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.
