Story thread · 2 reports / 2 sources

The amount of e-waste caused by AI is underestimated: we can’t only include the servers

networkworld.com · 2hShare

When enterprise IT calculates the likely environmental and ROI impact from replacing data center systems, it fails to account for much of it, and also tends to discard hardware far too quickly, according to a report from the Basel Action Network (BAN). BAN is an NGO that polices the application of the 1989 United Nations Basel Convention , which restricts the trade of hazardous waste between more developed countries and less developed countries. “Previous quantitative AI e-waste estimates have underestimated the coming volumes, as they focused overwhelmingly on servers and accelerators, which represent just 13% of a data center’s electromechanical infrastructure. This study identifies five equipment categories including networking, power distribution, storage/backup, and cooling, which total approximately 70,000 metric tonnes per GW of capacity,” the report said. “The previously uncounted 87%, the vast majority of which is also defined as e-waste, has never appeared in any AI e-waste p

First report: The AI data center e-waste problem is huge — and getting bigger — theverge.com, 1d