Waste Speaker: Reimagining Sound Through E-Waste

The rapid pace of technological development over the past several decades has led to an exponential rise in electronic waste, or “e-waste.” As devices become obsolete through cycles of innovation and planned obsolescence, the data once contained on these devices fades into obscurity. This project situates itself within ongoing discourses of material circularity and archival media, asking how obsolete technologies might experience renewal in new and creative forms. Specifically, this research explores the intersection of electronic waste, data sonification, and reuse through the design and development of Waste Speaker, a hand-held audio device built from discarded hard disk drives (HDDs). By translating latent data stored within these HDDs into generative sound compositions, Waste Speaker reconfigures the hard drive as both a medium and message of revival. In doing so, this project contributes to broader conversations around defunct media and sustainable design, positioning e-waste as a site of resurgence: no longer “waste,” and instead a medium for sensory engagement and critical reflection.