Previous generations would surely be in awe of how technology has been making lives a lot more convenient these days. In a business-setting, a lot of companies save great amount in their resources because of how electronic devices cut the man hours spent on different tasks.
With the non-stop innovations, technologies regularly become outdated and obsolete due to new and improved devices. This only means that innovations will also increase the number of electronic wastes produced. In this regard that e-recycling is very important.
What is the importance of recycling electronic assets? If not properly recycled, the electronic wastes would end up in landfills. If this continues, sooner or later, the world will be filled with unusable gadgets and IT devices. As a commitment to save the environment, all companies and organizations that use electronic devices, should ensure that obsolete and outdated devices will be recycled 100%.
For everyone’s safety, electronics should also be recycled and properly disposed of due to its toxic and hazardous contents. Unlike other types of wastes, e-waste may contain substances such as mercury, lead and others that are not safe for the environment and people’s health.
Aside from environmental and health concerns, recycling of electronic devices is also important due to Earth’s finite resources. One good example of a material used in manufacturing devices is gold. If not recycled, materials will soon be scarce. Electronic recycling is a great way to ensure that resources such as gold will be restored and reused.
Recycling e-wastes could be very tedious due to the different materials used. Another thing that should be greatly considered is how valuable information, such as data and files, would be properly disposed without the risk of leakage. Fortunately for business and organizations, there are companies that provide recycling services for electronic assets.
The process of recycling electronics is composed of many steps. First is the collection and transportation of the items to be disposed. Though most companies will pick up the electronic waste and bring it to their secured facility, there are also service providers that offer on-site services for specific electronic devices.
Once the IT assets to be disposed of arrive in their facility, e recycling companies will start the sorting and dismantling of the devices. Electronic wastes need to be separated based on its data storage, hazard level and materials to be recovered.
All the electronic wastes are handled by trained technicians. For those devices with data storage, technicians will need to wipe out first all the data contents. Deleting saved data could be risky. This is why the ideal service involves overwriting and degaussing. These steps prevent recovery of deleted data.
For those items that could still be refurbished, electronic recycling facilities will send it to their partner companies. However, those that cannot be used or sold anymore will be sent to recycling plants.
For good service providers, secured recycling includes proper documentation for the entire process. Certificates are being provided to their clients upon completion of the process.
There are also certain standards that need to be followed in terms of electronic recycling and disposal. When getting the service of third-party organizations, businesses should ensure that service provides are compliant with e-recycling policies issued by regulating bodies.
