How to Dispose of Your Old Electronic Items?

Still, wondering how to dispose of your old electronic items? Well, there’s a whole lot of trash that needs to be discarded worldwide. And, safe and sustainable disposal methods are all you need for proper electronic recycling.

Keep on reading to know how to dispose of your old electronic items?

· Buy Smart 

The first step in implementing proper electronic recycling services is to buy quality products that you don’t need to replace frequently. This will not only help you save a lot on your budget also keep the outdated electronic items winding up in the trash. You will also find a number of eco-friendly products that will not impact the environment negatively.

· Donate or sell 

If you have electronic items that are still working but haven’t retained their value, you can consider donating them. You can donate them to a person in need or you can even sell them and earn some extra cash.

· Recycle 

Did you know that the old electronic items contain certain harmful toxins and chemicals that can harm the environment if not disposed of properly? Exposure to these toxins can put the planet, animal, and even human health at risk. So, to keep the toxins out of a landfill, you can consider hiring professional electronic recycling services.

However, it is important that you hire an electronic recycling provider who has years of experience in the field and ensures to provide you with the best electronic recycling services. But, how can you find the best electronic recycling service provider?

Well, with so many options available, it can become a bit challenging task to choose the best professional who can provide you with environmentally friendly e-waste services. You can take the help of the internet and go through the online reviews posted by the former clients to get a good idea about the services. Apart from this, you can also ask for references from your family members or friends who can help you choose the right e-waste service provider.

Seven Advantages of Recycling E-waste

E-waste can be anything. Vast quantities of appliances, phones, and other e-waste (electric waste) are dumped in a landfill daily, though most of it can be recycled. Encouraging the concept of electronic recycling, e-waste companies are putting in every effort that helps.

Read on and learn about seven benefits of recycling e-waste-

1. Shields the Environment

With the help of e-waste recycling, preventing surroundings from toxic materials and recovering mercury from lighting recycling to reuse become easy.

2. Lowers Business Costs

The business encourages corporate electronic recycling, which is not only helpful for mother nature but also boosts saving resources.

Old desktops or other parts of computers, which are of no use anymore, cannot be trashed as their interior components can be recycled for better purposes.

3. Supports Non-renewable Recycling

The developing demand for electronic appliances and devices defines a range of metals and other non-renewable resources required to be processed and mined.

4. Exhibits your Eco-friendly Credentials

Employees increasingly want to work for the community and environment.

Recycling is a tangible and simple way to demonstrate your firm’s commitment to environmental and social values.

However, many materials used to create appliances, smartphones, and other e-waste can be recycled easily.

5. E-waste is a Simple Method

You might have witnessed those places where you can drop off the TV, old phone, chargers, or other household devices. It's for recycling purposes.

6. Healthier Results for Humans

Reduction in mining activities to make materials required for the technology will cut the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that directly impact humans.

Reusing items or buying recycled items helps the earth replenish itself, resulting in influencing a healthier environment.

7. Growth in Economy

It is imperative, but the lesser-known advantage of e-waste recycling, which will boost the economy. With the economic benefit, the recycled items become prominent. Further, the number of natural resources increases once the harmful practices and deforestation are diminished. It will persuade financial gain for the nation.

The easiest and most financially fruitful way to begin e-waste recycling is by getting in touch with a reputable recycling company.

Why you should consider Electronic Recycling Services for your Business?

The term recycling is often associated with reusing paper or plastic. But, do you know that electronic devices such as computers or phones can be recycled too. Businesses produce a lot of electronic waste, especially IT companies. So, it is important for businesses to invest in effective recycling services or electronic waste data destruction services.

Here are some of the benefits that highlight the importance of considering electronic recycling services for your business.

· Reduce harmful waste 

One of the main reasons why businesses should focus on electronic recycling services is to reduce the amount of harmful waste. Throwing away electronics without proper disposal can affect the environment in a number of ways. For example, some electronics carry metals such as mercury and lead, which can leak out and damage land, water, and the surroundings. So, by choosing electronic recycling, companies can help in protecting the environment.

· Upgrade old equipment 

The electronic items are likely to wear out or break down after some time. But, when these items are removed and recycled, businesses have a chance to invest in better quality equipment. This means your business gets a chance to upgrade to new equipment. This is also true if the company buys surplus equipment giving the business money to invest in new computers, laptops, and other equipment.

· Repurpose electronics 

The outdated electronics provide raw materials that can be repurposed in manufacturing plants. This means, with the process of electronic recycling, the old or outdated equipment can be given new life and a new purpose. So, the disposal of electronic items is not only better for the environment but is beneficial for the manufacturers as well.

· Recycling is good for the economy 

Goods made from recycled materials use less water, create less pollution, and use less energy. In addition to this, recycling reduces the production cost by avoiding manufacturing components from scratch.

