The Iphone Is "Not Very Innovative" Says Formafantasma

The iPhone is "not very innovative" says Formafantasma 08/02/18, 18:49
The iPhone is "not very innovative"

says Formafantasma
Rima Sabina Aouf 5 February 2018
The iPhone is "not very innovative" because it's hard to

recycle, says Formafantasma
Electronics companies like Apple need to make their hardware easy for anyone to
open up and take apart, according to design duo Formafantasma, who are pushing
designers to prioritise recyclability following a two-year research project into e-
waste.
"As a society, we have fallen in love with an idea of innovation that is not
innovative," Formafantasma co-founder Simone Farresin told Dezeen. "When we
talk about technology, we have a very specific idea of what constitutes innovation,
and it does not consider parameters such as whether it's recyclable."
"On those terms, I could argue that the iPhone is not a very innovative product.
https://www.dezeen.com/2018/02/05/iphone-not-very-innovative…m=The%20iPhone%20is%20both%20well-designed%20and%20beautiful Pagina 1 di 13
The same with most recent smartphones."
The sticking point for Farresin is that many contemporary devices are designed so
that only their producers can open them up again. Apple's iPhones, for instance,
feature tamper-proof custom screws and nigh impenetrable casings that make it
difficult to access the battery and other components inside.
Andrea Trimarchi and Simone Farresin of Formafantasma have recently completed a two-year research project
into e-waste
This practice undermines companies' proclaimed commitments to recycling,

because "you make the object less transparent for the user, you cannot open it up
and you make it more difficult to recycle", says Farresin.
While products like these might be efficiently disassembled by specially

contracted recyclers or in-house programmes – indeed, Apple revealed a 29-armed
robot specifically designed for the task last year (it's name is Liam) — only a
minority of devices are ever returned to the companies that produce them.
"The reality is that their products are sold and distributed all over the world,
including in developing countries [that don't always have access to these
programmes and resources]," continued Farresin. "It is important to design
products conceived for places where the ideal scenario is not a possibility."
The question of "above-ground mining"
Designing for reality rather than the ideal is one of several strategies advocated by
Formafantasma in Ore Streams, a research-based project commissioned by
Melbourne's National Gallery of Victoria for its inaugural NGV Triennial, which
opened on 15 December 2017.
Farresin and Andrea Trimarchi, the other half of Formafantasma, arrived at the
topic through a roundabout route: they were initially looking into mining, but after
discovering that by 2080, our biggest metal reserves will no longer be
underground, they shifted focus to what they call "above-ground mining" instead.
The duo discovered that, by 2080, our biggest metal reserves will no longer be underground
The Amsterdam-based Italian designers then spent two years disassembling

electronic goods in their studio, visiting recycling plants in Thailand and
interviewing a range of experts and sector workers.
While they were impressed by much of what they saw — including at the only
electronics company to open its doors to them, Fuji Xerox, where printer
components are being reused multiple times — they were also disappointed that
where there were inefficiencies in the recycling process, they often came down to
product design.
It inspired Farresin and Trimarchi, who founded Formafantasma in 2009 after

graduating from Design Academy Eindhoven, to propose a new approach for
designers and developers of electronic products. It is explored in one of the videos
the pair is showing in the Triennial exhibition, where it plays alongside a poetic
range of office furniture they've created using e-waste.
Four steps for recyclable design
Farresin and Trimarchi's strategies constitute small, concrete steps that they
believe would be easy to implement but have a big impact.
The first, mentioned already, is to design easily openable products that allow for
the quick removal of batteries and other hazardous components, which can
potentially explode during the recycling process and, if not disposed of correctly,
cause soil or water pollution. A second, related point is to make sure these
components are adequately labelled.
"It is not a problem in developed countries, because people are trained, there are
recycling centres and so on," said Farresin. "But in developing countries, if you
don't know and you break the wrong part, it's dangerous. We have been
disassembling several electronic goods here in the studio and made videos of it. I
can tell you, there are some parts you'd have no idea were toxic."
The designers spent two years disassembling electronic goods in their studio, discovering that inefficiencies in
the recycling process often came down to product design
Their third recommendation is to avoid glue, which has been used more frequently
as electronics have gotten smaller but makes pieces more difficult to pry apart.
Instead, the duo advocate "space-efficient" connections or clamping systems.
Their fourth idea would involve a group effort: the development of a universal
colour-coding system enabling different materials to be easily identified and
sorted. To illustrate how much this is lacking in the recycling process, Farresin
gives the example of common electrical cables coated in black rubber. Their dark
colour and opacity means they aren't recognised by visual detectors and can end
up in the wrong waste stream.
The future of recycling is in pieces
There's a reason Farresin and Trimarchi are preoccupied with improving access to
the insides of devices in their proposals. The duo see the reuse of componentry
rather than recycling of minerals as the future — just like they witnessed at Fuji
Xerox, with its reincarnated printers.
Currently in Western countries, the common approach to recycling electronics is

