All of our electronics need to be replaced at some point. Electronics that aren’t properly disposed of end up in landfills and release dangerous chemicals into the air, soil, and water. In addition to finding something to replace your old electronics and figure out how to get them safely recycled, you also have to make sure that all of your important data is completely wiped off of it. Steve Smith with Consumer Affinity told us that, “Many companies miss the mark when it comes time to retire IT devices like Laptops, Desktop Computers, and Servers that are at their end of life. There's a misconception that deleting the data means that it's gone and unrecoverable. Unfortunately, that's simply untrue.” Destroying data is important to do on your own personal devices, but especially for corporate offices to do. When businesses need to downsize or update their IT equipment, they can have a huge amount of equipment filled with sensitive data that needs to be protected.
Follow this 5 step plan to ensure you’re securely disposing of all your old IT equipment.
1. See if You Can Recycle
Not all of our old electronics need to be recycled just yet. There are plenty of times when businesses get rid of old IT equipment that’s still in good condition, but they just don’t need it. Electronics like this can possibly still get used before they need to be recycled. This helps extend their lifespan, reduces the number of new electronics that need to be created, and can help more people access these electronics. Before you get rid of anything, check to see if you can donate some of your old IT equipment.
2. Find a Reliable Recycling Center
Where you recycle your unwanted electronics is extremely important. You want to know that your e-waste recycling will all be taken care of. While we all need to be responsible when getting rid of old electronics for the sake of the environment, some states require you to recycle your unwanted electronics. For those who live in states with these rules in place, it’s even more important that you can show that you recycled IT equipment properly. With Newtech Recycling, you know you’re getting a recycling program that takes all the necessary steps to reduce e-waste.
3. Backup All Of Your Data
One of the most important things you need to do when you’re disposing of old IT equipment is to ensure that all of your old data is backed up somewhere else first. You don’t want to find yourself searching for something important in the future only to realize it’s gone and there’s no way of getting it back. To make things easier for you in the future, triple-check that everything is backed up where you’ll be able to find it.
4. Remove Hard Drives
For those who don’t have many electronics to recycle, you can sometimes remove hard drives yourself before recycling or donating. However, this can be more difficult when you have a lot of electronics to get rid of, which is often the case for businesses. If this is something you aren’t able to do yourself, we can help with it at Newtech Recycling.
5. Get Professional Help
When getting rid of their old electronics, many people make the mistake of trying to remove all of their data themselves. This might make it seem like you’ve erased everything, but doing this is actually much more difficult than it seems. The only way of ensuring that there’s no way anyone else can get access to your information is to have it professionally destroyed. David Shay with Activeits told us, “In order to 100% secure disposed data, storage drives must be destroyed to an unusable state. We recommend a drive shredding service which comes to your office and will shred the drives in front of you.” Another way is to contact a recycling company that will do this for you. We make sure that all of your data is destroyed during our recycling process, so you have nothing to worry about.
In the rapidly growing digital age, computers have become an integral part of our daily lives, both in personal and professional spheres. At NewTech Recycling, we specialize in the responsible recycling of electronics, including pc’s and laptops, and we're here to guide you through the process of determining the right time to recycle your computer. Our commitment is not just to the environment but also to ensuring that the end of your computer's life cycle is handled with expertise and care.
The Right Time for Recycling:
Technological Advancement: Technology advances at a rapid pace. When your computer no longer supports the latest software or lacks the necessary speed and efficiency for your tasks, it's an indicator that it's time for an upgrade and recycling.
End of Lifespan: The average lifespan of a computer is about 3 to 5 years. Post this period, you might notice diminishing performance, frequent repairs, or incompatibility with new peripherals. These signs suggest that it's time to recycle your old computer.
Irreparable Damage: Computers sometimes suffer from damages that are beyond repair, such as severe hardware failure or extensive physical damage. In such cases, recycling becomes the most feasible and responsible option.
Upgrade Needs: As your needs evolve, your computer might not keep up. Upgrading to a new device and recycling the old one is not only eco-friendly but also allows for the recovery of valuable materials.