To conclude, electronic recycling can be as simple as taking care of the products. However, it is important that you look for an electronic recycling provider who can help you get rid of electronic waste in a safe and efficient manner. You can take the help of the internet or ask for references from your family members or friends to find the best electronic recycling service provider.

Ewaste Companies And Their Pivotal Role In Recycling Different Electronic Devices

Discarding a wide range of mobile phones, electronic items, and gadgets that are obsolete without any second thought can bring devastating results. The electronic items that are near to their lifecycle’s end are more likely to generate toxic emissions and pose various health hazards. Therefore, it is pivotal to recycle all products that have outlived their lifespan and they should be recycled in an appropriate manner. Ewaste companies work with global and regional companies in providing compliant IT disposition and recycling of end-of-life electronics.

A Wide Array of Items that Various Ewaste Companies Accept:

1. Mobile phones
2. Obsolete IT assets
3. LCD monitors
4. Network equipment
5. Printers and copiers
6. Internet of Things (IoT) devices

Statistics assert that more than 5.2 million tons of electronics are dismantled in 2021. When it comes to the electronic goods recycling industry, substantial growth in revenues has been noticed. By 2022, nearly 50 billion digitally connected devices are expected worldwide.

The old computer monitors comprise cathode ray tubes that were also used in traditional televisions consist of the toxins. Also, computers contain thousands of chemicals, including cadmium, mercury, and lead that can cause respiratory illness, cancer, and other health problems. It is important to recycle them without causing any harm to the environment. The services of electronic recyclers help companies and businesses to mitigate potential risks and eliminate the chances of data breaches and data thefts.

Data destruction plays a requisite role in destroying the hard drive in a way that nobody could recover the information. It is significant to find the most experienced recycling providers with proven prowess in destroying the data in a proper way so that it becomes impossible to retrieve. Countless agencies specialize in offering ITAD services, on-site, and off-site data destruction. They implement techniques needed for wiping data from hard drives and they prevent it from going into the wrong hands. The adept teams employed by ewaste companies in fresno ca make sure that all electronics are handled in compliance with industry standards.

An Insight Into IT Asset Management

Modern businesses are highly dependent on assets to carry out their everyday operations. Without a reliable process of IT asset management (ITAM), keeping track of your software, hardware, non-IT and virtual assets can be a challenging task. This is the reason why ITAM is so crucial.

IT asset management

IT asset management is a process that makes sure that the assets of an organization are accounted for, maintained, upgraded, disposed of and deployed when required. It is the process that ensures that the crucial items of a business are tracked and used properly. Services of ITAD companies make sure that the old or obsolete IT assets of an organization are disposed of properly and no harm to the environment is caused in their disposal.

An IT asset can be a software, hardware or any information that is used by an organization. The assets have a finite period of use and thus optimizing their value is crucial for their lifecycle management. Management of IT assets is not a one-on-one duty. It calls for the effective management over their complete lifecycle to comprehend the entire cost of ownership and to optimize their usage. Thus, by committing to an ITAM process, you get to decrease security and compliance risks and set up a system for removing ineffective processes and redundancies.

Advantages of IT asset management

Boosts utilization and removes waste

ITAM makes sure that the unnecessary stuff is reduced. It concentrates on eradicating waste and saves money by ensuring that there are no superfluous purchases. Old and no longer useful IT assets are handled with the assistance of electronic recyclers.

Creates order

When your organization is not used to ITAM, your assets might be spread across the business and tracked in distinct places by distinct people. Where there is no particular tool in place for centralizing the information, the probability for inaccuracy increases. With the help of ITAM, organizations get to create order. When a single location is provided to keep track of IT assets, employees and management can concentrate on other vital aspects of their business.

Best practices of IT asset management

Understand that ITAM is a continuing process

ITAM is an ongoing process and not something that has a definite end date. When ITAM becomes a continuing routine, it becomes easier to maintain and track. Regular management implies that there is lesser chance of your ITAM getting abandoned in the process. Effective management of IT assets makes sure that organizations follow compliance when it comes to recycling their waste with the help of ewaste companies.

ITAM follows a proactive approach

When ITAM is implemented as an ongoing practice, you will always be ready for inventory checks and audits. This proactive approach leads to reduced last-minute responses and added readiness on the part of the business.

Have a clear plan

Take your time instead of trying to handle all things at once. Start off with an inventory check and then move on to the next steps after it has been done. A mannered approach results in an efficient and smooth process.

Implement an ITAM team

When you set up an ITAM team by either hiring new employees or using your existing employees, you allow the processes to organically develop. It is vital that you encourage dialogue and feedback between the ITAM team and other parts of the business to make way for added improvement and development.

Prioritize automation

Spreadsheets can get clunky and inaccurate with time. You should consider an asset management system that can help you immensely. When you automate the steps of the process, things like file repositories, compliance reports and email reports are taken care of.

