The Most Common Hazardous Electronic Items
Since the dawn of the electronic revolution, we have seen nearly every aspect of our lives impacted and improved someway through the use of technology. However, with all of the advancements in technology everywhere, we are also in a cycle of ever-changing tech, which has highlighted a drastic need for our recycling habits to keep up with our handheld tech habits. This article will touch on the most common hazardous electronic items.
Nowadays, we are swapping out tech nearly as often as we are buying new clothing. This means we are throwing away a lot of technology each year as a society. This means we are creating an unimaginable amount of electronic waste each and every year.
Use It And Throw It Away
What we are talking about here is E-waste. This is made up of all of the electronic gear, gadgets, and toys that we purchase and then toss away when they reach the end of their usefulness or become obsolete with the release of a new model. This type of waste is made up of notebooks, old gaming consoles, and cell phones just to name a few items.
Most common E-waste Items And Other Facts
Around the world, there are about 40 million tonnes of electric waste generated each year. This basically equates to about 800 laptops being thrown out every second of the day. Because of this, E-waste makes up nearly 70 percent of the amount of toxic waste in the world, and less than 13 percent of this waste is actually recycled properly. This E-waste that isn’t recycled is sent to landfills, where it finds its way into incinerators and is burnt up, sending a lot of potentially harmful toxins up into the air.
Some of the most commonly thrown out electronics that make up our E-waste surplus are LCD computer monitors, LCD TVs, plasma TVs, and cathode-ray tube TVs and monitors. Cell phones are set to make up a lot of this waste, too, in coming years as there are about 1 billion phones right now, with more and more being produced every year.
The Importance Of Recycling Our Electronics
One of the rarely spoken about reasons why recycling electronics (or e-cycling) is important is the fact that cellphones (as well as many other electronic devices) contain gold, silver, and other precious metals. In the U.S. alone, we are throwing away annually about $60 million worth of these metals. Many of these metals, components, and pieces can be recovered and reused if the equipment is properly recycled.
There are countless laptops in the United States, and recycling just one million of these laptops will be able to save the equivalent amount of energy of 3,600 homes each year.
You And Your E-waste
When it comes to taking care of your own e-waste, there are a lot of options that you have.
The first thing to consider is why your technology has become a waste. Is it broken or obsolete? Or are you simply upgrading your cell phone, and your current model can still be used by someone else? The same idea goes with your computers, televisions, and many other electronics. There are lots of charities around Florida that will reuse your old technology and give it a new life.
If you have electronic waste, contact us today for a certified e-waste recycler to make sure that you are not just throwing out your old technology, but are e-cycling it.