Corporate Refresh Cycle: For businesses, staying up-to-date with technology is crucial. Corporate refresh cycles are a great opportunity to recycle old computers as you upgrade to newer models.
Environmental Concerns: If you're environmentally conscious, recycling your old computer is a step towards reducing e-waste and minimizing your carbon footprint.
Why Choose NewTech Recycling?
Choosing NewTech Recycling for your computer recycling needs means selecting a service that goes above and beyond in ensuring the security and environmental integrity of the recycling process. At NewTech Recycling, we place a high priority on secure data destruction. We understand the importance of your sensitive information and adhere to strict data destruction protocols to guarantee that all personal or business data is completely and irreversibly destroyed. Additionally, we are committed to environmental compliance. Our processes are designed to adhere to all environmental regulations, ensuring that your computer is recycled in the most eco-friendly way possible. This commitment not only helps in reducing e-waste but also plays a crucial role in preserving our planet's resources.
Furthermore, our expertise in resource recovery is unmatched. We specialize in extracting valuable materials from your old computers, thereby reducing the need for mining new resources and supporting a sustainable, circular economy. By choosing NewTech Recycling, you are not only disposing of your electronic waste responsibly, but also contributing to a greener and more sustainable future.
Every business eventually needs to get rid of their current hard drives. Depending on what type of hard drive you have, you could have it for as little as a few years before you need to start looking at replacements.
When you’re ready to say out with the old and in with the new, it’s not always so simple. Your hard drives are filled with important company information and personal data. When it’s time to replace these, you can’t just toss them and be done with them.
But how do you go about properly disposing of old hard drives? Keep reading to learn five tips on how to discard old hard drives properly.
Tips for Disposing of Old Hard Drives
Securely disposing of old hard drives is more work than you can do on your own, especially if you’re a business getting rid of a large amount of equipment. To protect your business, you need to destroy old hard drives responsibly so the data can no longer be accessed.
If you have old hard drives at your business, here’s what you need to do when it’s time to get rid of them.
Destroy Data Before Disposing of Old Hard Drives
Data destruction is extremely important for any business looking to dispose of old electronics. Hard drives contain a business’s important data, which is difficult for a person to fully erase on their own. Many might think they’ve successfully wiped their hard drive, but they aren’t aware how easily the wrong person will still be able to access it.
A business’s hard drives will also contain confidential information about its customers and clients, and they have a responsibility to protect this. If businesses don’t ensure that data is being carefully destroyed, they could get into serious trouble. Getting help with data destruction is easy, so there is no reason for any business to be irresponsible when disposing of old hard drives and computers and taking this risk.
Save All of Your Old Files
Before you do anything to dispose of your old hard drives, you need to ensure that everything is backed up elsewhere. Once you destroy your old hard drives, there’s no way of recovering that lost information.
It can be easy to forget about something that might not seem important right now, but you could end up needing it in the future. While this step might seem obvious to some, it’s always worth checking off just to be sure your data is still accessible when you need it.
Have the Data Wiped
If you have electronics that are still in good working order, you might choose to donate what you can instead of recycling them. If you go this route, it is important to make sure all of your data is erased. This process is harder than it may seem and is more work than simply deleting files.
Having all data on your hard drive wiped ensures that no one can retrieve it after it has left your company. If you plan on donating or selling your old electronics, it would be best to find a professional who can help you safely and securely wipe the hard drive so you aren’t taking any risks.
Destroy Old Hard Drives
If your hard drive is no longer usable, you need to have it physically destroyed. To ensure this is done correctly, you must bring it to a qualified company to handle data destruction.
At Newtech, our data destruction process helps ensure that your computer hard drives get destroyed so that you don’t have to worry about anyone accessing your important data. We not only wipe all of the data from your old hard drive, but we also use an electromagnetic pulse that destroys any information on the hard drive. After this, we physically destroy the old hard drive itself by shredding it.
Recycle E-Waste Responsibly
How to safely destroy hard drives isn’t the only thing to consider when your business has old electronics to get rid of. You also need to take the necessary steps to ensure that anything that can be recycled is taken care of properly.
