Recycling E-Waste is Important!

Discarded electronics often end up in landfills or are incinerated, which can cause major environmental problems. As we've discussed before, electronics are made up of extremely hazardous materials such as lead, mercury and cadmium, and incinerating or dumping electronics lets the harmful chemicals leak into the ground and atmosphere. These harmful chemicals don’t just disappear, so old printers, monitors and phone cords that have been dumped will continue to stay in our landfills for centuries and create tremendous environmental problems for the surrounding areas.

Of the 50 million tons of e-waste per year, only around 20 to 25 percent of it is disposed of safely and properly. That means that 75 percent of electronic waste ends up in landfills-- which is a huge problem. This is why it's so important to recycle your electronic devices, even if finding a place to recycle them is not always easy.

Check with your county to see what options they have for getting rid of e-waste, as there currently are no federal guidelines for dealing with this type of garbage. In some cases you may need to drive the electronics directly to the local dump to be sorted, or go to another designated e-waste collection site.

However, there are also a few other options for consumers to do on their own. Some private companies, including Best Buy and Home Depot, offer options for individuals looking to recycle e-waste. These companies take on the burden of sorting and figuring out where to ship the waste, though it's important to go online and call ahead to make sure that the company will take your electronics before hauling a bunch of unacceptable items to the store. Additionally, each state has specific regulations for what e-waste can be recycled, so make sure you're in compliance with this as well.

Finally, check in to the options of re-selling or trading-in your current device after you upgrade to a new one. This can be done privately through websites like Amazon.com and Gazelle.com, or through the manufactures like Apple and Samsung. Or, you can contact groups that specialize in recycling computers. E-Cycle Environmental can help you with this-- if you've got questions or want to recycle your electronic goods, feel free to contact us today.