Stanford University highlighted a dramatic increase in private AI investment, from $3 billion in 2022 to $25 billion in 2023.

This surge has driven data centers to frequently update their hardware to maintain competitive advantage, leading to the disposal of functioning equipment.

The e-waste generated by AI systems is projected to grow at an annual rate of 110%, far surpassing the 2.8% rate of conventional e-waste from household electronics.

North America leads in AI-related e-waste, accounting for 58%, followed by East Asia with 25% and Europe at 14%, based on research from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Reichman University.

The environmental impact is not limited to the quantity of waste; the study predicts that by 2030, AI-generated e-waste will contain significant levels of hazardous materials, including nearly a million tons of lead and thousands of tons of cadmium, barium, and mercury.

The financial aspect of recycling e-waste could offer incentives for recovery, with valuable metals like gold and platinum potentially yielding $70 billion.

The researchers emphasise that improving server maintenance could cut e-waste by 58%, and reusing components could reduce waste by another 21%.

Environmental advocates stress the urgency of addressing these challenges.

“Right now, the numbers are small, so you can argue, ‘Why do we need to put this very high on our agenda if it's still small?’ But the thing is not going to stay small for very long,” noted Alex de Vries, founder of Digiconomist, as environmental advocates stress the urgency of addressing these challenges.

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