Sustainable development goal target 12.5 is to reduce waste. But with a planet increasingly dependent on technology, is that even possible? As of today, over 30m tonnes of electronic waste has been thrown out so far this year, according to the World Counts. Most e-waste is sent to landfills in Asia and Africa where it is recycled by hand, exposing the people who do it to environmental hazards. Kai Loeffelbein’s photographs of e-waste recycling in Guiyu, southern China show what happens to discarded computers. (Photo by Kai Loeffelbein/laif Agentur)

Monumental landscape artwork “Hush” by installation artist Steve Messam hangs in the moors of Teesdale on July 18, 2019 in Barnard Castle, England. The outdoor installation is inspired by the geology, mining history and landscape of the area. It hangs over Bales Hush, a deep gauge in the terrain created when miners flushed the area with water to reveal the geological riches below. Hundreds of metres of recyclable saffron yellow fabric blow in the wind. (Photo by Christopher Thomond/The Guardian)

Canadian photographer Jeff Friesen has created an adorable photo series that depicts the imaginary lives of plastic toy animals.

A dog sits in a plastic tub filled with water in Taipei, Taiwan, 28 July 2020. Betel nut seller Mr Luo, the dog's owner, said he puts his dog, a 12-year-old mixed breed called Ah Dai (Stupid), in a plastic tub filled with water whenever the weather gets hot. Ah Dai enjoys the bath and can sit in the basin for hours, according to Mr Luo. Luo has a dozen pairs of glasses for Ah Dai, so the dog wears different glasses every day and many tourists take photos of Ah Dai. (Photo by David Chang/EPA/EFE)

Stuart Haygarth hangs his spectacle chandelier at The Lighthouse, Scotland's national Architecture Design Centre on November 29, 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland. The 7ft chandelier is made of over 1000 pairs of glasses, and is one of a range of products the designer has made out of recycled products. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Jim Dingilian’s incredible bottle art is much more complex than the traditional building of ships inside of bottles. The detailed scenes trapped inside recycled glass bottles are made with just candle smoke. The artist burns the inside, then carefully etches away the residue, revealing imagery of trees, cars, and industrial landscapes within the confines of each bottle.

Australian craftsman Moerkey, also known as Michael Moerkerk, recycles discarded keys and transforms them into unique works of art. It all started when he was supposed to be cleaning out his shed and he came across some old copper pipe. He then cut it into rings and began honing a technique that lead to the creation of decorative spheres, bowls, figures, and more.

Chinese artist Kong Ning walks in her costume made of hundreds of orange plastic blowing horns during her art performance raising awareness of the hazardous smog in front of the Drum tower in a historical part of Beijing on a very polluted day December 7, 2015. Kong, whose works include themes related to China's air pollution problem, named her new performance “The Orange Horns Bride Marries the Blue Sky” and presented it dressed in orange, the colour of the second highest pollution alert level issued again in Beijing as hazardous smog blankets the capital. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)