Donating Or Recycling – Managing The Problem Of Ewaste Either Way

Electronic waste is not your regular waste stream. It is a major worldwide problem that seems to be growing at a very fast pace. The only solution is if we mend our ways and decide to make intelligent purchases instead of rampant ones. Other than that, a big responsibility that everyone must fulfill is to carefully and ethically recycle this electronic waste every time we feel the need to discard our used electronics. E-waste comprises our used smartphones, computers, laptops, Bluetooth speakers, home assistant, air conditioners, refrigerators, home theatre systems, and DVD players, scanners, fax machines, and a lot more that runs on electricity.

Donating Or Recycling Electronics - Which Way To Go?

You can either choose an electronic recycling Fresno company or simply donate the electronic items that you do not need anymore. Either way, you are going to be helping the environment a lot. Electronic items that you use daily such as computers and radios, toasters, and coffee makers are made from several valuable resources and materials. But when you discard these items in the landfills or out in the open, those very sources turn into poisonous and carcinogenic compounds. When you consider them for further processing, these items are valuable. But when you let these compounds seep into the environment, they can be very harmful to our fauna and flora.

Recycling is a great way to prevent that from happening. Instead of discarding your electronic items, you can gift them to somebody who needs them more.

Do you know that recycling 1 million laptops can save a humongous amount of electricity used in a year? The same amount of electricity can power up nearly 3,500 homes in the US. Also, for every 1 million cell phones that we recycle, close to 35,000 pounds of copper can be extracted from them. Not just this, but 772 pounds of silver and 75 pounds of gold can be extracted from the same amount of cell phones that we recycle every year. These compounds can be put to better use if you choose a dependable electronic recycling provider in your city.

What Happens To Your Electronics When They Come To The End Of Their Useful Life Cycle?

Unfortunately, the majority of our electronic products do not get recycled. They end up in our landfills which is a very dangerous activity. Close to only 20% of the e-waste that we produce daily, gets recycled ethically and efficiently. According to a study by the UN, nearly 50 million tons of e-waste is discarded every year across the world. Now you know what amount of aluminum, titanium, tin, iron, copper, gold, and silver can be recovered from recycling even 50% of the ewaste that we produce globally.

Final Thoughts

It is going to require a massive change in our attitudes if we genuinely want to eradicate this problem from its roots. Electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream at the moment and the only way to prevent it from expanding further is by spreading awareness about it. Look for solar panel recycling and other dependable electronic recycling services around you. Find out as much as you can about their recycling methodologies. It is time we started paying attention to the condition of our only planet, the one that we call home.

How ITAD Services Help An Organization?

Replacing, reselling or removing your old IT equipment accounts for a huge task and requires the assistance of a reliable service provider. There are multiple things to consider like the sensitive data of your organization, environmental compliances and the logistical compliances. ITAD companies make sure that the rigorous process of disposing of old or obsolete IT assets is carried out in a reliable manner. ITAD vendors provide the below mentioned services:

Data center discovery

When your new IT assets arrive, it is vital to get rid of the old ones and decouple them from your infrastructure. This is an activity that calls for a step-by-step process. The data bearing devices need to be fully uninstalled and stripped of their network access. Specialized contractors, machinery, networking experience, discovery software and good knowledge of data center environments are important ITAD service provider capabilities for the purpose of data center teardowns.

Data erasure

It is vital for corporations to prevent data leak at all costs and safeguard their sensitive information. It is vital that data is erased effectively from all the equipment pieces. Data erasure can be carried out by ITAD services both remotely or on site.

Data security

It is important to consider the speed, expenditures and regulations of distinct options. In certain industries, data erasure is all the more important owing to strict regulations. For instance, companies that offer financial services need to comply with the NIST standard of data erasure in certain cases. HIPAA laws are pivotal in the healthcare industry.

A good ITAD company customizes your requirements of data erasure to the required protocols for data erasure. They also meet the degaussing and hard drive shredding policies your company might have in place.

Transport and logistics

Since servers are heavy, transporting them to disposal sites becomes a huge chore that also introduces the probability of their damage while transporting. Reliable corporate electronic recycling services or ITAD vendors are able to manage a migration of any size within your schedule. They are able to offer you an audit trail and documentation for the disposal of all IT assets.

Asset remarketing

Even though obtaining capital back from surplus IT assets is not a priority for big corporations, it still helps a lot of other organizations. In case your assets do not have a considerable value, the ITAD service should be able to subtract it from your bottom line cost for their services.

Recycling and disposition

When the IT assets have been removed and their data destroyed, you are prepared to dispose of the assets with no value. When you hire the services of an ITAD company, you ensure that your IT assets are disposed of in a safe manner. You need to look for an R2 or E-Stewards certified local electronic waste recycling or ITAD vendor in order to avoid contributing to the rising problem of electronic waste.

When you partner with a trustworthy ITAD partner, you quicken the process of introducing new equipment in your organization. You remove the man hours needed to deal with the tiresome task of data decommissioning and ITAD.

