Business PickupAlthough electronic waste (“e-waste”) advocacy is on the rise, knowledge gaps about this waste stream persist, especially in the area of e-waste recycling. Many consumers haven’t yet been informed about what takes place in the e-waste recycling process and why it matters. Here, we debunk some of the most common e-waste recycling myths and share the truth behind them.
Myth 1: Recycling e-waste doesn’t make a difference.
Unfortunately, some people hold the belief that waste accumulation in general is such a significant issue that their efforts to recycle e-waste properly simply won’t make a difference. Yet, the reality is that it’s never been more important to focus on e-waste recycling. This is true not only for significant producers like manufacturers and importers, but from a consumer standpoint, too.
E-waste recycling efforts of any scale have many meaningful benefits, including:
- Reducing toxic chemicals that enter ecosystems, such as soil and waterways.
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by controlling the need for more new electronics to be produced.
- Saving landfill space and natural resources.
- Increasing affordability of electronics.
- Creating employment opportunities.
Myth 2: E-waste will just wind up in landfills.
If you’ve heard about the black market of e-waste, you know that there have been some instances of illegitimate facilities sending electronics overseas instead of recycling them properly. While this is an unfortunate reality of the current state of e-waste, groups like the Basel Action Network (BAN) are working diligently to expose bad actors.
As scrutiny increases and e-waste legislation is developed, it will become more difficult for illegitimate recycling facilities to get away with these actions. In the meantime, the only way to guarantee that your unwanted electronics are actually being recycled properly is to turn them over to a certified company, like Quantum.
Myth 3: It’s too difficult to recycle e-waste properly.
Some people want to recycle their e-waste properly, but they don’t know how – and assume that it’s probably too challenging or complex to do it properly. In fact, there’s minimal effort involved with proper e-waste recycling.
While you can’t combine it with your regular household trash, there are plenty of easy solutions for getting rid of unwanted e-waste the right way:
- Our secure, certified, and convenient QuickShip program allows you to get rid of your unwanted devices by mail.
- There are also authorized electronics recycling drop-off locations all across Canada, where devices are sent to certified recyclers like Quantum for proper handling.
- For businesses, convenient pickups can be scheduled, with services customized to your needs, including secure data destruction.
Myth 4: E-waste recycling isn’t economically viable.
It’s true that electronics recycling can be a tedious — and therefore costly — process. Extracting various components for recycling is time-consuming, but advances in technology are making the processes more streamlined all the time. Further, there are steps you can take to prepare your electronics for recycling to drive efficiencies and keep costs down, such as making sure your devices aren’t locked.
Despite the complexities involved, there is significant value in electronics recycling. Recovering precious metals and other costly materials is one way e-waste recycling is economically viable, but there are also tremendous savings to be had from reducing environmental impacts. Additionally, reuse initiatives can keep the costs of electronics down by controlling the demand for new devices.
Quantum offers a broad range of recycling services that can be tailored to your specific needs. Our company is fully audited and certified, so you can rest assured that we’ll handle your e-waste using secure and sustainable processes.