Electronics that aren’t properly disposed of aren’t just a threat to your business’s data but also to our entire environment. These electronics can release harmful toxins into the air, soil, and water if thrown away like regular garbage, which can seriously impact the environment. Not only do electronics become extremely toxic when put in landfills, but it’s also a huge waste of resources. Electronics contain many precious metals that can be reused to create something new if recycled.
Because of this, you need a certified e-waste recycling company when you’re ready to discard old hard drives and unwanted electronics.
Newtech Recycling Can Destroy and Dispose of Old Hard Drives
Visit our website to learn about e-waste recycling and how Newtech Recycling can help your business discard old hard drives in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut.
You can find recycling bins in people’s homes all across the world. We’ve all been taught the importance of recycling our glass, plastic, and paper materials when we can. Recycling these single-use items is commonplace, but it’s not all we should be doing. Everyone should make an effort to ensure all of their possessions get reused and recycled responsibly. Things like clothing or furniture should be donated when possible to prevent unnecessary waste, but our tech products also need to be recycled when they aren’t useful to use anymore.
E-waste is a huge problem, but it’s something we can all work on to improve. Recycling can help the whole planet in multiple ways, from keeping people safe to conserving resources. Learn more about the ways recycling can help the planet.
1. Prevent Toxic Waste
Many don’t realize how harmful their electronic devices can become. These devices are safe to use while they’re properly maintained, but this stops when they’re thrown away in landfills. When devices are exposed to the elements, they can become extremely toxic. Devices can seep toxic waste into the soil, affecting nearby crops, and once it’s in the soil, it will eventually make its way to water sources. Tech recycling prevents this toxic waste from occurring.
2. Conserve Natural Resources
We may not think about what’s in our tech products. However, most of our everyday devices contain precious metals, like gold and copper, and other natural resources. These elements are in limited supply and are nonrenewable. Once these resources are gone, we can’t create more, so we can’t afford to be wasteful. Throwing away electronics means throwing away natural resources that could have been reused for new products.
3. Reduce Landfills
A huge amount of e-waste is produced every year. It can be difficult to think about the amount of technology disposed of worldwide, but it can be around 50 million tons each year. When this ends up in landfills, it requires a large amount of physical space. If we continue to throw away electronics at such a high volume, we’ll end up needing more and more landfills. By recycling, we can prevent more landfills from being created. David Meltzer the owner of East Insurance Group put this into perspective for us. "Now imagine, if every single person did their part and practiced proper recycling methods, the Earth can at the very least slow down the process in a significant way."
4. Reuse Materials
Plenty of the materials in your devices can be reused. This includes the precious metals in them and materials we already recycle regularly, like glass and plastic. These materials can all be reused, so there’s no reason to source or create new ones. You can easily help the planet by ensuring the materials you already have are reused once you’re no longer using them.
5. Protect Human Lives
E-waste is typically shipped out to third-world and developing countries, or countries where extremely cheap labor is found. Landfills put the people in these communities at a huge risk. Toxic waste from devices can contaminate their water and food sources, potentially causing serious health problems. Workers at the landfills who get paid low rates are also at serious risk when they’re forced to breathe in toxic fumes from this waste. We should all be doing what we can to protect other people’s health and safety, which means recycling electronics.
6. Create New Jobs
Recycling old devices isn’t an easy task. To make e-waste recycling the norm, many skilled workers are going to be needed. This can help create new jobs all over and provide many with exciting opportunities to improve what happens to our old devices. With more jobs being created to make e-waste recycling possible, many people will be positively impacted by this change.
7. Save Energy By Reusing
Creating new technology from scratch requires a lot of energy. If people aren’t aware that they should be recycling electronics, they might think there’s no choice but to create entirely new devices with new materials. E-waste recycling means this isn’t necessary. With access to recycled electronics, less energy will be required to create new devices.
