So, one of your devices—let’s say it’s a computer monitor—finally gives up the ghost and dies on you. What do you do?
Too many people would answer this question by simply tossing the offending monitor into the trash, even though that would be precisely the wrong move. Let’s go over how to properly dispose of your old technology and review the many reasons it is essential to do so.
How Electronics and Old Tech are Recycled
Any device will eventually reach its end of life. Whether this happens for security reasons or because it simply wears out and breaks down, you’ll naturally want to get rid of it… but again, there are plenty of reasons why just throwing out your modern electronics should be avoided in favor of recycling these devices.
We’ll get into these reasons, but first, let’s go over the process that recycling e-waste follows.
The Recycling Process, in a Nutshell
After being specially collected and delivered to the recycling center, all e-waste is carefully separated. To do so, all the waste is shredded and sorted with magnets to capture metal parts, while glass and plastics are separated by water and, finally, by hand.
Once divided, the reclaimed materials are prepared for sale to the manufacturers who will allow them to reenter circulation and be used in new products.
Simple enough, and very important to do.
Why is Recycling e-Waste So Important?
It Keeps Environmentally Hazardous Materials Out of Landfills
Modern electronics contain a wide assortment of metals, including some rarer and more valuable ones, with certain metals appearing in specific devices. These metals include the likes of:
- Aluminium - appears in circuit boards, hard drives, chips, and heat sinks.
- Cobalt - appears in hard drives.
- Copper - appears in cables, heat sinks, circuit boards, chips, and mobile devices.
- Gold - appears in chips, mobile devices, and circuit boards.
- Palladium - appears in hard drives, circuit boards, capacitors, and mobile devices.
- Platinum - appears in circuit boards and hard drives.
- Neodymium - appears in hard drives.
- Nickel - appears in circuit boards.
- Silver - appears in mobile devices, chips, circuit boards, capacitors, and keyboard membranes.
- Tantalum - appears in capacitors and circuit boards.
- Tin - appears in chips and circuit boards.
- Zinc - appears in circuit boards.
Many of these materials are toxic, and when dumped in a landfill, they can harm nearby communities through contaminated runoff and pollute the surrounding environment. Worse, many of these landfills are located in developing countries, disproportionately affecting the people living there with health issues. Properly recycling your old technology helps avoid this outcome.
It Keeps Money and Resources From Being Wasted
While we’ve focused primarily on the environmental ramifications up to this point, it is also financially sound to recycle old and outdated technology.
Despite this, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research reports that 62 million tons of e-waste were generated in 2022, yet only 22.3 percent was recycled. As a result, over $60 billion in resources were wasted, and when only 1 percent of all rare earth materials used in technology are recovered through recycling, this waste is even worse.
What Can (and Therefore Should) Be Recycled?
The list of technologies that can be recycled is pretty extensive:
- Batteries
- Mainframes
- Radios
- CDs and CD Players
- Medical Equipment
- Rechargeable Batteries
- Cell Phones
- Microwaves
- Scanners
- Commercial Equipment
- Military Equipment
- Servers
- Computer Monitors
- Modems
- Small Household Appliances
- Controllers
- Mouse
- Stereos
- Copy Machines
- Network Hubs
- Switching Boxes
- Desktop Computers
- Office Equipment
- Tablets
- Docking Stations
- Office/Home Phones and Equipment
- Telecommunications Equipment
- Fax Machines
- Peripherals
- Televisions
- Gaming Consoles
- Power & Network Cables
- UPS (personal & network)
- Hard Drives
- Printed Circuit Boards
- VCRs
- Keyboards
- Printers
- Laptop Computers
There’s a lot here, indicating just how much of a difference mindfully disposing of technology can make.
Ready to Recycle Some of Your Business’ Old Tech?
Reach out to Voyage Technology. We’ll put you in touch with the right resources and facilitate getting your business the IT to replace the old. Give us a call at 800.618.9844 to learn more.
