-This is an old iPad nobody wants anymore.
This is what happened to an old iPad that went in for recycling.
Its battery exploded.
Around the world, recycling centers are going up in flames.
The root of the problem?
Volatile lithium-ion batteries.
Sealed inside more and more portable electronics,
they're contributing to a growing recycling crisis.
I'm Washington Post Tech columnist Geoff Fowler.
Next time you buy a new tablet, smartphone, or computer,
give some thought to what's gonna happen to it
when you're done using it.
Eventually, someone has to take them apart --
someone like Isauro.
He's a technician here at Cascade Assets,
an electronics recycler in Madison, Wisconsin.
He agreed to show us what it takes to disassemble
an iPad to be repaired or recycled.
A device like this busted, early-generation iPad,
which no longer has valuable parts,
is destined for a shredder.
But first, its lithium-ion battery has to come out by hand.
A puncture can cause what the tech industry
calls a thermal event.
"Thermal event"?
Talk about a euphemism.
Remember the Samsung Note 7 explosions?
Yep.
That was a battery thermal event.
At Isauro's workstation, safety comes first.
That charred iPad battery happened here at Cascade,
and another product caught fire right here on his desk.
Isauro keeps these gloves handy, and next to his side,
there's these tongs and this red bucket
to move any smoldering electronics out of the way.
To get the battery out, Isauro has to first remove
all the other electronics on top of it.
Step one, he puts the iPad on a hundred-degree heating pad
to loosen the glue that adheres the screen.
Then, he uses special tools to remove all these tiny screws.
Isauro learned how to do this on the job
and through a training program run by iFixit --
a repair website.
Apple doesn't provide Cascade any instructions or assistance.
-One time, we tried to get information about the batteries,
but they refused to give us any info.
They say, "Just recycle them, then get a new one."
-There's no indication iPads are any more likely
to catch fire than other devices,
but iPads are more difficult to take apart.
About 30 minutes into iPad surgery
comes the most delicate part -- prying out the battery.
After heating the plate again to loosen glue,
Isauro uses these plastic squeegees
to nudge out the battery.
-Don't bend it. Don't poke it.
Just try to go slow.
-Is anybody else sweating? -All right.
-And it's out after nearly 40 minutes.
No thermal event this time.
How often do batteries cause recycling-center fires?
Since the spring of 2018 alone, batteries have been suspected
as the cause of recycling fires in New York, Arizona, Florida,
Wisconsin, Indiana, Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand.
It often happens when lithium-ion batteries
get mixed in with other junk.
Here at Cascade, statistically, the fire rates are low --
2 out of 6,000 mobile-device batteries they handle explode.
But the potential for harm is significant,
and dangerous working conditions
are just one part of the problem.
Isauro can only disassemble six or seven iPads in a day.
-The labor cost to go and retrieve those products
is more than the commodity values,
making it very difficult to justify recycling them.
-Recycled, this iPad is worth just 50 cents
to a dollar in commodities.
In other words, your old iPad might someday
become unrecyclable unless you or the government
or somebody is willing to pay for it.
Today, recycling centers like Cascade can make money
by harvesting newer iPad parts, like screens for reuse.
But the years to come will bring a flood of low-value,
old iPads currently sitting in your drawer at home.
Who's gonna process all of them?
And now a reality check.
These problems are being caused by design choices.
Not long ago, consumer electronics
had removable batteries.
Remember the Palm Pilot?
It took two triple-A batteries.
So why all the glued-in batteries now?
Tech companies say we demand thin devices
with extra-large batteries.
Apple is hardly alone in making products
with recycling challenges.
Microsoft and Samsung also get low marks
from Greenpeace in design.
Apple does have a product take-back program
where it pays for the recycling,
though it likely covers just a fraction of what Apple produces.
Ultimately, environmental activists say
designing products to be more easily repaired
and recycled can have a larger positive impact.
Today, tech companies compete for the sexiest designs,
but sexy don't last forever.
Someday, our gadgets are gonna die
and end up in the hands of someone like Isauro.
And if he can't safely and efficiently take them apart,
it's gonna be a problem for us all.