Proper Disposal of E-Waste is Not an Option, It’s the Law
You must dispose of electronic waste properly. Tossing an unwanted radio or unused television into the dumpster may seem like a simple act, but the long-term dangers brought about by tossing broken electronic products into the trash are often irreversible.
Responsible adults understand that the pollution they contribute to this world now has harmful effects that future generations will be forced to handle. Here are some alternative options for disposing of electronic devices that will keep the pollution and chemicals out of the landfills – at least for now.
Donate Your Old Electronics to Charity
Some of the things we like to call garbage are not really broken. However, everything – especially electronics – eventually becomes obsolete and sometimes upgrading the equipment can cost as much or more as getting new equipment. The tendency in this situation is often to discard the old equipment and go buy something shiny and new. The old electronics are thrown into dumpsters even if they still function. What a waste.
Before you dispose of electronic waste consider if it can be used by someone else. If the computer you wish to replace is still working, you might want to donate it to a youth group or community center. These places are usually run on a very low on budget and don’t really have that much money to spend on technology. Help them out by donating some of your stuff. Old computers and televisions are always useful: even old cell phones could come in handy.
As the saying goes “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”.
Hand Over the Old Electronics to the Proper Facility
Industries that are designed to dispose of electronic waste are called e-waste facilities. Their job is to make the hardware as safe as possible before dumping it into the landfill. This means doing things like taking the items apart and recycling usable parts like glass, rubber, and plastic. Damaged parts that cannot be recycled are sometimes burnt or shredded. Also, parts of computers and television sets, such as copper, tin, gold, and nickel, are taken apart and melted together in order to make new cords and pieces using the same ore.
Just be careful when handing in your equipment. Some uscrupulous companies only want to collect electronics for reusable parts that can be resold for high values. After scrapping the product for parts, they won’t make the effort to dispose of electronic waste. Instead these items get shipped overseas and still end up in a landfill.
Keeping E-waste Out of Landfills is Up to You.
Day by day more and more people are becoming aware about the harms posed by the improper disposal of electronic waste. However, just because the public understands that throwing electronic waste in with the trash is dangerous doesn’t mean that they have the right information regarding proper disposal of these products. If you’re not sure how to dispose of ewaste in your area, ask your city recycling department about available agencies that dispose of electronic waste properly.
Author Bio: Need to get rid of old electronics? Visit GreenWorld365.com for instructions to recycle old cell phones and properly dispose of computers.
Category: Computers and Technology
Keywords: electronic waste,ewaste,dispose of ewaste,proper ewaste disposal,get rid of old electronics