Have you heard that Bitcoin’s an energy hog? Guess what: it is also a leading source of e-waste.
Economists Alex de Vries and Christian Stoll report in the journal Resources, Conservation, and Recycling that Bitcoin mining – where computers solve computational problems to validate Bitcoin transactions and create new Bitcoin chains – is far more than just an energy problem with a large carbon footprint.
Every Bitcoin transaction – the transferring of Bitcoin from one person to another – creates as much electronic waste (e-waste) as throwing away two brand new iPhones. And, with 112.5 million transactions in 2020 alone, Bitcoin “mining” is producing as much e-waste every year as the Netherlands, a country of 17.28 million people.
That amount of waste is projected to grow dramatically, as Bitcoin’s popularity continues to explode.
Electronic waste, or e-waste for short, is electrical or electronic waste produced by incorrectly throwing away electronic equipment. The problem is that that trash goes to a landfill, and that old equipment leaks toxic chemicals and heavy metals into the soil, air, and water.
Even the e-waste that is “properly recycled” (only 17.4% of it) is a problem. Most US “recyclers” send their e-waste abroad and the parts are stripped and repurposed. Anything that is not reusable is thrown away anyway. This comes at a huge cost to impoverished nations and their people, who work hands-on with toxic chemicals that poison their bodies, land, and waterways.
This is a huge problem with Bitcoin. Just like Apple sells new iPhones every year to stay up to date with technology, companies that sell computer parts necessary for Bitcoin mining do the same. In other words, Bitcoin miners go through a lot of computer parts. De Vries and Stoll explain, that that turnaround speed for needing new parts is even shorter than previously thought, with “mining parts” becoming obsolete within 1.29 years of their market availability.
Bitcoin mining requires ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit) miners, electronic circuits designed solely for mining cryptocurrency. The catch? If you use it for Bitcoin mining, you can only use it for Bitcoin mining.
Not other cryptocurrencies.
Not another computer function.
To keep up with increased efficiency and be able to make a profit, Bitcoin miners have to stay up to date with the newest models, which means replacing these parts nearly every year — and those parts can’t be repurposed.
DeVries and Stoll estimate 30,700 tons of e-waste go into the trash every single year. That’s enough waste to fill up almost 22,000 large dump trucks.
The estimates only cover the ASIC miner components, not to mention the cooling equipment, cables, and other things essential to maintain all 2.9 million Bitcoin mining devices. It also does not include the vast amounts of waste produced manufacturing these computer parts in the first place. So, the problem is likely even worse than the research shows.
The problem is only going to get worse. Bitcoin e-waste production will double by 2050. This signals big trouble, especially for lower and middle-income countries that will likely end up responsible for the majority of the waste.
According to de Vries and Stoll, solving this e-waste crisis would require restructuring Bitcoin’s mining process entirely and replacing it with a sustainable alternative. Instead, they suggest that more common computer parts that can be utilized in different ways be used more widely by miners. Their research also suggests that simply educating the public on these environmental impacts can provide enough of an incentive to help, as well as encouraging and making legitimate e-waste recycling services more available.
Bitcoin may offer privacy and more democratized money, but there are still downsides common to traditional forms of currency (see the gold rush). So, regardless of how you manage it, Bitcoin’s currently a huge waste.