to shred the entirely of the device (with hazardous parts removed) and then sort
the metals using a system of magnets. An investigation by Motherboard in
2017 found that Apple demanded "must shred" agreements from all its recycling
partners in the USA.
They propose that products should be easily openable, to allow for the quick removal of batteries and other
hazardous components, and suggest that components be adequately labelled
However, this process uses a lot of energy and causes the minerals to be degraded.
If the trend reverses, it will mean the world's more advanced economies will be
taking a leaf out of the books of low and lower-middle-income countries, where
reuse is already widely practiced — despite the obstacles to recovering the parts.
"There are a lot of things that need to be regulated, but the trend for the future is
the recycling of components, not just materials," said Farresin. "Brands will set up
their own collaborations with recyclers and as much as possible recycle
components."
Read on for the full transcript of the interview with Simone Ferresin.
Rima Sabina Aouf: Where did the idea for Ore Streams come from?
Simone Ferresin: Our initial starting point for the project wasn't to look into
recycling, but into mining, because Australia [where the work is being shown at
the National Gallery of Victoria] is the only first-world country that is still
extracting minerals. But we learned after reading on the topic that by 2080, we
will have mined so many minerals, that the biggest metal reserves will be above
ground, and the recycling to collect metal will become more efficient. So we
thought it was more interesting to focus on what we ended up calling "above-
ground mining". We decided to focus on electronic waste specifically because it's
the fastest-growing stream of waste, and also because our entire life both as
citizens and designers revolves around digital tools.
Rima Sabina Aouf: We often think of recycling as the solution to the problem of
e-waste, but what you seem to be saying with Ore Streams is that there are issues
with that recycling process that we're not thinking about enough. Is that right?
Simone Ferresin: What we're saying is that we could do better. Legislation-wise,

there are still a lot of problems and a lot of illegal shipment to developing
countries. Also, we design products sourcing materials globally and to be sold
globally, but they're not being conceived as such. So when it comes to recycling
these products, it's easier to recycle them in developed countries and much more
difficult in developing countries.
Rima Sabina Aouf: Why do so many of our electrical products end up in the so-
called developing countries and why is that a problem?
Simone Ferresin: There are several reasons why. Simply, the best way to recycle
stuff is with manual labour, and of course, labour is expensive in developed
countries.
In the beginning, the legislation wasn't in place to prevent the exporting of e-waste
to developing countries, but in the beginning of the 90s the Basel Convention was
signed a lot of countries from all over the world, though only some of them have
ratified it. Europe is doing quite well, but the United States and Australia are two
of the places where the convention is not really well enforced.
The best way to recycle stuff is with manual labour, and of course, labour
is expensive in developed countries
One of the reasons it is happening still, even with laws in place, is because there
are not enough controls at the borders and it is still cheaper to dump the stuff over
there, despite the fact that there are precious metals in these products. Another
thing that is happening recently is that things are shipped abroad as second-hand
as a guise for dumping waste.
Rima Sabina Aouf: In what ways have you seen e-waste recycling differ between
the developed and developing worlds?
Simone Ferresin: What we currently do in developed countries is basically shred