Discovering The Benefits Of Timely E-Waste Recycling

The very first thing that you will notice is that timely recycling of electronic waste enables us to recover not just reusable plastic and metal but various precious elements as well. It helps us save our natural resources and enables us to reduce pollution by conserving landfill spaces.

Do you know that recycling 1 million cell phones can help us recover around 75 pounds of gold? This is an astounding amount of precious metal in addition to 772 pounds of silver, 35,000 pounds of copper which is a great conductor of electricity, and also 33 pounds of palladium.

Various electronic waste recycling services also encourage the end-user to participate in take-back coalitions and committees. This is the only way to prevent this e waste from reaching developing countries and polluting their environment. It also helps you save nearly 1.5 tons of water and 530 pounds of fossil fuel. According to studies, these resources, in addition to 40 pounds of chemicals go into manufacturing just a single computer and monitor. Now you know why we need national electronic recycling and data destruction on a larger scale.

The Electronic Recycling Process - Wrapping Your Head Around It

The entire process of data destruction and electronic recycling can be very tiring and complex. All the sophisticated and state-of-the-art devices that we discard so frequently contain varying proportions of metals and toxic compounds as well. They also comprise glass, plastics, sockets, circuits, wires, and a lot more. This is why many ITAD companies resort to the manual separation of these parts as well. For other complicated processes, there are sophisticated, machines and plants in place. Let us begin with a general overview of the entire process of electronic recycling in the simplest words:

Collection And Transportation Of E Waste

These are two processes that are combined to make sure that none of the e-waste gets in the hands of uninformed and informal handlers. This is the first step towards effective and ethical recycling of hardware such as computers, screens, processors, air conditioners, smartphones, home assistants, Bluetooth speakers, and a lot more. These electronic waste items are transferred to specific locations where they are handled by skilled and qualified professionals.

Shredding, Sorting, And Separation Of IT Assets

Once all the electronic waste is collected at a single place, the various waste products are sorted out and categorized. The items that need to be crushed and recycled are separated from the ones that can be put to reuse. The separation of plastics from several metals and compounds, internal circuits, wires, and other objects is carried out very carefully.

Many ewaste companies also employ water separation technology to segregate glass from plastic objects. Any remaining metal remnants are also located and extracted during the final stages of separation.

The items that are to be recycled are sent to the shredder. And finally, the ones that are to be resold, are kept in separate containers either to be processed or repaired or just sold raw to hardware stores across the city. This is how ewaste recycling works and it is time we became a part of this process before it is too late.

The Most Important Things to Consider In Your ITAD Company

ITAD is the acronym for IT asset disposition. When organizations are required to upgrade or dispose of endpoint hardware or data center equipment, they consider the services of ITAD services. In order to make sure that you choose the best ITAD firm, here’s a look at the important questions that you need to consider:

Does the company provide full life cycle management?

Reliable ITAD companies will assist you in all stages of the process of disposition. They will operate with you as full service partner throughout the life cycle of your hardware and related equipment. Managing data center hardware is not something that can be done in one go. Whether you are undertaking a refresh cycle or decommissioning a data center, your ITAD partner will know what needs to be done.

Does the company have appropriate certifications?

It is vital that you effectively check credentials of the ITAD company and make sure that the vendor is a knowledgeable one. In certain cases, especially around issues like data sanitization, you might be subject to regulatory compliance. Here’s a look at the important certifications that you need to consider in your vendor when it comes to corporate electronic recycling:

R2 (Responsible Recycling)

R2 accounts for the recycling standard that is administered by SERI (Sustainable Electronics Recycling International). R2 specifies that recycling should be done responsibly and offers a rigorous process to make sure that organizations adhere to the standard.

ADISA certification

ADISA stands for Asset Disposal & Information Security Alliance. ADISA carries out audits of companies that desire to become a part of the alliance. It also offers support to companies that are seeking to attain the top in-class control concerning physical security of data-bearing hardware and data sanitization.

NIST SP 800-88 compliance

NIST is the U.S. National Institute for Standards and Technology. It offers precise and all-inclusive guidance for U.S. government entities and companies to make sure that they follow the best data destruction practices.

Is the vendor good with IT asset recovery?

Organizations need to make sure that their chosen ITAD vendor can depict a track record of returning value to their clients. You need to check the results of the vendor for their other clients. Do not just accept the first offer that you receive. Always shop around and consider a second opinion.

Does the ITAD company possess know-how on compliance and security?

Your chosen ITAD company should have the capability to handle the process of remarketing in a secure and compliant manner. The rising value of data-centered assets and the rise of cloud centers imply that ITAD is not just an exercise in disposal. This also implies that industry experience around information and security is of crucial importance for effective electronic waste recycling.

Here’s a look at the important questions you can ask your ITAD company:

• What industry regulations can you demonstrate compliance with?
• What is the number of secure disposition projects have you completed?
• How do you utilize technology to manage an ITAD project?
• What process checks do you need to guarantee the integrity of the plan?

