Environmental issues in digital technology

Digital technology has a significant environmental footprint that is often invisible to users. AQA GCSE requires you to understand three main areas: energy use of data centres, e-waste, and the manufacture and disposal of devices.

Energy use of data centres

A data centre is a facility housing thousands of servers that store and process data for cloud services, streaming, email, search engines and more.

Why data centres use so much energy:

• Servers run 24/7/365 — no off-peak periods
• Cooling systems must counteract server heat (often doubling energy use)
• Backup power systems (UPS, diesel generators) add overhead
• Networking equipment, lighting and security all draw power

Scale of impact:

• Data centres globally consume roughly 1–2% of world electricity — comparable to the aviation industry
• A single large hyperscale data centre can use as much electricity as a small city
• Streaming one hour of video generates roughly 36 g CO₂ equivalent

Mitigations:

• Moving to 100% renewable energy (solar, wind, hydro) — several big tech companies have committed to this
• Free-air cooling — building data centres in cold climates (Iceland, Finland) to use outside air
• Improving Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) — ratio of total facility power to IT equipment power; lower is better (ideal = 1.0)
• Virtualisation — running multiple virtual servers on one physical server to improve utilisation
• Efficient processor design — newer chips do more work per watt

E-waste (electronic waste)

E-waste is discarded electronic equipment — phones, laptops, tablets, TVs, cables, batteries.

Scale:

• Globally, around 53 million tonnes of e-waste is generated per year — the fastest-growing waste stream
• Less than 20% is formally recycled; the rest is landfilled or informally processed in developing countries

Why e-waste is harmful:

• Devices contain hazardous materials: lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic
• When landfilled, toxins leach into soil and groundwater
• Informal processing (e.g. burning cables to recover copper) releases toxic fumes

Valuable materials lost:

• E-waste also contains gold, silver, platinum, copper, rare earth elements
• Formal recycling recovers these for reuse, reducing mining pressure

Mitigations:

• Right to repair legislation — manufacturers must make spare parts available
• Extended producer responsibility — manufacturers pay for end-of-life recycling
• Refurbishment programmes — donate or resell working devices
• Design for disassembly — products designed to be taken apart and recycled

Manufacture of devices

Making a smartphone or laptop is resource-intensive before it ever reaches the user.

Materials required:

• Rare earth elements (neodymium, cobalt, lithium) — mined with significant environmental and human-rights impact
• Plastics — derived from fossil fuels
• Water — semiconductor fabrication uses enormous quantities of ultra-pure water

Carbon footprint:

• Manufacturing often accounts for 60–80% of a device's lifetime carbon footprint
• A new smartphone's manufacture emits roughly 60–80 kg CO₂ equivalent

Disposal:

• Many consumers replace devices every 2–3 years despite devices lasting 5+
• Planned obsolescence (intentionally limiting device lifespan via software updates) accelerates replacement cycles

The circular economy

A circular economy approach aims to keep products and materials in use as long as possible:

1. Reduce — buy fewer, longer-lasting devices
2. Reuse — repair, refurbish, donate
3. Recycle — formal recycling to recover materials
4. Rethink design — modular phones (e.g. Fairphone) allow component replacement

Exam tip

Always link cause → harm → mitigation. For example: data centres burn fossil fuels → CO₂ → climate change → switch to renewables.