8. Help the Environment
By reducing the amount of harmful waste in the world and reducing the amount of energy and resources needed to create new electronic devices, we can significantly help the environment. E-waste has already negatively impacted the world, and as electronic devices become more prevalent, the problem will continue to grow. Not only do soil and water face the negative effects of e-waste, but the air does as well. The damage done to our soil, water, and the atmosphere will affect people worldwide for generations. Melissa Rey with DRVN stresses the importance of recycling on helping the environment. "More than anything, I think recycling is a great way to begin one’s journey to sustainability. It serves as such a great stepping stone to begin minimizing your carbon footprint and can teach a lot about accountability and the difference one person can make with a little effort."
Recycle Your Devices Responsibly
E-waste can have grave effects that will negatively impact us all, but we have the potential to mitigate it. With access to e-waste recycling programs, people can prevent the negative effects e-waste has on the entire planet. At Newtech Recycling, we give people a safe and responsible place to recycle their unwanted devices so they can do their part in keeping our planet protected.
Climate change is arguably the gravest environmental crisis facing the world today, perhaps the gravest in human history. It’s also one whose full scope and understanding isn’t always easy to grasp.
It’s easy to view the weather as simply background noise in our lives, not something that we as individual people have any impact on. But the truth is we do have an impact, and the only way to ensure it is a positive one is for us to educate ourselves about what climate changes is, what causes it, and what we can do to prevent it. Torben Lonne with DIVEIN explained that, "Everything that humans do contributes to global warming in some way."
As an environmentally conscious hardware recycling company, Newtech Recycling believes we all have to do our part to protect the Earth for future generations. By breaking down your old computers, cell phones, copiers, fax machines, and the like, we are able to recover and reuse the various types of metals in electronics. Reintroducing these materials into the manufacturing industry helps keep deadly pollutants out of our air, water, and soil.
What Factors Are Behind Climate Change?
Like all aspects of the environment, the Earth’s climate is maintained by a delicate and complex balance of factors. Alterations in any one has have dramatic consequences for all the others. At the most basic level, climate works like this: the Earth is heated by energy from the sun, and it cools when that energy is released by the atmosphere back into space.
This process is disrupted, however, by something called “the greenhouse effect,” wherein an overabundance of gases like carbon monoxide, methane, and nitrous oxide traps that heat inside the Earth’s atmosphere. Mikkel Gade Henrichsen with Climaider stared that "Statistically speaking, burning fossil fuels are by far the single most contributing factor to climate change, accounting for about a third of the world's greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions." All that extra heat builds up over time, causing small weather fluctuations that gradually become much, much bigger. The result? Rising sea levels, melting ice caps, endangered ecosystems, and an alarming increase in floods, heatwaves, and tropical storms.
A number of things contribute to this excessive build-up of greenhouse gasses. Scott Laskey with Sandbar Solar & Electric told us that "The biggest contributor to climate change is carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions." However today, we would like to talk about how the improper disposal of unwanted electronics contributes to climate change.
How Does E-Waste Contribute to Climate Change?
Electronics waste, or e-waste, is one of the most significant contributors to climate change, in part because e-waste is one of the most poorly understood and poorly controlled forms of pollution today. Around 50 million cubic tons of e-waste is improperly discarded in landfills every year. As electronic devices degrade, they release deadly toxins into the environment, including the aforementioned greenhouse gases. In fact, the EPA estimates that 100 pounds of e-waste produces more than 260 pounds of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of burning almost 15 gallons of gasoline.
That’s not the only way e-waste exacerbates climate change. Casper Ohm with water-pollution.org told us that commercial and residential buildings are responsible for about 12% "Maintaining residential buildings by heating and cooling them, and managing their waste." Many people don’t realize that their household appliances contain many rare and precious metals. What precious metals are in your old electronics? Gold, platinum, mercury, silver, copper, zinc, palladium, nickel, bismuth, iron, and antimony are all common materials used in the manufacture of computers, mobile phones, refrigerators, televisions, and the like.
The value of all those metals unceremoniously discarded in landfills? Almost $60 million annually. Not only is that $60 million worth of metals lost every year, that’s an additional $60 million worth of metals that need to be mined in order to continue producing essential technology. Mining itself is another major contributor to climate change, requiring large amounts of energy and creating even larger amounts of pollution.
How Can Newtech Recycling Fight Climate Change?
