E-waste management has become a pressing concern of the modern times. Companies all around the world dispose a huge quantity of electronics every year. We, as individuals, contribute to that pile of e-waste, by throwing away everything broken or old. It is the duty of companies and specialized recycling companies to handle those materials. Being certified for e-waste management is a necessary achievement for any company.
The first reason for which anyone should recycle their old electronics is pretty obvious: resources. Modern devices contain all sorts of materials which should be recycled. Keep in mind that those resources do not regenerate. Furthermore, some devices contain a small quantity of precious materials, like gold. If you add up all the devices thrown away, you end up with a pretty massive chunk of gold. And there are many other rare and expensive elements which could easily be recycled and re-used in industrial processes.
Environmental safety is another big concern. Electronic devices are filed with toxic substances which would poison de soil, air and water-table, should they come in contact. There are many organizations which advocate for environmental safety. Not properly disposing e-waste is punishable by law and every company should now that their disposal activities are closely monitored by authorities and organizations.
Toxic waste will also affect the nearby persons. Releasing toxic substances in the air can cause all sort of lung diseases or other breathing problems. And when authorities will start looking for the ones responsible, the consequences for the company causing the pollution will be pretty dire. In some cases, the entire production and activity will be closed by authorities.
Data security is also guaranteed by proper destruction and e-waste management. We live in a world where cyber-attacks, cyber-terrorism and industrial espionage are at their peaks. There are many bad-intended individuals who would want to grab some of your company’s old HDD drives or to infiltrate in your company’s database via old and not sufficiently secured devices. This is why when a company decides to renew its electronic equipment it should properly destroy the old one.
Recycling e-waste is the best solution, but only if it is done by certified companies. The E-Steward represents the global partnership program for companies who responsibly recycle e-waste. Certified members have dedicated facilities where they extract precious components and destroy the remaining materials, which in turn, will be recycled and re-entered in the production cycle.
