July 21st, 2008

E-Waste: Embracing Electronics Recycling

Posted by Jessica Jensen

Does your home include a not-so-small cache of old cell phones, used-up computers, and maybe even an extra TV?  You are not alone.  The dark side of our digital age is our growing mountain of used electronics.

According to the EPA, used or unwanted electronics amounted to approximately 1.9 to 2.2 million tons of waste in 2005.  Of that, about 1.5 to 1.9 million tons were primarily discarded in landfills, and only 345,000 to 379,000 tons were recycled.

But not only is this a huge amount of trash, but electronics contain many hazardous chemicals that need to be disposed of properly. Computer monitors and older TV picture tubes contain an average of four pounds of lead and require special handling at the end of their lives.  Even newer tubes can contain two pounds of lead.  Mercury is used in small amount in bulbs to light flat panel computer monitors and notebooks.  Cadmium was widely used in ni-cad rechargeable batteries for laptops and other portables. Older electronics contain brominated flame retardants, which were widely used in plastic cases and cables.  Simply tossing these items into the trash creates a major hazardous waste problem.  To learn more about the magnitue and danger of our electronics waste problem, watch this great video from Good Magazine on e-Waste.

What can you do with your e-waste?

Re-use is the most sustainable option.  If your electronics are in working order, or can be fixed, please consider donating them so they can be re-used.  Donating used electronics for re-use extends the lives of valuable products and keeps them out of the waste stream for a longer period of time.  When you donate your used electronics, you allow schools, nonprofit organizations, and lower-income families to obtain equipment that they otherwise could not afford.

There are a number of organizations you can explore for donating your electronics, including:

Computer for Schools: The Computers for Schools Program welcomes contribution of quality computer equipment and support dollars to accomplish their refurbishing work from donors across the nation.
The National Christina Foundation: A not-for-profit foundation dedicated to the support of training through donated technology. For more than two decades we have encouraged companies and individuals to donate computers and other technology, which is then matched to charities, schools and public agencies in all 50 states.
Collective Good: A mobile devices recycling resource. If you have spare mobile phones, pagers or PDAs sitting on a shelf or in a drawer, you can recycle them here in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.
Click here to learn about more electronics donation resources, from Earth911.org.

If your electronics are non-functional, then look to recycle them. This form of electronics recycling actually has its own name: e-cycling.  You will need to take your electronics to a special place where they can be handled properly. 

Here at Low Impact Living we have developed a deep, nationwide database of electronics recycling outlets: please click here to find an electronics recycling location near you.  

If you do not find one near you in our database, you might also try searching on the site hosted by the Electronics Industries Alliance. Click here to visit the EIA e-cycling resources map.

Related posts:

Recycle to the Max in Your City 
How to Recycle Your Used Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs
Recycling Saves a Ton of Energy, Too
Recycling? Starbucks? Hello?