None of us like to keep using old and outdated devices. When companies launch new tech products, we buy and replace them with old items, creating one of the most severe problems of the modern world. What about old and discarded devices?
These devices are known as e-waste. It is crucial to dispose of them in an environmentally friendly way. Otherwise, letting them go into landfills or get burned can have devastating effects on the environment. Electronics contain dangerous metals that can harm the environment in many ways. In this article, we are going to review the top 10 e-waste items to recycle.
1. Laptops & computers
A laptop or computer may last for more than three or five years. However, the average lifespan is not the concern of typical users. They still like to switch in three to five years since the market releases a new generation within this time frame. New software tools also demand the latest generations, so users are left with no other options.
Laptops and computers are among the most important e-waste items to recycle due to the hazardous metals found inside them. Some of the names are Mercury, Cadmium, Lead, Barium, Polyvinyl Chloride, and Lithium. That is why proper laptop recycling is crucial.
These metals have a lot of adverse effects on the environment if you do not dispose of them properly. Laptops account for almost 70% of all toxic waste that exists in the environment.
Laptops and computers also contain valuable metals like Silver, Gold, Palladium, and copper. The world is already short of these resources, and throwing laptops in the trash means wasting them. When you throw a laptop in the garbage, you basically throw gold and silver resources in the trash.
E-waste recycling companies dismantle computers and recycle their components through industrial processes. They extract valuable materials and make them ready for use in new products.
It is time to debunk the myth that computers are not recyclable. The cables and cords you use with them, as well as peripherals like a mouse and keyboard, are recyclable.
| Resource | Where is it Found in Computers? | |
| 1 | Gold | Printed Circuit Boards, Computer Chips (CPU), connectors/ fingers |
| 2 | Silver | Printed Circuit Boards, Computer Chips, keyboard membranes, some capacitors |
| 3 | Platinum | Hard Drives, Circuit board components |
| 4 | Palladium | Hard Drives, Circuit board components (capacitors) |
| 5 | Copper | CPU heat sinks, wiring and cables, Printed Circuit Boards, Computer Chips |
| 6 | Nickel | Circuit board components |
| 7 | Tantalum | Circuit board components (some capacitors) |
| 8 | Cobalt | Hard Drives |
| 9 | Aluminium | Printed Circuit Boards, Computer Chips, Hard Drives, CPU heat sinks |
| 10 | Tin | Printed Circuit Boards, Computer Chips |
| 11 | Zinc | Printed Circuit Boards |
| 12 | Neodymium | Hard Drives (magnets) |
When you recycle your old computers and laptops, keep data security in mind. Your devices store your data, and sensitive information could be stored on them.
You may have credit card numbers and passwords that must not go into unauthorised hands. Try to partner with a computer recycling company that also offers data destruction services.
Here is the list of computer components with the highest content of precious metals.
● CPUs
● Memory
● Circuit connectors
● Motherboards
● Cables and wires
● Hard drives
● Cell phones
2. Mobile phones
Mobile phones are no different from computers and laptops in terms of precious resources. They are also full of untapped precious metals, so do not let them go to waste. Smartphones also have Silver, Gold, Copper, and Palladium. With every passing day, these metals are becoming more precious, as it is feared that a day will come when we won’t be able to dig the earth and find them.
A typical iPhone has 0.034g of gold, 0.34g of silver, 0.015g of palladium, and less than one-thousandth of a gram of platinum. It also contains the less valuable but still significant aluminium (25g) and copper (around 15g).
Moreover, smartphones also contain rare earth elements. These elements are found in abundance in the earth’s crust. However, extracting them is not a piece of cake. These are yttrium, lanthanum, terbium, neodymium, gadolinium and praseodymium. We also have glass and plastic in them, and the list goes on. Let’s see why a simple phone is one of the important waste items to recycle.
More than two billion people in the world own smartphones. But they also upgrade to a new phone every 11-12 months. The old phone either stays in the drawer for years or gets thrown in the trash. Hardly 10% of them are recycled. Recycling is paramount from both an environmental and economic perspective.