How Your Business Benefits From The Services Of Hard Drive Destruction

The one thing that is common in all businesses, government agencies, medical offices and multiple other organizations is the usage of computers on an everyday basis. The organizations use computers to store, create, email and share sensitive information. With the expansion of technology, electronic data is enormously increasing. Huge amount of information gets passed around online and is saved on hard drives. Thus, it is vital that you take measures to ensure that your data is safe and there is no risk of exposure. This will ensure that your business does not have any losses.

In case you have been running a business for a long time, you must have realized that in order to attain success, you need to keep up with technology. In case your equipment gets damaged, you are needed to replace it and this will leave your office space with hosts of hard drives lying around. Secure disposal of drives via hard drive destruction services is vital. You might feel that getting rid of hard drives on your own will be cost-effective but this will leave your data at the risk of being retrieved and used for malicious purposes. It is important that hard drives are securely destroyed so that the data present on them can never be retrieved.

When you throw away your hard drives, you leave your company, clients and employees at risk. Hence, it is crucial for your business that you hire a professional company that can carry out the task of hard drive destruction for you. The company needs to be specialized in the right and efficient destruction of electronic data storage media. Let us look at the most important advantages of hard drive destruction:

Data is completely removed

Hackers can easily retrieve data from hard drives that are thrown away, erased or somewhat damaged. A secure data destruction process is needed to make sure that the data on hard drives become unrecoverable. Physical destruction of hard drives acts a                                                              s the sole method of securely destroying drives and making sure that data cannot be recovered. It is important that the process is carried out by a professional company.

Peace of Mind

The effective destruction of your sensitive information will offer you peace of mind that it is disposed of in the right manner. You won’t be at the risk of any expensive data breaches. Your hard drives get efficiently destroyed when you hire a quality, trusted and reliable company.

Frees up office space

Storing old drives in your office just consumes valuable office space. You can easily free up this space by using hard drive destruction services. By hiring a professional you get to save up a lot of time and your job gets done safely and quickly.

Follows the compliance legislation

It is crucial for you to dispose of your sensitive data in the right manner owing to privacy legislations like HIPAA and FACTA. Services of hard drive destruction and electronic recycling are under these legislations. When you follow these legislations, your company remains in compliance with privacy laws and your business does not have to face any risks.

A reliable hard drive destruction company will do the following for you:

• Dispose of your hard drives in a compliant and professional manner
• Record the items that are destroyed and provide clients with a detailed report for complete traceability of their hard drives
• Carry out destruction processes with the help of qualified and trained specialists
• Provide hassle-free and quick services
• Offer services that are in compliance with the WEEE directive waste regulations
• Offer security and safety of your belongings

Other Resources: 4 Things Most People Don’t Realize About Electronic Waste

3 Considerations Of End Of Life Hardware Destruction

What is really going to astound you now are the statistics associated with e-waste. Do you know that close to 1.7 billion smartphones were purchased in the year 2020 alone? This number is going to increase by multiples by the time 2022 begins. We will have produced more than 52.2 million metric tons of e-waste by the year has ended.

The majority of the people in the US upgrade their smartphones and mobile phones almost every 2 years. This means that there is a rising amount of electronic waste that we produce and there is probably no effective way to get rid of it all efficiently. Part of the problem is that we are choosing to turn a blind eye to the hazards electronic waste is putting our environment through at the moment. There is a lot that we still do not know about end-of-life hardware destruction and electronic recycling as a whole. The following section aims to explain a few important considerations when opting for electronic recyclers:

1. Your Negligence Can Cause Data Breach  

It is not a surprise that if we fail to delete all the data on our hard drives and computers, laptops, and smartphones, we run the risk of incurring heavy financial losses. Perhaps one of your employees has left their username and password negligently written down somewhere or at a spot that is accessible to anyone who passes by; this will put their data and important company records at risk. The information that you want to keep safe and secure in your servers and systems will be out in the open for anyone to exploit. You cannot let sensitive company data get into the hands of unreliable and untrustworthy individuals at any cost. This is a major consideration when going for electronic recycling. Mitigation of risk attached to data breaches resulting from callous e-waste management is something that we still haven't been able to ensure.

2. Beware Of Electronic Toxicities  

This is also a factor that you have to be aware of whenever recycling electronics. All the personal tech that we own contains some kind of chemical and harmful compounds within them. The level of mercury and chromium that our environment gets exposed to the moment we discard our electronics is significant. These chemicals and harmful compounds can easily reach us through our water supplies and food. The crops that we grow can get polluted with these chemicals if we do not recycle our old electronics correctly. Yes, our smartphones, computers and printers, and tablets can be very dangerous to us if we do not contain the harmful effects of these gadgets and discard them off in the most environmentally friendly manner.

