4 Tips to Consider for Electronic Waste Disposal
by Guest Author
Filed under Spending and Saving
A recent United Nations report suggests that in some countries the amount of electronic waste, a.k.a “e-waste” or Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), including obsolete mobile phones, computers and HDTVs being produced could rise by as much as 500 percent over the next decade. Unfortunately, consumer electronic devices include dangerous waste such as lead, cadmium, beryllium, mercury, and brominated flame retardants that have a high risk of leeching into water sources, polluting the air, and contaminating the soil if disposed of improperly.
To make matters worse, a 2008 U.S. Government Accountability Office found that some recyclers ship e-waste to Third World countries under the guise of “donations” so these communities can have access to technology. In actuality, shadowy recyclers ship the obsolete e-waste to digital dumping grounds in countries like Ghana.
PBS’s Frontline profiled an e-waste dump in Ghana that explored issues outside of the more commonly discussed health risks associated with dumping electronics. Young children make a living here by scavenging waste to reclaim gold, silver, iron and copper. If that isn’t bad enough, Ghana is listed by the U.S. State Department as one of the top sources of cyber crime in the world. Criminals can purchase salvaged hard drives in an open market and minutes later, have access to personal and financial information left behind. Frontline’s Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground, is an eye-opener that every electronics user should keep in mind.
Now that you have a sense of how serious a problem e-waste poses, it is important to consider how you can make a difference in your everyday life. The good news is that you have plenty of options to recycle or donate your used electronics. Here is a list of things to consider before disposing of your e-waste including three ways for you to find the option that best fits your location and schedule:
1. First and foremost, make sure your e-waste is going to an e-stewards recycler. This means that the recycler has taken and demonstrated the Pledge of Responsible Recycling required by the Basel Action Network (BAN), creators of the e-stewards program. This means that your e-waste is properly recycled and not dumped in a domestic landfill or exported to dumps like the sites found in Ghana, China or India. If you’re not sure where to find this information, BAN has created a recycler locator which you can use.
2. Check with your local government, schools/universities and news outlets for proper recycling options. With e-waste becoming such a large problem, government offices and schools are assigning days for residents to bring their unwanted electronics to a designated drop off location for proper recycling. Many times this information is posted on a community calendar that can be found on your local newspaper’s website. Since you’re going to recycle your items locally, you can make the occasion a day trip – hopefully on a nice summer day. Although you might be getting rid of an old favorite product, there’s a good chance you might get the opportunity to meet some of your neighbors while you’re at it.
3. Donate your electronics. Believe it or not, there are a few benefits. One, it removes the possibility of having your products contribute to e-waste pollution and health hazards. Two, it provides others with an opportunity to access technology that may not be readily available to them. You’ve passed down your favorite pair of jeans; handing down your mobile phone or Xbox works the same way. Goodwill has been particularly active here with its Reconnect program, which has a strict no export policy.
4. Go with e-waste disposal options offered by many reputable retailers. For example, Gettington.com teams up with e-stewards partner CExchange to provide an option for consumers to recycle their e-waste from their own homes via pre-paid postage containers. Aside from recycling your old electronics responsibly, the CExchange partnership often provides users with cash for products. The value of the electronics can also be transferred to charitable organizations (for extra karma points). If you’re interested in this option, you can find easy instructions on the Gettington.com CExchange page.
I hope you’ll consider using one of the above tips when it’s time to dispose of your e-waste. To give you a sense of how big a problem this could become, check out USA Today’s graph projecting e-waste growth over the next five years. In 2010 alone, approximately 55 million tons of e-waste will be produced globally. By 2014, that number is expected to climb to over 70 million tons.
Help properly recycle as much e-waste as possible! You’ll make the Earth a better place, help halt digital data dumps, feel proud of your accomplishment, meet new friends and maybe even make your wallet a little greener!
This guest post is written by Paula Drum, a General Manager of Gettington.com.
(photo credit: Samuel Mann)
We should all resist the temptation to buy new electronics just because there is a new version to replace last year’s. Not only is it wasteful from an ecological standpoint, but it is a waste of money. I know someone who buys a new cell phone every year. Now, is that necessary? I realize that no one wants to carry the “brick” cell phones from 15 year ago, but isn’t last year’s iPhone good enough for now? Also, when disposing of electronics, be sure to clean up your hard drive; don’t just delete the files, which doesn’t really remove the data, but simply deletes the names from the directory. You don’t want the “recycler” to have access to your bank account numbers, passwords, etc.