Tag: E-Recycling

How to Reduce E-Waste: Easy Steps to Follow
how to reduce e-waste at home, in the office, and raise awareness

Each year, the world produces mountains of e-waste, weighing in at over 60 million tons a year. As we continue to incorporate technology into every facet of our lives, that number continues to grow. As a result, figuring out how we reduce that e-waste becomes more and more important as the years go on.  Increasing the urgency to reduce our e-waste output is the toxicity of the equipment as they decompose. Most electronics contain toxic chemicals and elements like cadmium, mercury, and other rare earth elements that can poison the soil, water, and air around their disposal site.  Recycling e-waste helps prevent this, but reducing e-waste where you can also benefits the environment and, often, your wallet.  How to Reduce […]

IT Recycling for Security and E-Waste Reduction
office computers for it recycling

A company’s IT department is responsible for maintaining technology through its whole lifecycle. This commonly includes troubleshooting onboarding, technology setup, or, too often, asking if a coworker had restarted their computer to see if it solved the problem. However, the end of a piece of technology’s life cycle can not be solved with a simple restart. That requires recycling, and IT is often tasked with ensuring the safe disposal of the technology and its data.  The Importance of IT Recycling  While individuals should recycle their computers, phones, and other electronics to help reduce e-waste, the scale of the job for IT departments makes an effective recycling process even more crucial. When upgrading or replacing old systems, this often means hundreds […]

How to Recycle a Laptop Battery
recycle laptop battery featured image electronics recycling finder

Laptop batteries have improved in leaps and bounds in the past couple decades. They last longer, charge faster, and hold on to their charge a lot longer. However, they’re not perfect, and eventually, every laptop battery will wear out, and you will need to recycle it.  Where to Recycle a Laptop Battery No matter where you are, you should not put an old laptop battery in your regular recycling bin. Most city and county recyclers won’t have the technology to recycle an old laptop battery. In addition, leaving it exposed in a recycling bin could lead it to catching fire, and due to the flammable nature of lithium-ion batteries, it is incredibly dangerous. However, there is good news. Many electronic […]

The Current State of E-Waste Recycling Technology
the smelting part of e-waste recycling technology

The amount of E-waste the world produces a year is a staggering 50 million tons a year, and only growing. While that’s only a fraction of the overall waste the world generates, it makes up the lionshare of toxic waste. As such, it’s more important than ever to produce effective and efficient e-waste recycling technology.  Much of the technology we use now involves older techniques, converted to e-waste recycling. Smelting down metal, using acidic solutions to break down components, shredding and magnetizing. However, as the e-waste problem grows, so too are the solutions to it, and novel ideas are being pioneered to recover as much as possible from our discarded technology. Types of E-Waste Recycling Technology in Use  Pyrometallurgical Recycling  […]

Battery Recycling Protocols
types of batteries and their recycling processes featured image

Batteries help power the modern world. They’re everywhere, from cell phones, to laptops, to cars, and the list goes on and on. This technology, which is as old, or older, than the United States, keeps our technological revolution going. But batteries have lifespans, and if we want to protect our environment and use our resources sustainably, we’ll have to make sure battery recycling goes as mainstream as the cell phones they power.  Batteries, like the devices and technologies they power, are made from many different materials. Some contain lithium, some cobalt, some mercury – the list encompasses much of the periodic table. Unfortunately, many of these resources are limited, and some of them are toxic to the environment after they’re […]

The Ethical Issues Surrounding E-Waste Disposal

The world produces roughly 50 million tons of e-waste a year, and the number continues to grow. This waste generally falls into the toxic category, making its disposal more difficult than just tossing it into a landfill. However, a landfill somewhere is still where it often ends up. This creates significant ethical issues surrounding the disposal of e-waste.  How E-Waste Disposal Creates Ethical Issues  While shipping e-waste to poorer countries technically goes against the Basel Convention, which was signed by a number of countries, including the United States, the practice remains common. Countries will ship old or malfunctioning technology to poorer countries, often in West Africa or Southeast Asia.  Once the technology arrives there, it follows a few different paths, […]

What is Electronic Pollution and How Do We Reduce It?
electronic pollution taking up space in landfills

Electronic pollution is a newer concept, referring to the improper disposal of e-waste. Electronics are made with toxic chemicals and heavy metals, and when they’re not properly handled, they pose serious health risks and cause contamination of the soil, air, and groundwater. E-waste is a broad term that refers to electronic devices and electrical appliances that have reached the end of their useful life. Common types of e-waste are cell phones, computers, televisions, refrigerators, and printers. As the world creates more and more technology, we continue to produce more and more e-waste, reinforcing a vicious cycle that’s toxic for our environment and health. The Effects of Electronic Pollution It is estimated that only 17.4% of all e-waste is formally collected. […]

Rare Earth Recycling: The Present and Future
video of an open pit mine, typical of rare earth mining and the need for rare earth recycling

Rare earth minerals are some of the most widely used materials in technologies today. They are crucial for nearly every piece of technology, from computers, to cell phones, to cars. Their importance only continues to grow as well, with demand rising as technology expands into every facet of modern life. Sourcing these crucial minerals, however, provides challenges. Rare earth recycling will play a crucial role in the years to come to solve this problem.  Why Rare Earth Recycling Is Important  There are 17 elements that make up rare earth metals. While we’ve known about many of them for decades and centuries now, they only became important to the global economy with the rise of technology. Their importance comes from their […]

What Rare Earth Minerals Are in Microchips?
Rare Earth Minerals Microchips Featured Image

Rare earth minerals, also known as rare earth elements (REEs), are a group of 17 elements that form under the Earth’s surface. Their unique chemical and physical makeup allows them to provide magnetic, heat-resistant, and phosphorescent properties that other elements cannot. Because of this, rare earth minerals are essential in the development of the microchips that make up technology and defense systems. Microchips and Technology Applications of Rare Earth Minerals The majority of REEs are used as catalysts or by the glass industry to create screens and camera lenses, but they have many other uses. Magnets, for example, are a growing use of REEs with a number of applications like wind turbines and spindle motors for hard drives. Gallium is […]

The Risks of Selling Electronics
Selling electronic risks featured image

If you have an old laptop, computer, or other piece of technology sitting around, it might be tempting to sell it and get some extra cash. While this can be a good solution, and a profitable one, you need to be aware of the risks that come with selling old electronics.  This is particularly important when it comes to laptops, cell phones, and computers. However, anything that contains your personal or payment information could be a risk if it’s sold to the wrong person.  How to Reduce the Risks of Selling Electronics  If that extra money in your pocket is too tempting to pass up, there are ways to make it safer. Selling the technology to a trusted friend or […]