Newtech Recycling is committed to making it easier for individuals and businesses to get rid of their unwanted electronics in a convenient, ethical, and environmentally sustainable way.
Many people don’t know how to dispose of old copiers, monitors, phones, and IT equipment, so they just end up throwing them away alongside their crumpled up sticky notes and half-eaten ham sandwiches. Unlike paper and food products, though, tech devices do not safely and quickly biodegrade. Instead, they leak toxic substances into our earth, air, and water.
That’s why Newtech Recycling offers on-site e-waste pick-up. Once transported to our New Jersey DEP-approved facilities, you can rest assured that your unwanted electronics will be disassembled in a way that allows their component parts to be reused in the production of new technology.
Help us save the world one busted laptop at a time. Contact Newtech Recycling today!
Global warming has been a growing concern for years, and it’s only going to get worse until we start to do something about it. There are many contributing factors to global warming, and as an individual, you don’t always have control over some of them. However, there are plenty of ways in your own life that you can make better choices to protect the environment and prevent global warming. One way that you can help prevent global warming is by recycling your unwanted electronics. Depending on where you live, you might even be legally required to recycle old electronics and could face a fine if you don’t do so. If you look at the devices in your home, it might not seem like that much, but when you add up everyone in the world throwing these devices away, you get millions of tons of e-waste each year.
Here’s what you need to know about global warming and e-waste.
E-Waste Leaks Toxins Into the Soil and Water
E-waste can negatively impact the environment in ways that aren’t necessarily related to global warming as well. In certain conditions, the materials inside our everyday devices can become extremely dangerous and toxic. This can occur when devices are exposed to the elements, which happens if they’re tossed in landfills. When toxins begin to leak from old electronics, they will eventually seep into the ground. Once it’s in the soil, it can affect nearby crops and animals that feed on these crops. As toxins work their way through the soil, they also end up in nearby water supplies. This can be harmful for the local communities that depend on these water sources, and toxins can also easily spread far in water.
Burning Releases Greenhouse Gases Into the Air
It’s not only the soil and water that are affected by e-waste - these toxins also pollute the air. Electronics that end up in landfills are often burned. The fumes this creates causes a significant amount of pollution in the air. These greenhouse gases significantly contribute to global warming by trapping heat and enabling it to leave our atmosphere. In addition to contributing to global warming, this polluted air is dangerous to breathe in. The workers tasked with burning these devices get exposed to these hazardous fumes that can severely impact their health.
You Can Help Stop It
E-waste is a serious problem that impacts everyone. While a lot of work still needs to be done to help stop e-waste from ending up in landfills, you can play an important role in preventing it. By recycling your old electronics responsibly, you can help ensure they end up in the right place and don’t contribute to global warming. This doesn’t require much work on your part, but it can make a huge difference if everyone starts using e-waste recycling services.
ITAD companies can help you recycle old electronics when you're done with them. At Newtech Recycling, we give you a reliable place to recycle all of your old and unwanted electronics. We can help you with whatever you need, like recycling old photocopiers or any other electronics you have.
Contact us to learn more about recycling your electronics.
Electronic equipment is an integral part of our lives in the workplace and at home. According to a report by the United Nations, the world produces as much as 50 million tonnes of e-waste each year. From computers and copiers to cell phones and other office technology, we rely on many essential electronic equipment products to work efficiently and effectively.
One of the first steps in understanding e-waste problems and solutions is recognizing what is considered electronic waste. Common products that can be categorized as e-waste include but are not limited to the following:
Laptops
Monitors
Computer Components (CPUs, processors, etc.)
Keyboards
Printers
Phones
Fax machines
Televisions
When it comes time to replace our old electronics, it is important to do so properly so we are not contributing to the growing global e-waste problems.
Why is E-Waste a Problem?
The challenges posed by e-waste are multifaceted, making it crucial to address the disposal of electronics responsibly. Unlike conventional office waste, electronics are imbued with various hazardous chemicals. When these devices end up in landfills, these chemicals can seep out, emphasizing the need for effective e-waste management strategies. Such leakage poses environmental threats and can lead to legal repercussions, including liability lawsuits stemming from improper disposal practices.