everything after the hazardous components are removed, and then sort the metals.
I think more and more in the future brands will set up their own collaborations
with recyclers and as much as possible recycle components, which is what the
developing world are already doing, like in China and Africa. Although we did
hear some horror stories out of China of components being reused for military
purposes and stuff like that, where you absolutely want to be sure the components
are new and certified. There are lot of things that need to be regulated, but the
trend for the future is the recycling of components, not just materials.
Rima Sabina Aouf: And you believe recycling is getting more efficient?
Simone Ferresin: It is already quite efficient, but where it is not efficient, often it
is because of design.
Rima Sabina Aouf: So what are some of the things designers should take into
account to ensure their products can be recycled all over the world?
Simone Ferresin: The first one is the positioning of the batteries and hazardous
components. Often these objects are placed in difficult positions to reach or they
are glued to other components. Or, like in the iPhone, they're encapsulated in a
design that is not easy to quickly open up and remove the hazardous components.
These parts are the ones recycled with manual labour, including In Europe, the US
and other developed countries. The first necessity is that these products are
designed in such a way that allows the quick removal of these components,
because they can cause pollution or explode during the recycling process.
The miniaturisation of electronics is becoming a problem, because then

more glue is used
Second, the miniaturisation of electronics is becoming a problem, because then

more glue is used in the process of assembling products. This is sort of fine in
developed countries, where we have several technologies that work to separate the
materials, but in developing countries, products are recycled with the aim of
obtaining components, not to recycle materials directly. So in that process
components that are glued together are more difficult to separate.
There are also some other basic issues — for instance, a lot of brands use custom-
made screws or connections, which creates the need for more tools to remove
them. In developing countries, some NGOs are establishing workshops but having
trouble getting the right tools to open up these products.
Rima Sabina Aouf: How else can designers make sure they’re not exposing
people to hazardous materials somewhere down the line?
Simone Ferresin: There is not a correct labelling system for hazardous

components. Again, it is not a problem in developed countries, because people are
trained, there are recycling centres and so on. But in developing countries, if you
don't know and you break the wrong part, it's dangerous. We have been
disassembling several electronic goods here in the studio and made videos of it. I
can tell you, there are some parts you'd have no idea were toxic.
Another problem is that sometimes materials are mixed in a weird way. For
instance, in washing machines, concrete is mixed with metal in the weight that
makes the machine stable. That is a problem, not only because you cannot recycle
it but because it can end up in the wrong stream of waste together with ferrous
materials.
In our video, we've outlined simple strategies for designers to address these
problems. One is a systematic approach to visual recognition. To give you an
example, black cables in rubber are common, but they're difficult to recognise and
sort, so they can end up in the wrong stream of waste. If all electric cables could
be coloured in a specific way that indicates their makeup, then they could be
separated more efficiently.
Rima Sabina Aouf: What about major companies like Apple and Samsung,
which produce more products than anyone else in this sector — what
responsibilities do they have with regard to e-waste? Are they doing enough?
Simone Ferresin: I'm sure they are very busy with it. In terms of the law, the
responsibility of recuperation of electronic waste is on the producers, so literally if
you have a product at home from a certain brand, you can ask them to collect it. It
is their responsibility.
For this project, we tried to contact Apple and Samsung, but the company that
opened their doors to us was Fuji Xerox, the printing company. We were totally
surprised at the work they are doing. They've established a brilliant system. For
them it's a bit easier because they have one typology: printers. They collect them
and send them to recycling centres in several places. The products are completely
disassembled, and they don’t recycle the materials immediately; they recycle the
components. As far as we know they’re the only brand doing it. The components
of their printers are reused to make their own printers again, I think to a maximum
of four times, at which point the components are recycled for materials. The
company don’t own only the production sites, they also own or have very good
partners for the recycling of components.
From our experience, the communication between producers and recyclers is

usually lacking. It's in the hands of the producers to establish that link.
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Rima Sabina Aouf: To take the iPhone as an example again, you mentioned the
casing is an obstacle to retrieving the components for recycling, but some say the
more solid casing was a design decision to help make the phone more waterproof,
and therefore give it a longer life. Could that have been a good decision?
Simone Ferresin: From our perspective, no, because you make the object less
transparent for the user, you cannot open it up and you make it more difficult to
recycle. But it also depends on the company and how they establish their recycling
structure. Apple has the potential to establish its own recycling facilities or team
up with recyclers to have their own specific recycling section. But that still only
works when you consider the ideal scenario of products being returned to them.
The reality is that their products are sold and distributed all over the world,
including in developing countries. I think it is important to design products
conceived for places where the ideal scenario is not a possibility. So it's a bad
decision.
Rima Sabina Aouf: You mentioned the possibility of increased partnerships

