You may have heard or read somewhere recently that you should be recycling your electronics instead of trashing them. With the way our landfills are filling up today, this only makes sense! In fact, when you recycle PC, the recycling company can regain many valuable materials from the recycling process, and these materials can be used to reduce the overall amount of energy and resources needed to make new electronics in the future. When you recycle PC, it’s a little different from recycling aluminum cans or glass products because PCs are made of many component parts that have to be separated and dealt with separately. Here’s what you should know about how the recycling process for computers and other electronics works:
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1. Elements are separated
The first step in recycling a PC is to separate the different elements. Screens are separated from plastic parts, which are separated from the computer’s insides, which contain the electronic chips that once made it work.
2. Some elements are reclaimed
About 99% of materials in old electronics can be reclaimed. The way the reclamation process works varies from one electronics recycling company to the next. Some companies, for instance, will bundle up certain elements – like the computer’s electronic chips – and sell them further down the line to more specialized recycling companies that are built to deal with these parts. Other companies will recycle computer parts on their own.
Often times, computer parts can be stripped for valuable metals, such as gold and even aluminum, which can then be combined with like metals and used in the manufacturing process all over again. Other parts, like the plastic pieces, can be remade into new plastic pieces for new electronics.
Most of the time, electronics recycling companies sell the component materials at a profit, so they’re both reducing your environmental impact and turning a profit!
3. Hazardous wastes are taken care of
Most electronic devices like computers contain at least some hazardous wastes, like lead and mercury. Ethical recycling companies will remove these hazardous materials from the products they recycle. For instance, computer monitor glass is often put through a furnace so that the lead can be extracted from the rest of the glass and properly disposed of.
When you’re searching for a company to recycle your electronics, make sure that the company not only strips the PC of valuable materials but also ethically deals with the hazardous materials that would otherwise cause environmental problems!
4. Some materials are trashed
Even though the vast majority of component materials for electronics like PCs can be recycled, some pieces simply cannot be, and these pieces do end up back in landfills. However, even if only 50% of an item can be recycled, that’s still 50% less waste in the landfill! Luckily, most of the time when you recycle PC, over 90% of the materials in the computer can be effectively recycled or reused!
Find a recycler
Before you can recycle PC, you’ll need to find a recycling facility that takes care of electronics, since they don’t all deal with electronics. If you’re in the San Diego area, Recycle San Diego can ethically take care of recycling your computers and other electronics for you. If not, check out Earth911.org, where you can run a search for electronics recyclers near you!