Furthermore, when e-waste is carelessly discarded in landfills or abandoned by roadsides, its toxic components can contaminate the soil and groundwater. This environmental degradation jeopardizes both wildlife and human populations. The severity of these e-waste-related hazards is so pronounced that many states have enacted laws prohibiting the improper disposal of electronics.
How to Reduce and Recycle Electronic Waste
Given the growing concerns surrounding e-waste, one might wonder about potential solutions. Fortunately, there are several strategies individuals and businesses can adopt to mitigate their e-waste footprint.
So, are you wondering about a possible solution for the growing e-waste problem? Here are a few methods you can employ to reduce your e-waste output.
1. Sell or Donate Old Electronics
One of the many ways you can ensure that your e-waste does not end up in a landfill is by reselling your old electronics that still work. With marketplace apps like Letgo becoming increasingly popular, finding a buyer for your old electronics is as easy as ever. You can dispose of old electronics and make a quick buck, too.
If you feel charitable, donating your old electronics to charity is another way to breathe new life into your old tech. Michael Miller with VPNOnline always donates his used devices. “Many don’t seem to be aware, but most electronic devices have harmful elements to our environment. That’s why instead of throwing away my old gadgets, I donate them to others.”
Many local charities would be more than willing to take an old TV or computer off your hands. Second-hand stores like Goodwill are nationwide and will accept working electronics for donation. By selling or donating your old electronics, you are ensuring that your old tech is staying out of landfills and finding renewed use with someone else, helping to curb many of the e-waste problems.
2. Treat Your Electronics Right
How often have you heard stories of friends or family needing to purchase a new phone because they broke their last one? One of the most effective solutions for e-waste is treating your tech respectfully. This ensures that your tech will last long and stay out of a landfill.
There are many ways to maintain different pieces of technology. Placing a protective case or screen protector on your phone is one way to prolong its life. You won’t need to dispose of a broken phone if it isn’t broken in the first place!
For computers, cleaning the insides of dust or dirt is another way to improve their lifetime usage. Not charging the device to 100% for any electronic device will prolong its battery life. A good battery will keep your device fast and operating for a long time. Properly maintaining your electronic devices will keep them in your possession and out of landfills for longer.
Additionally, if your device is broken or having issues, try fixing it before tossing it and buying the newest model. This can add a few months or even years to your device. Shayne Sherman with Car Passionate tells us, " Really try fixing your technology before you throw it away. Search for places in your local area that would be able to help with that. There are even lots of free workshops happening nowadays.”
In an ideal world, companies would offer incentives for users to return their old tech to be recycled, but often that is not the case. Daniel with Zippy Electronics says, “The best way to address the growing e-waste problem worldwide is by encouraging the companies that produce electronic products to have doable and reliable recycling programs for their own products.”
Unfortunately, and more often than not, it’s left up to the user to find a place to recycle their broken or outdated device. And while finding the proper recycling channels may take some effort, it is worth it to help prevent devastating e-waste problems.
Many retail stores give customers options to bring their old electronics for various purposes. Trading in old electronics for cash or credit towards new technology is a common practice. There are also electronic recycling businesses whose job is to dispose of your e-waste safely and securely. So, not only is recycling your electronics one of the best solutions for e-waste, but it can also benefit your wallet, too!
If you are a business looking to recycle your e-waste responsibly, we can help. At Newtech Recycling, we are committed to creating a safe and sustainable corporate electronic recycling process for you and your business. Through our extensive range of service options, we will help to dispose of any and all electronic waste and data that you need to be removed.
The Importance of Reducing and Recycling E-Waste
In our technologically driven age, the surge in electronic consumption is undeniable. While enhancing our daily lives, these devices have also led to an alarming rise in e-waste. The environmental repercussions of improper e-waste disposal are severe. E-waste often contains hazardous materials like lead and mercury, which, when discarded carelessly, can contaminate our water sources and harm the ecosystem.
