Four Problems That Can Be Reduced By Electronic Waste Recycling

19 July 2017
 Categories: Business, Blog

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Do you feel inconvenienced by having to take each of your old electronics to a recycling center in your area? Read on and discover some problems that would be reduced if electronic waste is recycled.

Air Pollution

The air that you breathe can be heavily polluted by the electronic waste that is disposed of improperly. For instance, some people may try to retrieve valuable metals from some of those electronics, such as wires. Such people may burn those wires so that they can collect the copper that they contain. Burning the wires in the open air releases hydrocarbons that are harmful when inhaled. This type of air pollution can be reduced if you make your contribution by taking all your disused electronics to a recycling facility or collection point.

Water Contamination

Imagine that you threw your old cellphone into your yard and forgot about it. That e-waste is likely to release heavy metals, such as lead, mercury or lithium into the ground when rainwater flows over that discarded phone. Those toxins eventually end up in the water that is used within your home. The consumption of that contaminated water can cause several health complications, such as by compromising your endocrine system. Handing that old phone to recyclers can prevent this adverse effect on the water used in your community.

Soil Contamination

Improperly discarded e-waste releases toxic materials into the soil. Those toxins can be absorbed by the plants that are growing in that soil. Who consumes those plants? The health of your family can suffer eventually if they keep consuming produce that was grown in soil that was contaminated by e-waste. E-waste recycling can help in ensuring that the food that you eat is safe from the toxins contained in electronics.

Impact on New Products

Did you know that e-waste recycling can have a positive effect on the price of the new electronics that you buy? Discarded electronics contain valuable materials, such as gold, copper and silver. These materials are cheaper to recycle than to process from ores. Taking your old electronics to a recycling facility can therefore reduce the cost of producing new electronics. This reduced cost of production can translate into a lower price for you, the consumer of those electronics.

As you can see, the way electronics are handled or disposed of once they are no longer needed has several direct effects on you as an individual. Play your part by taking all your old electronics to an e-waste collection or recycling center so that the adverse effects above are reduced.