What is E-waste?

Electronic waste or e-waste describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. Used electronics which are destined for refurbishment, reuse, resale, salvage recycling through material recovery, or disposal are also considered e-waste.

Background information

The ongoing challenge of how best to dispose of used and unwanted electronics dates back at least to the 1970s. But a lot has changed since then, particularly the number of electronics being discarded today.

And we care about this because, for years now, unwanted electronic devices have been filling landfills across the globe. In the U.S. alone, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that up to 60 million metric tons of e-waste end up in landfills every year.

Most electronics contain some form of toxic materials, including beryllium, cadmium, mercury, and lead, which pose serious environmental risks to our soil, water, air, and wildlife.

When E-waste gets buried at a landfill, it can dissolve in microscopic traces into the gross sludge that permeates at the landfill. Eventually, these traces of toxic materials pool into the ground below the landfill. This is known as leaching.

The more E-waste and metals at the landfill, the more of these trace toxic materials show up in the groundwater which affects the life of animals, plants and our own.

Source

Current Impacts

What does this mean for businesses?

Businesses can be held liable for the security of their clients and employee’s data being misused or stolen. Throwing out or donating your old business electronics can be a legal liability because of businesses can be held liable for the security of their clients and employee’s data being misused or stolen. But there are many ways to recycle and reuse electronic devices and most importantly to dispose them off the right way.

Next Steps

As a business, how can you prepare your electronics for recycling?

As a business, you’ve decided that you want to recycle your old electronics to reap the numerous benefits that come along with it. Business electronics recycling is easy; you just have to follow a few simple steps to complete the process.

https://www.ewaste1.com/business-electronics-recycling/

Learn More!

Take our EcoLearn courses to learn more about eco waste and how it relates to your business and what you can do about it!

The Growing Environmental Risks of E-Waste

E-waste, electronic waste, e-scrap and end-of-life electronics are terms often used to describe used electronics that are nearing the end of their useful life, and are discarded, donated or given to a recycler. The UN defines e-waste as any discarded products with a battery or plug, and features toxic and hazardous substances such as mercury, that can pose severe risk to human and environmental health.

https://www.genevaenvironmentnetwork.org/fr/ressources/nouvelles/the-growing-environmental-risks-of-e-waste/