The Problem with "Smart Textiles"

Although hybrid materials can be alluring to work with, they often come with sustainability challenges- namely problems with recyclability. This article, from the New York Times, details the problems with embeded electronics and also illustrates the disconnect between material innovation and end of life considerations... Wouldn't it be nice if the engineers inventing new materials also planned for their demise.

The growing practice of weaving electronics into the fiber of clothing could add to the already monumental challenge of e-waste disposal. Some fifty million tons of electronic waste already accumulate annually in “soaring mountains” of refuse, the United Nations says....“Smart” textiles have electronics in the very weave of their fabric, enabling clothing to respond in various ways to the environment and to function as electronic devices, like mobile phones or heart-rate monitors.

With their social and commercial promise, e-textiles, also known as smart textiles, are the focus of intense laboratory development and testing. Few laboratories, however, have designed prototypes with an eye toward safe disposal once the products have reached the end of their life cycle...A mass consumer market for e-textiles without an integrated understanding of safe disposal methods raises serious questions about the depletion of resources and effects on human human health, Mr. Köhler suggests...

Read more at the New York Times

Learn about the closed loop Cradle to Cradle certification

Buy the book- Cradle to Cradle

Learn more about e-waste

The Wasteland: 60 Minutes Segment on the problems of e-waste

Recycled Plastics Supply Chain Contaminated by E-waste, Study Says

E-waste is severly affecting the overseas supply chain. This recent study of Indian recycled plastics details some of the toxins that are getting into the recycled plastics market from recycled consumer electronics.

...Toxics Link in collaboration with Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA), State Secretariat for Economic Affairs SECO and Swiss Plastics Association is releasing an extensive study on plastic recycling across the city to measure one such widely used toxic chemical, brominated flame retardant (BFR) especially present in electronic products.

18 (41%) samples out of 44 samples collected from the recycling and moulding units were found positive for BFR and heavy metals like lead and cadmium. The observed concentration of BFR varied from 18.9ppm to 126.3ppm. Field study and lab research suggest that there is dispersion and dilution of these additives during recycling process.

BFRs in consumer products pose serious exposure risk particularly at the time of disposal. Although most plastics today, are recyclable, the recycled products become more hazardous than the virgin products. The study reveals that cross contamination by BFRs move into the environment and recycled products through recycling operations. Recycled plastic pellets used to manufacture new products contain these BFRs. There is a huge market for the products made of the recycled pellets that are used by low cost manufacturers...

Read more of the study at Toxics Link

Read a sumary in The Asian Age

Learn more about the problems of e-waste issues and global policy-making at the Basel Action Network

New Report on the Greening of Electronic Products

The report: “Greening Consumer Electronics: Moving Away from Bromine and Chlorine” features seven companies who have engineered environmental solutions that negate the need for most -- or in some cases all -- uses of brominated and chlorinated chemicals.

High volume uses of bromine and chlorine in flame retardant and plastic resin applications such as brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gained worldwide attention when scientific studies demonstrated their link to the formation of highly toxic dioxin compounds.

This report features seven electronics companies (two major consumer electronics companies, and five component suppliers) that have moved beyond compliance with regulatory mandates and engineered environmental solutions that negate the need for most – and in some cases all – uses of brominated and chlorinated chemicals. the case studies provide examples of how companies have addressed industry-wide technical performance challenges associated with this material change, while upholding quality, reliability, and product performance at an acceptable cost.

Read more at Clean Production Action

Or go directly to these links:

Press Release
Full Report
Executive Summary
Human Health Fact Sheet