Creating E-waste Plans For Tech-Powered Businesses

14 July 2017
 Categories: , Blog


Getting rid of electronic waste or e-waste is a challenge for many businesses, as it often requires an investment in separate waste containers and training for personnel. Although the growing pains of a new e-waste program can be time-consuming, the right amount of efficiency and financially-sound planning can turn a profit when you take your old equipment to a recycling center. Here are a few e-waste management points that can reduce costs and boost recycling returns at multiple effort levels:

Basic Recycling: Whole Device-Level

The most simple type of e-waste recycling is loading entire devices into a recycling bin or truck and sending it to the recycling center. Many recycling centers and third party recycling professionals have set rates for different types of devices and even specific brands.

This means that you'll get a recycling rate that was drafted for all of the desired recycling materials inside the device. This is an important detail to keep in mind, because some devices of different brands may have different amounts of high-cost materials. It's important to know what your specific device has and how it compares to other devices--and the recycling centers won't do that work for you.

Component And Scrap-Level Recycling

To get exact recycling rates for specific materials such as copper, gold, aluminum, tungsten, or rare earth magnets, you'll need to take the devices apart. This often requires technical personnel, meaning that you'll need electricians, maintenance professionals, or Information Technology (IT) professionals to take the devices apart.

This is where the recycling costs come in. The devices need to be taken apart quickly and efficiently without losing too many materials and to avoid wasting time that the personnel could be spending on business operations. The most efficient way is to have existing personnel handle the tasks when they don't have normal business tasks, but you may hire contractors if their costs are less than what you'd receive after recycling.

If you want to keep everything organized and quick for delivery, consider getting small, color-coded recycling bins for specific materials. Aluminum and/or copper heat sinks, gold contacts, magnets from hard drives, and other items can be placed into separate bins for turning in specific materials when their pay rates are higher at recycling centers.

Computers, copiers, mobile devices, speaker systems, and any other electronics all have their own, unique designs with different recyclable materials that need to be evaluated before planning major removals. For help with organizing your e-waste recycling, including figuring out business costs compared to recycling profits, contact an e-waste recycling team.


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