Have you ever thrown out an old electronic and gone about your day? Chances are, every person has done this before, whether it be a battery, a cell phone with a cracked screen, or even an old television. Such items contribute to an increase in e-waste in landfills and sit there harming the environment.
How much e-waste ends up in landfills?
But how much electronic waste is actually sitting in landfills? The current percentage for the United States is approximately 2 percent. While this may seem like a low percentage, it is not something to ignore. But why? The answer to that question is that e-waste in landfills accounts for 70 percent of toxic waste. Across the globe, in terms of weight, 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste are disposed of each year. Out of all electronic devices, only 12.5 percent are recycled. That is a huge amount with inevitable consequences.
Not only is this harmful to the planet, but people are also basically throwing away money. Cell phones and other electronic devices contain precious metals that have large dollar values when added up. Each year, nearly 60 million dollars worth of precious metals are thrown away with cell phones in the United States. If recovered well, we can reuse these valuable minerals instead of mining them. While a small quantity of precious metals is recovered from an electronic device, the numbers can add up significantly if you consider tons of e-waste being trashed.
What makes this situation even worse is that most “e-waste” is actually not e-waste at all. If your phone has a cracked screen, a dead battery, or some other functionality issues, it can oftentimes be repaired and used for a longer period of time. For phones with a more serious issue, these devices can be broken down into parts that can be used to fix issues in other devices. That is why e-waste in landfills is a bad idea, not only from an environmental point of view but also from a financial aspect.
How to throw away e-waste properly?
Next time you are throwing away an electronic device, pause for a second and think about where it will end up and if there is a way to better dispose of the device. To throw away e-waste properly, there are a ton of electronic recycling facilities popping up around the country. They would be happy to take those old devices from you and find them a new life while taking care of the environment we live in!
If you are located in Northeast Ohio, Summit E-Waste in Akron, Ohio is here for you. We have drop-off locations around the city, or you can bring them to our facility. We also have been working with counties and townships all over to host local electronic recycling days where you can bring the old items in your car, and we will unload them for you and recycle them too! We have saved hundreds of devices from ending up as e-waste in landfills. To find out when our next event is, please refer to our Facebook page or reach out to us via phone or email. You can also call or email us to schedule a drop-off!
We also have options for our local businesses! We will come to your business location and provide our services to destroy data devices; certifications of the safe destruction are provided! IF you have old devices, we will take them to recycle for you or help you to find a buyer for them! Call today if you are a business owner in Ohio with a pile of old devices and schedule a pick up today!
