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)

It’s enough to make your head spin. The photographer Katherine Young set out to shoot spiral staircases in London, England to great effect, including this shot she calls the Downward Spiral Part III. (Photo by Katherine Young/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

Wedges of an orange generate enough current and electrical juice – 3.5 volts – to power an LED. The fruit’s citric acid helps electrons flow from galvanized nails to copper wire in this 14-hour exposure. This image was published in September’s Visions of Earth, a trio of photos that appear in each issue of National Geographic. (Photo by Caleb Charland/National Geographic)

Double amputee dog Cora Rose balances on her hind legs to watch Zach Skow repairing her cart on a street in Washington, U.S., May 15, 2019. Cora Rose serves in a prisoner therapy program founded by Skow called “Pawsitive Change” in California. (Photo by Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

Police detain a woman during a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government's handling of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis, near Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on July 24, 2020. (Photo by Ammar Awad/Reuters)

A wildlife caregiver holds an orphaned wombat at the Native Wildlife Rescue center on January 29, 2020 in Robertson, Australia. The center has taken in many burned kangaroos and wallabies injured in recent bushfires. Wombat orphans are often rescued from the pouch of their mothers struck by vehicles. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

A girl wearing a mask to help curb the spread of the corona virus runs through a fountain in Beijing, China, Thursday, August 26, 2021. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

A supporter of former US President Donald Trump waits outside of Trump's President Day event at the Hilton Palm Beach Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, on February 20, 2023. (Photo by Giorgio Viera/AFP Photo)