Beyond the environmental concerns, there's an economic perspective to consider. Electronics are rich in valuable materials such as gold and copper. Recycling prevents environmental degradation and reclaims these precious resources, reducing the need for environmentally harmful mining. Furthermore, recycling e-waste can stimulate economic growth by creating jobs in the recycling sector and reintroducing recovered materials into the production cycle.
Safely Dispose of Electronic Waste with Newtech Recycling
At Newtech Recycling, our corporate duty is to ensure that the right environmental practices are employed when disposing of any e-waste your businesses might produce. No matter the size of your business, we are here to handle any amount of e-waste your company needs to be removed.
When you work with us, you ensure that you protect the environment safely and responsibly. Contact us today to learn about our solutions for e-waste recycling in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Connecticut.
As a business owner, you have many responsibilities. You’re responsible for your product. You’re responsible for your employees. And you’re responsible to your customers. Today, though, one responsibility in particular is on a lot of people's minds: the preservation of the environment. We all share the same world, so it’s important we do our best to take care of it.
That’s why Newtech Recycling exists. Our mission as a hardware recycling company is to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses in as ethical, reliable, affordable, and environmentally safe a manner as possible.
Electronic waste, or e-waste, is one of the most harmful forms of pollution threatening the world today. That’s because of the high number of toxic materials used in the manufacture of computer hardware, copy and fax machines, mobile devices, and the like. At Newtech Recycling, we keep those poisons out of landfills and instead break them down into reusable component parts that can be introduced back into the manufacturing process for the creation of newer, better products.
Green computer recycling isn’t the only way your business can be eco-friendly, though. Here are five suggestions for ways you can update your company’s tech in an environmentally conscious way.
1. Go Paperless
Although e-waste environmental pollutionis one of the biggest issues facing eco-minded businesses today, it’s not the only one. They might not be quite as toxic, but paper products are still one of the most common pollutants in the world.
Atta Ur Rehman with Qaleen told us the multiple benefits of going paperless. "The future is paperless! With the advancement in technology and the introduction of a more digital workplace, the use of paper is decreased which not only reduces waste but also cuts down the company expenses"
As a business owner, you know how much paper a company can go through in a single day: interoffice memos, client mailers, financial records, productivity reports, and so much more. All that paper uses up a lot of trees and creates a lot of waste, and in this day and age, none of it is necessary. Using digital databases and email instead is a small change that goes a long way.
2. Use Cloud Storage
Once you’ve decided to take your business paperless, you might be ready to go one step further by replacing on-site hard drives with cloud storage. Owning and maintaining dedicated physical servers and external backups can be expensive, but it’s also complicated, tedious, and takes up a lot of real-world office space that could be better utilized.
For company IT professionals, the rise of cloud storage has been a dream come true. Let Newtech Recycling help with your old server disposal, so that you can switch to a cloud storage service customized to your specific needs.
3. Try 3D Printing
For businesses involved in the production of physical goods, one of the greatest revolutions in recent years has been the wide availability of 3D printing technology. Whereas traditional production methods start with a solid block of raw material—such as metal or plastic—and then essentially “carve” a product out of it, 3D printing works the opposite way. It builds up a product as a series of individual layers.
Tom Winter with Dev Skiller agreed that 3D printing is a great way to go green. "You can use (3D printers) to decorate your office space with objects printed out of recycled plastic. Not to mention how practical and cost-effective it is to 3D print your own mugs, plates, cutlery and whatever else you can think of. "
3D printing also makes it easier for goods to be produced in smaller batches as needed, meaning you won’t be left with a warehouse full of overstock to be sold at a loss later. The result is less resource use and an overall smaller environmental footprint.
4. Work Remotely
Sharon Van Donkelaar with Expandi brought up a fairly simple csolution to going green.. "Send everyone home. This reduces emissions drastically and has never been more obvious since the pandemic where air quality is at an all time high all around the world. Try working remotely at least 3 days per week and ideally full-time."
One thing that your business always needs is office space. Or do you? Obviously, every company needs a physical mailing address and, depending on what products or services you offer, some aspects definitely require on-site supervision. But every business likely has at least one entire department—if not more—whose employees could function just as well working from home as in a labyrinth of cubicles.
