What is the sign of an intelligent society? Is it a tablet computer or a smartphone? The internet and the ability to access the world’s information in a second? Is it flying around the world at the drop of a dime or landing on the moon? It is not that long ago that a trip to Australia would have almost certainly been one way only. Surely, our ancestors could never have dreamt of or imagined such colossal technological feats.



The Romans, the Greeks, the Chinese, the Mayans, and many other civilizations all had sophisticated societies based on a set of guiding principles and were able to enforce laws, integrate different cultures, keep the peace and feed thousands or millions of people.



But inevitably all these societies collapsed, through a mixture of frailties. Some exhausted their resources, others used up their energy sources, polluted their water, depleted their land or destroyed their sources of food. Others were overwhelmed by barbarians or colonizers - the terrorists of a bygone age.



For the first time in human history, our species has the technology, the social awareness and the ability to communicate and understand one another across cultures, to measure and mitigate our impact on the natural world, to create energy with minimal pollution and to prevent the contamination of water and our food sources. We are gifted with talents the Greeks and Romans would have ascribed to their gods.

Yet we act foolishly and ignore the incredible foresight gifted to us by our technological advances. We know that our activities cause pollution; we know that battery waste destroys our land and that mercury from industry and consumer products ends up in the fish we eat and the water we drink. We accumulate these toxins in our bodies throughout our lives by breathing polluted air, drinking contaminated water and eating contaminated animals, particularly fish.

And more bizarrely, we knowingly continue to deposit them in our landfills and leave them in the land and water to poison future generations. Is not the ultimate judgment of our collective intelligence the way in which we handle the disposal of substances that poison us?



Recycling most universal hazardous waste is cheap, especially if one compares the cost of recycling to the cost of buying these recyclable products or devices new. The way in which we manage these products and devices at end-of-life is a catastrophe. Even the best jurisdictions in Europe recycle less than 50% of the consumer batteries they sell. When I last checked, even the mighty Swiss had a recovery on lamps and batteries of less than 50%. In some jurisdictions in North America the rates are below 20%. This is a tragedy of the commons.



Some advocate the banning of mercury and other toxic chemicals and metals similar to the PCB ban. This is not practical but the reasons for that are too complicated to address here; this issue really merits a blog post all to itself. The reader will have to accept for now that mercury and other toxic metals and chemicals are absolutely required to continue modern civilization as we know it.



We need mercury and other toxic chemicals, but why do we keep throwing this stuff in our landfills?

The root of the problem is not in producing new lamps or batteries or other devices; it is not in shipping or selling these products to customers; it is not even a problem when spent devices get sent to a facility where they are disassembled and their contaminates removed or retorted. These activities are regulated by governments and performed by professionals.

The heavy contamination occurs in the phase when the product or device’s operational life has ended and it needs to be taken to a hazardous materials recovery facility. Essentially, this item, previously an asset, has depreciated completely, lost its commercial value, and been transformed into a toxic liability that needs to be stored, transported and disposed of properly. At this crucial moment, the toxic liability - whether it be a lamp, a battery or cellphone - is in the hands of a person or organization which has little training, awareness, knowledge or understanding of what is at stake. They stand only to lose money and face a load of hassle. It will cost them to dispose of it properly, even if they know that they can, or where to do it. And the chances are that it will be costly and difficult. Much easier just to chuck them in the garbage!

So the reason our intelligent society cannot seem to manage its waste effectively is the financial implications of these items at end-of-life. They are toxic liabilities. The impacts of the improper disposal are not immediately felt by the disposer. There is no immediate cause and effect. It’s a societal and trans-border problem. We are slowly, incrementally contaminating our world.