Recycling electronics is getting more difficult as devices get smaller and smaller

The last several decades have brought a global explosion of electronics with a huge impact on quality of life and communications, as well as the world economy.But, like most big human-induced changes, there were unintended consequences, primarily in the form of the mountains of waste that resulted as products quickly became obsolete and tossed out only to be replaced by others with an equally short lifespan. (One study showed that 25 percent of electronic devices were used less than 500 hours before being discarded.) This is exacerbated by the fact that electronic waste can contain dangerous materials including lead, mercury and cadmium.