between producers and recyclers. That seems like something that would be good
for these major companies' PR. So why haven't we seen more of that?
Simone Ferresin: Companies won't publicise their recycling efforts, for the
simple reason that they are scared to be publicly shamed. They know that they can
never make it right, so they don't talk about it. They do it, because they do think it
is important to do, but they don't say it, because it's too risky communications-
wise.
As a society, we have fallen in love with an idea of innovation that is not

innovative
Rima Sabina Aouf: Why do you think it is important for designers to create their
products with their future recycling in mind?
Simone Ferresin: As a society, we have fallen in love with an idea of innovation

that is not innovative. When we talk about technology, we have a very specific
idea of what constitutes innovation, and it does not consider parameters such as
whether it's recyclable. On those terms, I could argue that the iPhone is not a very
innovative product. The same with most recent smartphones. The risk is that we
fall in love with an idea of technology that is just an idea, a modernist construct of
efficiency. It is just one idea of what progress looks like, and we need to expand it.
Rima Sabina Aouf: Tell me about the approach you took to translating the
research into physical objects for the exhibition.
Simone Ferresin: One of the requests from the museum in the commission was to
have some furniture pieces for their collection. We didn't want to do household
furniture; we wanted to work with office furniture, partly because of the simple
connection that electronic products are often used in the office, but also because of
what I was saying before about modernism. The office is where you see the
pragmatic approach of modernism in terms of quantification, use of space,
functionality and so on. We feel that the same pragmatic approach based on
quantification and supposed efficiency is also used with natural resources, so we
thought the office was the right environment to express our investigation.
The idea in all the objects is that you have elements of electronic waste that are
not upcycled; rather, they are intrusions into the objects. For instance, the table has
the aeration grid of a microwave in one of the legs, and the tabletop is seated on
iPhone cases, two of them gold-plated. Gold scavenged from circuit boards is
recurring as a finish throughout the series: most visibly, as cladding on the inside
of a leather trash bin, as one thin section of the CNC-milled aluminium chair and
in two iPhones and a keyboard placed in the table and cubicle, respectively.
All the objects have these extra external elements in place. We started imagining
that all these objects we have around the office became integrated with waste in
weird ways, almost inlaid within the objects. We chose objects that were familiar
within the office, but becoming slightly odd and unfamiliar — the iPhone is under
rather than on top of the table, you have the aeration grid that doesn't serve to do
anything on the leg of the table. This is something we often do in our work — you
start wondering why these elements are there and why they are placed in that
specific way. For us is a way to have the viewer engaging with questions, or at
least start wondering about the reasons behind these choices.
We used the images of Mars printed on the surfaces in the same way. That is a
reference to the fact that gold arrived on earth via meteorite rain that crashed
against the planet. On a subliminal level, having these images evokes a feeling of
deployed earth or an empty planet, which we thought moved the objects from
being only functional to an evocative level.
Read more
Design
Formafantasma
Interviews
recycled
sustainability
Technology

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The iPhone is "not very innovative" says Formafantasma 08/02/18, 18:49

The iPhone is "not very innovative"

The iPhone is "not very innovative" because it's hard to

The same with most recent smartphones."

This practice undermines companies' proclaimed commitments to recycling,

While products like these might be efficiently disassembled by specially

The question of "above-ground mining"

The Amsterdam-based Italian designers then spent two years disassembling

It inspired Farresin and Trimarchi, who founded Formafantasma in 2009 after

Four steps for recyclable design

The future of recycling is in pieces

Currently in Western countries, the common approach to recycling electronics is

Simone Ferresin: What we're saying is that we could do better. Legislation-wise,

Simone Ferresin: What we currently do in developed countries is basically shred

The miniaturisation of electronics is becoming a problem, because then

Second, the miniaturisation of electronics is becoming a problem, because then

Simone Ferresin: There is not a correct labelling system for hazardous

From our experience, the communication between producers and recyclers is

Rima Sabina Aouf: You mentioned the possibility of increased partnerships

As a society, we have fallen in love with an idea of innovation that is not

Simone Ferresin: As a society, we have fallen in love with an idea of innovation

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