The U.S. Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) reports that each American household now owns an average of about 24 electronic devices. As the pace of technological change continues to accelerate, almost all these devices become obsolete and people throw them away, adding to the growing mountains of junk in landfills. Electronic equipment is typically filled with hazardous waste material such as mercury, lead, and cadmium so recycling electronics (eCycling) responsibly is an important and somewhat formidable task that requires a competent, professional approach.
The EPA encourages responsible electronic disposal through accredited, independent third-party certification, which meet their standards of sound ecycle practices.
A reliable commercial eCycling program should include four relatively easy steps:
- Convenient collection — Collecting obsolete, discarded equipment and devices must be convenient. Drop-off locations should be easily accessible; on-site pick-up is even better. A competent eCycling service should provide a professional team, with suitable identification, that will go anywhere within a customer’s site to retrieve discarded equipment and e-waste for eCycling.
- Packaging logistics — The eCycling service should be prepared to handle all packaging and logistics upon arrival. None of a customer’s e-waste should need to be pre-packaged in pallets or boxes.
- Loading logistics — Loading recyclable e-waste for removal should be quick and easy. The eCycling service should provide all the necessary equipment to load the customer’s e-waste onto trucks or trailers for removal from the site.
- Certified security — The ecycler must provide documented certification of secure data destruction for computer components and other electronics that may have sensitive information. A typical pick-up document trail would include an equipment manifest, a certificate of recycling, and a certificate of data destruction.
An eCycling service incorporating these four basic program components offers a particularly high chance of success in recycling this type of technological waste in the most efficient, cost-effective, secure, and environmentally friendly manner.