3. Reusing Usable Devices

The leading electronic recycling providers are of the opinion and even strongly recommend that you should try to find uses for old and obsolete gadgets within your home. Your iPod or perhaps your old iPhone and computer and tablets can be given a new lease of life if you are only able to find original equipment manufacturer-supplied batteries. You can make them usable all over again and prevent them from reaching your landfills a little too early.

Final Thoughts  

We can't be just sitting around and waiting for a miracle to happen. We are constantly releasing several dangerous chemicals into the environment by the way of exposing them to electronic waste that we produce every year. We cannot afford to be negligent with the only planet that we have. It is time we started preserving it by curbing the amount of electronic waste that we produce and also finding better ways to utilize older technologies.

Save Your Environment with E-Waste Recycling

Electronic waste recycling and end of life hardware destruction provide a range of environmental benefits. E-waste includes stuff like printers, computers, stereos, TVs, etc. Commercial places also comprise of electronic waste like imaging equipment, broken dialysis machines, autoclaves, massage chairs, etc.  The waste has become one of the most wildly growing environmental problems across the world. Safe recycling of electronics offers a range of benefits to the environment. Here we will consider the most important environmental benefits of e-waste recycling: 

Decreased mining of virgin materials

A lot of electronic components comprise of metallic elements and minerals that are needed to be mined from distinct mining fields across the world. The nonstop mining of resources leads to their depletion and affects the environment in a negative manner. When you recycle electronic components like circuit boards, significant amount of elements like gold, tin, silver, copper and palladium can be harvested. This results in decreased mining of virgin materials.

Prevention of landfill usage

Landfills are a grave environmental hazard and affect all living beings, be it animals, humans or plants. When you do not recycle e-waste, it ends up with informal and untrained waste operators who dump the waste in landfills. After some time, the toxic, metallic and plastic materials in the electronic waste begin to leech through the ground via landfills and enter the nearby water resources. Electronic recycling reduces landfills that have a negative impact on the environment and water bodies. When you hand over the responsibility of electronic waste to certified e-waste recyclers, you get to ensure that effective care is taken to reuse the elements that can be recycled and reused. 

Safeguard water bodies from toxic waste poisoning 

As discussed above, landfills release toxic chemicals into the groundwater and these chemicals enter the nearby freshwater bodies and wells. This water is then consumed by animals and people who become sick owing to chemical poisoning. E-waste recycling helps prevent a good amount of toxic chemicals from leaching into water bodies and makes sure that water is kept safe and fresh. 

Reduction in air pollution 

Electronic waste recycling helps in reducing air pollution owing to toxic gases. When you ensure that your old and obsolete electronics are recycled effectively and not burned directly, you do your part in making sure that the poisonous gases do not get released into the air. When e-waste is burned, the high temperature on the components leads to the release of poisonous gases into the air which negatively impacts the living beings. 

Save energy and land

When metals are produced from mining ores, a good amount of land and energy are consumed. Drilling of holes underground leads to the places becoming wasteland and this harms the environment. The holes can also destabilize the surrounding grounds when there are heavy rains. When you use the services of an electronic recycling provider to recycle e-waste, you help limit continuous mining and assist the environmentalists save energy and avoid wastage of land. 

Reduction of health hazards on the environment

When electronic waste is disposed of improperly in a place, the local residents experience health problems like skin disease that arise from the improper disposal of electronic waste. When the environment suffers, people suffer too. Effective electronic waste recycling helps in protecting the environment from toxic and hazardous substances that can affect people who utilize these natural resources. You can get rid of environmental hazards from poisonous gases, leeching metals and dust from burning and mining waste by safe recycling of electronic waste. 

Promote fisheries resources

E-waste contains toxins and when the waste is dumped in landfills, it leeches into water bodies and kill fish and other aquatic animals. Electronic recycling reduces water poisoning and keeps the water fresh for plants and animals.  

How Electronic Waste Affects Our Health and the Environment

In order to stay relevant and operational in the market, a lot of businesses today have to rely on electronics. With the increasing demands on business, the need for electronics also increases. Businesses increasingly look for smartest and fastest technologies that can effectively handle their everyday workload. With the increasing speed of technological innovation in the society, one needs to be careful of the way in which they dispose of their electronics when they reach their end of life. It is vital that services of electronic recycling and end of life hardware destruction are utilized to get rid of the electronic waste responsibly. Let us have a look into what e-waste is and how it impacts the environment and our health: 

Insight into e-waste 

Electronic waste or e-waste denotes any electronic device that is no longer functional or useful and has become obsolete. E-waste is considered to be one the fastest growing streams of waste across the world. It comprises of all the unusable, broken and outdated/obsolete components, devices and materials. E-waste also comprises of items that can be effectively recycled with the help of an electronic recycling program that includes electronics that can be easily reused, recycled, salvaged or resold.  

