The One Laptop Per Child proposal (aka, the Hundred-Dollar Laptop) generates controversy nearly every time it's mentioned here, whether due to questions about its necessity, arguments about its configuration, or push-back about whether it's really even possible. But a post today at Triple Pundit points to an even more critical issue: would the success of the OLPC plan result in an explosion of hazardous material waste across the developing world?
There's no question that the materials used in computers are problematic. Computer hardware can include plastics made with dioxin and so-called "brominated flame retardants," as well as mercury, lead and other harmful metals. Although the quantities may be small in any single machine, cumulatively, some 20-50 million tons of computer, electric and electronic waste enters the wastestream every year (PDF). When these materials get into the water supply, they can lead to birth defects and worse. As of now, the companies lining up to take part in the OLPC project all use traditional -- as in toxic -- materials for their systems. If the OLPC program manages to distribute a million laptops around the developing world, what kind of price will those regions have to pay a few years down the road, when the laptops are broken, discarded or replaced by newer designs?
A few years ago, the question would end there: we would have to decide whether we want portable electronics or zero harmful waste. But we're now moving to a world where we could have both. We've covered, in recent months, a variety of developments that could be combined to make a laptop that, when eventually discarded, would produce few dangerous waste products. The two breakthroughs that could make this possible are bioplastics, which use plants to create a replacement for inorganic plastics, and organic polymer electronics, which use organic chemistry to create computation and display devices.
The most common form of bioplastic, PLA, is made from corn and has been moderately well-received as a packaging material. But a version of PLA that's structurally strong enough for portable electronics is now available. Material from the kenaf plant is used as fiber-reinforcement for the plastic -- and PLA reinforced with kenaf can be stronger than the commonplace high-impact ABS plastic.
We typically discuss organic polymer electronics (OPE) as a feature of the fabrication future, but the clean leapfrog application is important, too. The production of OPE is much cleaner than traditional electronics, and the materials themselves contain few if any heavy metals. Recent OPE developments include a microprocessor able to run at around 100MHz (far slower than today's fastest laptops, but easily fast enough for the kinds of basic information and communication tasks described for the OLPC project), a variety of slower circuit and sub-processor plastics, an organic polymer battery and even a colorful, fast flat-panel display. Even the solar panels often suggested as an add-on for the hundred dollar laptop could be made with organic polymer materials.
The bioplastic/organic polymer version of the hundred dollar laptop (BPOPOLPC?) would have a few notable drawbacks compared to the traditional manufacturing version. The generator portion of the hand-crank power system would still require metals. The wireless communication gear would also likely require traditional materials, at least until the experimental organic equivalents leave the labs. The most important drawback, however, is the price. Even if computer manufacturers can't currently get the production costs of the traditional OLPC model below $100, they're awfully close; the bioplastic/OPE equivalent would undoubtedly cost hundreds of dollars more.
All of these issues are likely to be solved in the coming months and years as the organic polymer revolution continues. This raises a troubling question for those who support the OLPC idea: is the economic and educational development result of widespread distribution of the hundred dollar laptop worth the environmental and economic cost of the waste products that will have to be dealt with when they are discarded? Or it is better to redirect OLPC efforts towards a greener/cleaner version, most likely available by 2010?
This may be a case where a middle-of-the-road approach is a good one. A limited distribution of traditional technology hundred dollar laptops would test whether the development results are truly as dramatic as hoped, while focused efforts on a bioplastic/OPE next-generation model would make a resulting global distribution a far less environmentally damaging idea.