Do not let small amounts of gold and silver make you underestimate the gravity of this problem. Try thinking on a big scale. Recycle one million mobile phones, and you have 16 tonnes of copper, 350kg of silver, 34 kg of gold, and 15kg of palladium.
So, recycling mobile phones can help the environment a lot. We must try to change our mobile phones less frequently and, if we do, make sure that the old ones get recycled.
“I think most people do not have any idea of the range and scale of metals and minerals that are used to make electronics,” says Prof Richard Herrington, Head of Earth Sciences at the Museum. “We’ve found use for them in computers, cars and all kinds of machinery – it’s technology that we didn’t have 15 or 20 years ago that we now take for granted”.
List of materials inside smartphones:
● Gold
● Silver
● Palladium
● Copper
● Glass
● Platinum
● Yttrium
● Lanthanum
● Terbium
● Neodymium
● Gadolinium
● Praseodymium
3. Printers
Yes, printers are also recyclable. As a matter of fact, they are one of the most commonly recycled household electronics items. Printers account for a major portion of Mercury that is in landfills. Mercury is one of the most dangerous elements if you do not dispose of it properly.
Mercury can adversely affect everything from the atmosphere to the ground and water. Improper disposal of Mercury poses a severe threat to human health and wildlife.
Printers also have other recyclable materials. You can find industrial plastic inside the casing and other internal parts. It also has network components and cables.
Printers can also leak your data. Their internal memory stores a record of printed documents. Make sure you clean this memory.
List of materials inside printers:
● Mercury
● Industrial Plastic
4. Batteries
Many electronics run on battery power. Recycling batteries is also necessary to keep dangerous metals away from landfills. Damaged and corroded batteries leak chemicals into the soil. What is worse? These chemicals can even find their way to the ocean. This is a terrible thing for both the environment and humans.
Lead-acid, cadmium, and lithium-ion are the most dangerous environmental pollutants. Not recycling them can even make them end up on your dinner plate.
However, they pose a threat only if improper disposal is used. Proper usage makes them valuable resources. Raw-earth materials like lithium, nickel, lead, and cobalt are non-renewable and expensive to mine. Recycle them, and you can use them to produce new batteries. Battery recycling helps preserve these precious resources.
If you do not preserve, the need for mining will increase. You will have to mine new resources, and the mining process itself is not very environmentally friendly. Unfortunately, the miners in third-world countries have to work in dangerous conditions as they dig for resources like cobalt and copper.
Moreover, there are three main types of batteries:
Automotive batteries
This type has the highest recycling rate. Most are lead-acid batteries, which you may find in cars and lawn tractors. Since they contain sulfuric acid and lead, careful handling and proper disposal are important. Vehicle battery retailers or hazardous waste facilities could help you recycle them.
Rechargeable batteries
You can find them in rechargeable devices, such as smartwatches, digital cameras, solar panels, medical devices, cell phones, tablets, laptops, power tools, and e-readers. The following table shows some types of rechargeable batteries and where they are found.
| Rechargeable Battery | Can Be Found In |
| Lithium-Ion (Li-ion) | older cell phones, digital cameras, vapes, e-readers, tablets, laptops, and power tools |
| Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd) | cordless phones, cameras, medical equipment, two-way radios, and power tools |
| Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH) | older cell phones, cordless tools, two-way radios, and digital cameras |
| Nickel-Zinc (Ni-Zn) | digital cameras, wireless keyboards, and other wireless electronic devices |
| Small-Sealed Lead Acid (Pb) | mobility scooters, emergency lighting, and medical devices |
Single-use batteries
They could be the 9-volts you put in your smoke detectors, the AA and AAA batteries in your remotes and alarm clocks, and C-cell and D-cell batteries in kids’ toys. The majority are alkaline and zinc-carbon batteries. Button cells found in watches, hearing aids, and key fobs used to be a mix of cadmium, Mercury, and silver. However, commonly, they are lithium metal cell batteries. Since they are single use, most people do not hesitate to throw them into the trash.
5. Compact Disk (CDs)/DVDs
CDs were one of the most popular music and movie mediums in the 2000s. Today, they are not used practically anywhere. Online streaming services have made them useless. Today, they are just taking up space in drawers or contributing to the landfill. A lot of us may have piles of dusty CDs somewhere in the basement. Recycling them is the most responsible option.
