The waste from electronics can impart a significantly negative impact on our environment. You can limit your contribution to environmental pollution by recycling electronics. A number of electronics recycling services can help you with this task. The question is – why should you recycle your old electronic items?
There are numerous benefits of recycling electronics which have been listed for you below:
1. Reduced Mining of Virgin Materials and Reduction in Energy Used
The mining of virgin materials uses extensive resources and energy during the mining and manufacturing processes. However, when you extract raw materials from used electronics (urban mining), you greatly reduce the energy used and generate greater profits.
For example, the mining of aluminum would require the use of heavy machinery, energy, and would cost a lot of money. However, extracting aluminum from old electronics not only reduces the amount of energy used but also reduces the costs, leading to greater profits.
2. Removal of Toxic Elements
Some of the most abundant toxic materials that dominate the waste stream include mercury from LCD TV screens, lead from cathode ray TV tubes, and heavy metals from batteries. It is very important to remove these toxic substances from the waste stream. These toxic substances end up in landfills, which eventually contaminate the groundwater.
When you recycle electronics, you are actually removing the toxic substances from the waste stream. These toxic elements are extracted from the electronics during the recycling process and are destroyed through appropriate processes.
3. Recovery of Valuable Materials
A number of valuable resources go into the making of electronics. For example, there is a very small quantity of gold in mobile phones. When you recycle your electronic devices, you can recover these valuable materials. In many instances, the extraction of rare earth metals can give rise to geopolitical conflicts. However, the recycling of electronics will prevent the occurrence of any such conflicts and will also help in the recovery of these materials, which are found in extremely small concentrations in nature.
4. Good for Economy
Recycling electronics is extremely beneficial for the economy. Not only does it save the energy and money that goes into the extraction of materials and manufacturing components from scratch, but it also uses fewer resources, such as water.
5. Less Pollution
The most important reason why you should recycle electronics is that it reduces pollution. When you recycle items, there will be less waste, and thus, less material ending up in landfills. The electronics that are dumped in the garbage also release harmful gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect. When fewer electronics are dumped, there will be a massive reduction in air pollution as well!
Summary
Recycling electronics comes with a lot of benefits, such as reduced pollution, lesser waste in landfills, removal of toxic materials from the waste stream, and significant cost saving.