The harmful effects of electronic waste 

A lot of people get a false sense of security with their electronics. They are unaware of the harmful effects that accompany their old electronics. They think that their obsolete devices are non-hazardous. However, this is not the case. The seemingly benign exterior and the sleek surfaces of the old electronics do not portray them as stuff that can present any harm to our health or to the health of the environment. The exterior might mislead you into believing that the substances are safe but it is the interior that makes the e-waste so dangerous. 

The inside of the electronic waste contains harmful substances like lead, mercury, beryllium, arsenic, cadmium and brominated flame retardants. These substances can pose serious health concerns if they are not handled carefully with the help of an electronic recycling provider. The substances can cause severe illnesses, neurological damage and organ damage. The issues are a grave risk to the workers who directly handle electronic waste and present a threat to the communities that are shipped superfluous electronic waste.

Impact of e-waste on the environment 

Electronic waste has a negative impact on the water, soil and air of the earth. 

Impact on water

Electronics like computer batteries and mobile contain heavy metals like mercury, lithium, barium and lead. When these contaminants are disposed of in a landfill or handled improperly, they can leak into the soil and ultimately reach the groundwater. Once they reach groundwater, heavy metals make their way into ponds, lakes, rivers and streams. The heavy metals lead to the toxicity of the water tables and they become unfeasible for plants, animals and communities that depend on them. 

Impact on soil

Soil acts as medium by which heavy metals get water and thus is affected by the harmful contaminants. E-waste leads to a negative impact on the soil which ultimately affects the crop and the food. When soil gets contaminated by heavy metals that seep out of electronic waste, the crops and the food is impacted negatively. This leads to illnesses in humans.

Impact on the atmosphere

Many utilize the burning of electronic waste as a way of disposing it of or of extracting valuable metals like copper from it. Nevertheless, the burning of electronic devices like computer monitors can result in the release of pollutants like heavy metals, brominated dioxins and hydrocarbons into the air. This affects the air quality and our health. Thus, it is vital that electronic recycling services are utilized to handle e-waste reliably. 

How Can You Identify A Professional E-Waste Recycling Company?

 

Electronic waste comprises of computer equipment and other IT assets that are generally utilized in businesses and also certain homes. The disposal of electronic waste needs consideration as it can lead to the leakage of sensitive and confidential information. Hackers and other third party people can retrieve data from e-waste. Thus, it is vital that services of corporate electronic recycling are utilized to dispose of the e-waste in a responsible manner.   

It is vital that you maintain confidentiality by choosing the right electronic waste recycling company that works in compliance with the quality standards and rules for e-waste recycling. Here’s a look at the vital qualities of a professional e-waste recycling company that you need to consider: 

Experienced Staff

Professional and reliable e-waste recycling companies are equipped with highly trained staff. The workers of the company comprehend the concepts that are involved in the recycling of e-waste and you won’t be concerned about the safety of your data anymore. Staff that is qualified well comprehends the significance of not compromising data that pose a business at risk. The staff is knowledgeable about the value of your electronic equipment and will stick to your rules in order to ensure that you are completely satisfied with their services. 

Right equipment

A reputable hard drive destruction or e-waste recycling company has high-tech equipment and the right facilities to make sure that they maintain appropriate quality for recycling electronic waste.  Cutting-edge equipment helps in proving that no data can be retrieved from the electronic gadgets that are getting recycled. In the same way, a company needs to have the right equipment to sort out the electronic waste and pack appropriately depending on the value of the electronic waste. The crucial thing with advanced equipment is that they guarantee that all assets are destroyed successfully which prevents any leakage of data and information.

  

Availability

Availability is a great quality that electronic waste recycling companies are required to maintain in order to keep a good reputation. Companies that are readily available to handle your electronic waste are extremely advantageous, especially when you are dealing with a range of electronics in your business. In the event of an emergency, the recycler should be in a position to cater to your needs and their working hours should be flexible. The availability of a company can significantly diminish the cost of keeping the e-waste in your business. Your business also receives protection from unauthorized people.    

Offers a reasonable price

A reliable e-waste recycling company will not charge you unfairly for disposing of your old and obsolete electronic equipment. The company should permit its clients to negotiate the prices and should also provide discounts to keep their clients happy and attract new clients. Similarly, the recycling company should provide you a reasonable and clear estimation of the all-inclusive price for you to consider for recycling your equipment. You would be working within a specific budget and the recycling company need to ensure that it provides you trustworthy services according to your budget and quality should not be compromised. You won’t be concerned about the pricing anymore as the recycling company will offer you suggestions about the affordable and the most effective mode of payment.  

The employees of today need to work with organizations that do their part for the community and the environment. Recycling of electronic waste is an easy and effective way for an organization to depict its commitment to environmental and social values and reinforce these principles to their employees. Reliable local electronic waste recycling services operate under strict environmental compliance and are certified to carry out their job effectively. 

Why Recycling Of E-waste Is Necessary?

