E-waste, otherwise known as e-scrap, is an assortment of old and discarded electronics, including large household appliances like air conditioners, refrigerators, computers and smartphones as well as other consumer electronics, that have long posed disposal problems.

In landfills, over time, these discarded devices breakdown, often releasing toxic ingredients — lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium, for instance — that seep into the ground, eventually finding a way into the water supply, polluting drinking water and damaging ecosystems.

Recycling programs, on the other hand, aren’t always as “green” as they claim with watchdog groups recently reporting that some recycling facilities ship the discarded devices overseas where guidelines for handling discarded devices aren’t necessarily environmentally friendly.

Likewise, current methods for reusing e-waste have focused almost entirely on recovering only valuable materials from the discarded devices, which results in a surplus of other parts and components.

In response to this dilemma, researchers at Austria’s TU Wien (Technische Universität Wien) have built Scrapino, a self-sustainable robot (SSR) built from e-waste that can be used in conjunction with renewable energy sources.

Powered by a solar panel, Scrapino is capable of moving around in search of optimal locations for collecting energy. With a 50% charge, the SSR can manage a variety of tasks including greeting university students and offering them information.

Scrapino is able to move around thanks to DC motors, ultasonic sensors (capable of identifying obstacles in its way) and LDR sensors (capable of detecting light).

Built from both new technology and technology recycled from old electronic devices, Scrapino is, in part, composed of old scanner machines, robots, computers, toys and printers.

"Self-sustainable robot from e-scrap using renewable energy (Scrapino) can detect obstacles and avoid them using sonar sensors," the researchers wrote in their paper, published in IFAC. "Another important function is that with a solar panel, it can charge its batteries, which makes self-sustainability possible."

Scrapino is meant to demonstrate, according to researchers, that it is possible to build a robot with e-waste materials and without the need for excessive electricity usage — a two-fold objective that promotes caring for the environment and that encourages the use of renewable energy.

"SSR will provide a very good learning experience and show that robotics and renewable energy can go hand in hand and serve as a gateway to start getting SSR from e-scrap," the researchers wrote in their paper.

"The reuse of e-scrap and combining old and new technologies, as described in this paper, is an example of how we can start from individual levels to participate in creating a new strategy for treating e-scrap, taking into consideration that the massive production of robots and their involvement in everyday life also has an impact on electricity consumption," the researchers concluded in their paper.