In the connected world with more and more electronics in our lives, the issue of E-Waste is prevalent. TV’s, mobile phones, computers, radios and smart devices to name a few are making their way to landfill. Now, in small volume, this may not be a major issue but we’re consuming and dumping at an alarming rate.
There are a number of factors to consider with dumping electronics to landfill. Much of these devices are recyclable including the plastics and precious metals that can be recovered:
- gold
- silver
- platinum
- tin
- copper
- nickel
- cobalt
- zinc
- aluminium
There are also serious issues created by other materials used in electronics that have longer-term repercussions. The impact is particularly high with toxic chemicals used in manufacturing such as lead, mercury, cadmium, barium & lithium.
What can we do about it?
Over 90% of E-Waste products can be recycled to reclaim those precious metals previously mentioned. Recycling these products also prevents toxic chemicals ending up in soil and waterways. So the clear and obvious answer is to responsibly recycle these items.
If you have any electronics that you’re ready to get rid of, check out the Ecoactiv website to identify what can be recycled. The program currently being run by Ecoactiv, JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys means that you don’t even need to make an effort to get your gear collected. Some items are free to have collected, others will cost some money.
Recycling E-Waste can do good for others through emeals
Enter another business into the emeals partnership, PonyUp for Good. They are turning E-Waste with residual value into meals for those in need. JB Hi-Fi and the Good Guys are heavily involved as the first retail partners to help people understand and to do the right thing with their E-Waste.
PonyUp for Good is a social enterprise. We work with some of Australia’s biggest businesses to turn retired technology into meals for people in need and have already diverted 170,000 kilos of technology from landfill and used its residual value to feed more than 350,000 people across Australia. The partnership with is the first program of its kind, which provides a public service to turn technology into meals for those in need.
Out of this, Five meals will be donated to SecondBite for every collection booked. For further details on the E-Waste program and links to partners, check out the JB Hi-Fi site.
It’s also on vendors to support smart devices better with regard to updates. This neatly ties in to the other article about how root certificates are starting to expire with no hope of an update.