On average the world generates up to 50 million tons of electronic waste per year with the United States responsible for around a staggering 12 million tons of it alone. The sad truth is that only around 12 percent of it ever gets recycled. The rest is simply sent to be incinerated in landfills. This is simply devastating for the environment as electronic components contain many toxic metals and chemicals such as mercury and lead which can penetrate the groundwater. Here we will discuss the efficiency of repairing and recycling electronics as opposed the waste associated with simply throwing out and buying new.
Repairing Your Electronics
Making the decision to have your electronics repaired is massively impactful when it comes to eliminating waste going into our environment. For every process involving manufacturing an electronic device comes a cost. One being the expensive both monetarily and on the environment) process of mining and refining all the ferrous and non-ferrous metals that goes into the housings, printed circuit boards, transformers and other components inside. In addition, most electronics these days contain various plastic components that can take up to a thousand years to decompose naturally. Taking a one-hundred-pound piece of electronics and saving it from the dump by fixing it with less than an ounce worth of components is a dramatic win for saving the earth for our children to enjoy.
Recycling Electronics the Right Way
In a recent study it was found that mining copper from recycled electronics was up to 20 times more efficient than when mined from an equal weight in ore. In addition, losses of material, which in traditional mining can slip through the process, were negligible with an almost 100 percent yield. Every pound of metal that can be recovered from electronic waste is of a huge benefit. But be careful of where you send your scrap electronics. Do your research, as there are many counterfeit recycling outfits that do not recycle properly and send their waste to either dumps or developing countries after only extracting the cheapest materials to recover.
If you are in need of a company to handle your scrap or surplus electronics please give us a ring! Be sure to visit us online at www.gesrepair.comor call us at 1-877-249-1701 to learn more about our services. We’re proud to offer Surplus, Complete Repair and Maintenance on all types of Industrial Electronics, Servo Motors, AC and DC Motors, Hydraulics and Pneumatics. Please subscribe to our YouTube page and Like Us on Facebook! Thank you!