What Happens to your E-Waste?

As our world becomes more tech-savvy, outdated devices are often thrown away. Many of these items have valuable components that can be recycled and reused for many years to come. This is why the e-waste management business is bigger than ever.

In a recent Earth911.com post, they say, “It’s not a glamorous business, but it is a growing one. The U.S. generates about 3 million tons of electronic waste annually, yet recycles just 15 percent. More states are expected to pass or strengthen e-waste laws – presently only 23 have one on the books – and the electronics industry recently stepped up its efforts, too, announcing plans to triple e-cycling rates by 2016. At the federal level, President Obama established an e-waste task force and legislators introduced a bill last fall to ban e-waste exports.”

Computer Reach relies on recycled computers and their components to donate functional machines to schools in need. However, many of the electronic devices in e-waste facilities go on to make much more than just computers.

At once facility, “once workers disassemble computer processing units (CPUs, the big blocks that sit under your desk), hard drives head to one part of the warehouse where they’re stripped of precious metals and sent through a type of warping/compacting machine that renders the data unreadable. (It’s a step beyond wiping the hard drive.) The remaining aluminum – 85 percent of the hard drive – is destined for new products such as car parts or furniture.”

Read the full post on Earth911.com.