Most electronic waste, or e-waste, is not allowed in landfills because of its heavy metals and other toxins. Another thing to consider is the sensitive or personal information that you may not want getting out there. The challenge is finding the right disposal fit-recycling, donating or destroying-for the type of product you're ditching and the type of data stored on it.
A Growing Problem
E-waste includes a range of items, such as televisions, computers and computer peripherals like monitors, audio equipment, VCRs and DVD players, video cameras, telephones, mobile and other wireless devices, fax and copy machines, and video game consoles.
In 2007, discarded e-waste totaled roughly 2.25 million short tons, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). But much of that could have been reused or recycled. In that same year, the EPA reported only about 18 percent of TVs and computer products ready for end-of-life management were collected for recycling, and cell phones were recycled at a rate of about 10 percent. Clearly, we, as a nation, have some work to do.
With consumer electronics making up about 2 percent of the municipal solid waste stream, according to the EPA, many are starting to explore recycling CRT (cathode ray tubes) monitors and TVs. In fact, CRTs cannot be disposed of in NH landfills or incinerators, according to the NH Department of Environmental Services (NH DES). CRTs must be recycled, donated, sent to a manufacturer's take-back program or to a hazardous waste disposal facility. CRTs must not be broken, and if they are, a business should store the broken CRT in a non-leaking container until it can be properly disposed of, according to the NH DES.
While various reports estimate that electronic waste is less than 4 percent of the total solid waste stream in the United States, electronic waste is growing two to three times faster than any other waste stream, the EPA states on its Web site. In 1998, the National Safety Council Study estimated about 20 million computers became obsolete in one year. By 2007, that number more than doubled, according to EPA's most recent estimates.
Throwing these items away also means throwing away money. Recycling 1 million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 U.S. homes in a year. One metric ton of circuit boards can contain 40 to 800 times the concentrations of gold ore mined in the U.S. and 30 to 40 times the concentration of copper ore mined in the U.S., the EPA states.
A Growing Business Opportunity
There are several businesses in NH and across New England that safely dispose of e-waste (see list), and some offer hard drive destruction to ensure that private data is removed. There are also organizations that will take functioning electronics and find schools and nonprofits that can give them a second life.
Among those businesses is E-Waste Recyclers, LLC in Jaffrey, which used a 48,000-square-foot facility and six employees to process 2.5 million pounds of e-waste in 2010, according to Owner Peter Sarantos. Most of it is television and computer equipment, lots of cell phones. Some of this stuff is not even a year old, he says. We take electronics and take them apart, bale them and everything goes out the door as a commodity-copper wire, precious metals, steel, aluminum, fans, even the shrink wrap.
Sarantos says some of the equipment businesses throw out is not yet at its end-of-life cycle and can be recertified and resold. Some equipment has residual value. We work with them to let them know they are disposing of something they can actually get paid for, he says. We work with companies on asset management. If they are doing an upgrade, but their systems aren't that old, we can work to remarket that and give them a percentage once we sell that.
E-Waste Recyclers is among the e-waste companies that can destroy or erase hard drives on computers and other electronics, and flash drives on cell phones. We offer a certificate of destruction if they request it, says Sarantos. He encourages businesses to ask questions of e-waste providers as to how they dispose of e-waste and what kind of certification they can provide for proper disposal. [You should] have a comfort level that you know what's happening with the product, he says.
Sarantos also suggests companies host a day when employees can bring in e-waste that is then disposed of properly by an expert vendor. Doing so, he says, helps keep electronics out of landfills and offers employees a cost-effective perk.
Bryan Dexter, project coordinator with WorkWaste, LLC, a Connecticut-based environmental contracting company with its major operations in Merrimack, emphasizes the importance of companies properly storing and labeling e-waste and hazardous waste before trashing it.
We will come to a customer's facility and containerize and label the electronics, light bulbs, batteries and mercury-containing devices they have, transport them, create applicable shipping paperwork, process the materials or bring them to an appropriate facility that will process them. We also offer a certificate of recycling for items we pick up. It closes out the cradle to grave, so customer knows they are recycled, Dexter says. The company will also destroy hard drives to protect a customer's data.
In a typical week, WorkWaste manages a ton or two of e-waste and universal waste (common but hazardous materials that require special handling, such as CRTs, light bulbs, and batteries.) Dexter says many businesses don't have a method for managing waste. Often employees will throw away light bulbs, e-waste or batteries in a spare office until someone gets sick of seeing the stockpile. Instead, businesses need to make sure universal and e-waste is sorted, packaged and labeled (including the date when the waste began to accumulate) until it is ready to be picked up and brought to a facility where it can be demanufactured and disposed of. Finally, make sure the facility you are sending your e-waste to abides by federal and state rules and regulations and ask for certification of recycling or data destruction, he says.
Manage them as you generate them, Dexter says of e-waste and other universal waste.
For a list of e-waste recyclers, visit BusinessNHmagazine.com tomorrow!!
Current Issue - April 2024