Thank you for Subscribing to Environmental Business Review Weekly Brief
Environmental Business Review | Friday, November 05, 2021
Like our priority towards new electric devices, e-waste is also the world’s fastest-growing trash stream.
FREMONT, CA: Everybody uses a box, drawer or shopping bag in a closet filled with old cell phones, obsolete chargers, broken tablets and defunct MP3 players. It’s also plenty of electronic waste. Regrettably, as per government agencies, these loads are increasing, causing considering why e-waste recycling is essential.
Recycling electronic waste (e-waste or e-scrap) has turned into an increasingly important environmental issue as the useful life of electronic devices becomes shorter and shorter, and the list of electronic gadgets we use becomes longer and longer. Therefore, E-waste recycling advantages are countless, and the necessity to address these items in the solid waste stream is becoming more urgent.
Stay ahead of the industry with exclusive feature stories on the top companies, expert insights and the latest news delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe today.
There are several factors to study when assessing electronics recycling, but here are the most significant reasons e-waste recycling is important.
1. It’s crucial to keep electronic waste out of landfills. The EPA has stated that e-waste is hazardous when incorrectly disposed of. Electronic devices are encompassed of toxic substances and heavy metals. Materials such as chromium, mercury, cadmium and lead can leach into the soil polluting the air and waterways. EPA evaluates there are about 60 million tons of e-waste per year globally. Recycling this material will redeem landfill space. For these grounds, many state laws now prohibit e-waste in landfills.
2. Electronic products include valuable materials, including gold, silver and platinum, aluminum, copper, plastic and glass. With the recycling procedure, these materials can be retrieved. Most electronic devices are almost 100% recyclable. It would be poor governance to dump these materials.
3. Recovering precious materials from recycling will decrease the demand for new raw materials. This will help conserve important natural resources. For example, per the EPA, one metric ton of circuit boards holds 800 times the amount of gold mined from one metric ton of ore.
4. Using recycled material will also support the decrease in greenhouse gas emissions produced when manufacturing or processing new products called “virgin material.” The more recycled material is accessible, the lesser the demand for virgin material.
5. Rejected electronic devices can also be kept off landfill if they are refurbished, recycled and donated to a worthy cause. A fast Google search will offer a list of organizations in most areas that rebuild old electronics and provide them to those who otherwise would go without. “Reuse” is crucial to keep material out of the waste stream.
E-waste may create its way into scrapyards, combined with cars, old appliances and industrial scrap managed by the scrap metal recycling industry. Individual recyclers have various approaches how to handling these items. Still, more progress is being made in extracting valuable material and moving these items through recycling.
Municipalities and manufacturers are also carrying out a role in handling e-waste. When state and local governments evaluate a recycling program, more are considering how to handle e-waste as part of their waste disposal system. In addition, in line with the National Conference of State Legislatures, 25 states and the District of Columbia have laws regulating e-waste. On the manufacturing end, products similar to mobile phones have been designed to become obsolete faster and faster. Consequently, manufacturers are encouraged to develop products with longer life spans as one component of the e-waste management strategy.
More in News