The fastest-growing part of the world's waste stream is e-waste (unwanted or unusable consumer electronics). This is because technology continues to improve or evolve faster and faster, so electronics become outdated more quickly.

Electronic items should not be thrown in the trash (or in landfills) because they contain toxins such as lead, mercury, and cadmium that can leach into the soil and water supplies. For these reasons alone, all electronics should be responsibly recycled. But they seldom are. A company called ERI specializes in the environmentally safe and socially responsible dismantling of electronic waste and ensures 100% data destruction and compliance.

John Shegerian is the co-founder and Chairman/CEO of ERI. He is also the author of a book about hardware hacking called the Insecurity of Everything, which went to #1 on Amazon in the cybersecurity category. I invited him on Tech Talks Daily to discuss the scale of the problem and how e-waste plays a pivotal role in the circular economy.

We discuss e-waste and data protection and the trends he believes will continue. I also learn more about the most significant factor driving the need for efficient data destruction and how serious a problem hardware hacking is. John also shares real-world examples of devices that store personal data that people don't even think about.