 

With the improvement in technology, the size of electronic devices is decreasing. Readers can understand this by checking how big the first computer was. Accordingly, they can compare it with new laptops. There’s a huge difference between the sizes of both. Also, with time, people are more relying on modern computers instead of employees for work. In many areas like printing tickets, computers have replaced manpower. In the future, when AI/ML technologies will be fully developed, the requirement of humans for work may decrease at a great extent. From this, one can understand the explosive growth of e-waste companies devices and electronic waste recycling services. These services are provided by electronic recyclers and companies.

Now every coin has two sides. No one can deny the fact that there are tremendous benefits of these devices. But, there are also, a lot of harmful effects like increasing pollution and carbon emission. That’s why it is important to acknowledge the harmful effects and start focusing on data destruction and national electronic recycling. For this, individuals or Businesses can hire E-waste companies. 

What’s E-waste?

When the electronic devices reach the end of life state, they are termed as Electronic waste. These devices are unable to conduct their basic operations. For example, an outdated laptop has no supporting graphics and software. Accordingly to some researches, 20% of the electronic waste is Recycled while 80% still ends up in landfills. This 80% of E-waste is the main reason for increasing land and air pollution. 

Why E-waste recycling is necessary?

• Saving natural resources: When electronic waste is Recycled, the core natural components are easily reused. Now manufacturing companies can use them for creating new devices. For example, suppose the mercury is extracted from the recycling process. There is no need to extract new Mercury by depleting natural resources. That’s how natural resources are saved by Recycling. 

• Less carbon emission: Continuing the above discussion, the usage of oil decreases as the machines are not used for extracting oil. That’s why carbon emission is low. Many countries are working delicately to reduce the carbon emission as they’ve to fulfil the promises of Paris agreement. 

• Fewer chances of identity theft: Many people throw their electronic devices without even considering the data. That’s why when these devices are recovered by computer professionals or black hat hackers, the data is recovered. That’s why the process of carding becomes easier. In carding, the credit and debit card numbers are recovered. Hackers use them for making huge purchases for their living. Not only this but social media profiles are also recovered for blackmailing them. 

Many people think that they’ve deleted entire data and no one can recover it. That’s a big mistake. By using just two or three software, hackers can recover the data. Let’s understand how:

When the data is deleted, the threads pointing to the data are deleted. These are called pointers. Now when the data is deleted from Recycle bin, the data is deleted. But, it can still be recovered because that’s temporary deletion. To delete the data permanently, one should clear the recycle bin and overwrite the data multiple times. Only then it can be permanently deleted. 

• Fewer chances of getting involved in legal battles: If the data of businesses get compromised then they may have to pay huge fines. The investors or clients may even file lawsuits for cheating or leaking data. Here the market reputation is also affected. That’s why businesses should always choose permanent method or deletion. If the quantity of electronic devices is huge then hiring electronic waste recycling companies can be a good idea. They are Certified and after deletion, they provide Certificate of permanent data removal.

Ways in Which Kids Can Help In Solving the Problem of E-Waste

 

Did you know that an average home has 24 electronic products? When you stop using your electronic products, they become electronic waste or e-waste. It is vital that this e-waste of yours does not end up in trash. Even small stuff like batteries and smartphones should not go in trash. E-waste is harmful to the environment and when you throw it in trash; you also end up throwing away the valuable metals present in it. This is why services of local electronic recycling and hard drive destruction are significant. They ensure that the e-waste is handled in the most reliable manner and the valuable substances present in them are recovered effectively.

    

What should you do with your old electronics? 

Give them away for reuse: At times, you have a thing that is still working but you do not use it anymore. The best thing to do here is to give that thing away to somebody who could use it. If you cannot find a friend or a family member who wants that electronic item, you can donate it to a charity.  

Recycle them: If you are not able to find someone who needs your electronic gadget, you can recycle it. Just like bottles or cans or newspapers from your house, electronic items can be recycled too. 

Where should you take your electronic waste for recycling?

There are companies that are happy to take your old electronics items, take them apart and recycle them for important materials like glass, metals and plastic. A lot of these materials can be utilized to make new products. 

Get in touch with a good e-waste recycler: When you are planning to recycle your old electronics, you should consider electronic recycling companies with an e-Stewards certification. E-stewards are recyclers who meet the best standards on how they recycle your stuff. They recycle electronic items in the best possible manner and do not ship them off to poor countries.  

Staples stores: If you are not able to find an e-Steward recycler near your place, you can take some of your electronics back to any Staples Store for the purpose of electronic recycling. Staples is equipped with a free recycling program that works with an e-Steward recycler. 

Best Buy stores: If you have certain big electronic items that Staples cannot take (eg. televisions), you can take these to any Best Buy Store. 

Kids can also learn to fix their broken electronic gadgets on their own or do a fundraiser or smartphone recycling drive in their school. This will also encourage other kids to take e-waste recycling seriously.