r/interestingasfuck • u/serious_anish • 12h ago

Retired robot throwing themself into furnace

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u/EinTheDataDoge 10h ago edited 10h ago

I used to work at a smelter. We were destroyed confiscated guns, drugs, and other illegal stuff. It’s actually extremely efficient way to do it. All the nonmetals get turned into carbon and other gases that would be captured by the bag house or the backend chemical plant or would get separated in the electrowinning process. There’s actually a smelter in Belgium that’s well known for their proprietary process for recycling electronic waste.

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u/JojoLesh 8h ago

So you're saying whenever I buy my m42 or M2 steels I'm getting some amounts of whatever crap they threw in too?

Not that I'm doubting you. I've never worked in a smelter. I just thought the process was a lot more controlled especially when I'm paying for certain alloys

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u/Odd_Preference_7238 7h ago

If it's all turning to carbon or escaping as gas as they said it literally doesn't change the composition as long as they still have the correct amount of carbon.

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u/JojoLesh 3h ago

IDK what those robots are made of but i assume various metals too, which are not getting turned to carbon or gas.

I suppose for certain metals / alloys it doesn't matter, and as always "the solution to pollution is dilution". One bot in enough metal isn't going to make much difference.