Recycling Old Tech is Essential to Sustainability
This is a contributed post and may contain affiliate links. The thoughts and ideas expressed may not be exactly what the ghostwriter Scott Sery believes. But he did read it, and signed off on it, so it’s at least pretty close.
As a business, you have the responsibility to recycle your old electronics. With the availability of various organizations and companies that can repurpose old business tech, you can prevent it from ending up in landfills. The US alone discards nearly 8 billion tons of e-waste annually, with only a small percentage being recycled. There is an urgent need for recycling initiatives to address the problem as consumers upgrade their tech. For instance, a study featured on Priority WEEE found that recycling just one million laptops could save the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 US homes in an entire year.
If you’re uncertain whether to discard your old tech or use recycling services, read on to discover the advantages of e-waste recycling. Let this knowledge empower you as a responsible business owner to make informed decisions about your business’s electronic waste management and put you in control of your environmental impact.
Increased Security
Let’s delve into the security aspect of recycling your old tech. Your business tech likely contains sensitive information about you, your employees, or your customers. It’s crucial to ensure this data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. This assurance is provided by a recycling drive that degausses the magnetic media, ensuring that all data is completely wiped and rendered unusable once it leaves your company, giving you the confidence that your data is secure.
If the tech is going to be reused, a secure data stripping service can ensure that once the new owner uses your old tech, they cannot gain access to any details stored on the devices.
Increased Sustainability
Electronics and tech have many harmful chemicals that can contaminate the environment when left to languish in landfills. Not only are you reducing your waste and contributing to a more sustainable business plan, but by opting to recycle your electronic waste, you’re ensuring that you are reducing the harmful effects that waste can have. Chemicals like arsenic, lead, and mercury, which are all present in electronic equipment, can be highly damaging when leading into the environment. Materials like aluminum can take anywhere from 200 to 500 years to fully decompose, meaning they will hang around for many generations.
Reduces Demand for New Materials
It may not seem like recycling small amounts of tech or electrical equipment can make a difference, every small act contributes to the bigger picture. Electronics are composed of a range of materials. The more these materials are recycled and reused, the lower the demand for new materials is, and ultimately, the lower the need to produce more. By committing to recycling as much as possible, you will be playing your part in reducing the overall need for new material, which increases sustainability across your business and the world, making you a part of a greater movement towards sustainability.