CDs are made up of polycarbonate plastic. Sometimes aluminium and gold are also found, and they are both easy to recycle. However, polycarbonate plastic may not be so easy to recycle. Then, with CDs also came the CD case, and paper liner notes slipped into the case.
Burning CDs is also an important e-waste practice in developing countries. CDs can release hydrochloric acid, sulphur dioxide, and dioxins into the air.
CDs are made of Polycarbonate plastic. Polycarbonate plastic contains BPA, or bisphenol-A, which has been linked to health issues such as reproductive problems, early puberty, high blood pressure, and heart disease. If you have a pile of old CDs, try to find a recycling centre that accepts them or consult municipal waste collection services.
CDs and DVDs can also expose your data to strangers if you put them in the landfill. Data recovery techniques are getting smarter day by day. So be very careful with what you do with your CDs.
6. Hard drives
Hard drives are used to store information in many electronic devices. The two primary categories are old magnetic-style hard drives and solid-state drives. Both should be recycled when they end their life, and data protection should be kept in mind.
You may try hammers to destroy your hard drive at home. However, this would not guarantee data protection. There could still be data traces left. Even if you run the truck over it, a 100% guarantee is not possible. You need certified data destruction services to ensure it.
Hard drives also contain toxins like Mercury and lead. Aluminium is also used. Letting them go into the landfill and leak into the soil can have drastic consequences, including poisoning the local water supplies. Hard drives basically never decompose.
Let’s explore the hard drive in more detail. The Disc comes with a platter and an actuator arm. The actuator arm is encased in steel and plastic and reads from and writes onto compartments within the platter. The platter is made of expensive metals like ruthenium and platinum. Moreover, the arm and platter contain elements like silicon, copper, zinc, aluminium, chromium, and cobalt.
These resources require a lot of energy to mine. Earth may run out of them anytime, so we must invest in our future by recycling hard drives.
7. Monitors
Computer monitors are becoming one of the most populous e-waste items as the world moves to compact screens. Whether you have a CRT monitor, LED monitor, or LCD monitor, recycling should be your concern.
Materials used in computer monitors are terrible for the environment and human health if not handled properly. Monitors are made of plastic and glass and also have toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other heavy metals. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) can contaminate your glass of water if they reach into the soil and do not get recycled.
Monitors also contain lead, which accounts for approximately 6% of your old monitor’s composition. The recyclable efficiency is just 5%. Lead can affect soil, plants, and humans. Forty percent of total lead in landfills comes from computer monitors, while cadmium is only 0.1%.
CRT Monitors especially pose some significant risks. Even if you turn it off, it has a lot of electrical charge. Do not try to dismantle it without the necessary tools. It may result in a serious electrical shock.
8. Scanners
A typical scanner has many recyclable components, such as plastic, metal, glass, and circuit boards. Depending on the type of scanner and its condition, most of them are recyclable. When you do not recycle, you contribute to hazardous waste accumulation, which could lead to long-term environmental damage and public health issues.
9. Keyboard
We know that most of the keyboards are made up of plastic, and plastic is recyclable. Also, there are metal frames, which could be recyclable or non-recyclable based on their condition. Some keyboards have electrical parts, like circuit boards and wiring. Of course, it is totally unsafe to throw them in regular trash.
So, it is critical to recycle keyboards to save valuable resources and avoid the negative consequences of their improper disposal. Plastic and other metals can leach into the environment, pollute natural resources, and potentially endanger wildlife.
There are many ways to recycle keyboards. One is to separate the plastic and metal and shred them into small pieces, ready for melting or remolding. You can also send rubber and circuit boards to specialised recycling centres.
Conclusion
Proper recycling of waste items is the need of modern times. Everyone must play their part in raising awareness. Individuals can work in their circles and let their friends and family understand the gravity of the problem. Governments and businesses should also collaborate to make the public aware. We all must try our best to find the nearest ewaste recycling companies to help us recycle our old equipment rather than dumping it carelessly.
Computer IT Disposals offers reliable and efficient ewaste recycling services.
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