Numerous online applications allowing for real-time project collaborations, and video chat makes even face-to-face meetings possible from a distance. Keeping fewer employees on-site means saving money on rent, utilities, and supplies like office desktop computers, and lowering CO2 emissions by eliminating unnecessary daily commutes.
5. Switch Energy Sources
Every flick of the light switch and every hum of a booting computer requires one thing: electricity. But conventional energy sources generate electricity at power plants that burn huge amounts of fossil fuels every day. That’s why being more energy efficient should be a priority for any company interested in going green.
Emily Deaton with Let Me Bank agrees that switching your energy source is a great way to go green. "Another piece of technology that can help businesses go green: solar panels. While this option may seem expensive initially, solar panels are cost-efficient long-term and can save money on your energy bills."
Simply taking the time to look at alternative energy providers can make a major difference. Not only are renewable energy sources such as wind turbines and hydroelectric dams cleaner, but they’re also significantly cheaper. Best of all, if you’re interested in making your business more self-reliant, installing solar panels allows you to generate your own energy with little need for middle men.
Eliminate E-Waste with Newtech Recycling
There are many ways to do business cleanly and safely, but secure e-waste disposal remains an ongoing concern for companies of all sizes. Too few facilities have the equipment necessary to recycle office electronics properly. That’s where Newtech Recycling comes in. At our EPA-certified headquarters, we make sure your old computers, copiers, mobile phones, and other devices are handled in accordance with all electronic recycling laws.
Newtech Recycling offers e-waste removal and collection services in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Contact us today for a quote. Let’s work together to protect this world for future generations.
It’s impossible to count all the ways that mankind benefits from modern technology. From providing greater access to knowledge via the Internet to facilitating life-saving medical advances, our society relies heavily on an array of electronic devices so much that they sometimes feel like extensions of the human body. Yet there is an often undiscussed dark side of such progress.
At Newtech Recycling, we know all too well the effects of e-waste on human health. Far from being an extension of natural biology, today’s electronic equipment actually contains many materials that are poisonous to humans, animals, and the environment. At our cutting-edge recycling facilities, we use specialized machinery to safely break down old computers, mobile devices, TVs, printers, photocopiers, and more into component parts that can be reintroduced into the manufacturing process.
When handled responsibly, e-waste materials pose little threat. But when people carelessly discard their unwanted tech in landfills instead of recycling them, it allows those same materials to seep into the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. As electronics become increasingly ubiquitous, it’s important to understand e-waste effects on the human body and what we can do to make about them.
E-Waste Is a Serious Health Crisis…
The severity of e-waste effects on the human body cannot be understated. Exposure to the lead and mercury left behind by improper cell phone battery disposal can result in damage to the brain, kidneys, and nervous system. Exposure to the cadmium and chromium in computers can diminish bone density, lead to cancer, and even negatively alter a person’s DNA. Daniel Foley, director at Assertive Media, told us that some popular cell phone brands have found themselves under fire for the pollution and radiation their devices give off. “Quite recently Apple and Samsung were caught with the amount of radiation their handheld devices gave off.”
In the Chinese town of Guiyu, lack of regulation turned the area into the world’s largest electronics landfill, providing humanity with a sobering wake-up call about the deadly effects of e-waste on human help. With hundreds of truckloads of old computers, televisions, mobile devices, and similar tech being dumped in Guiyu every day, locals saw cancer and miscarriage rates soar. Respiratory and neurological disease became widespread among the population, and over 80% of Guiyu’s children suffered life-threatening lead poisoning.
…and a Worldwide Emergency
Since news broke about the effects of e-waste on human health exhibited in Guiyu, efforts have been made to clean up the Chinese town. However, while Guiyu has been the most public face of the e-waste crisis, it’s not the only place where electronics are improperly disposed of in alarming numbers. In fact, with modern technology becoming more affordable and indispensable, most country’s e-waste laws struggle to catch up. And, yes, that includes right here in America.
More than 50 million metric tons of e-waste is produced worldwide every year, with 6.9 million of that occurring in the U.S. alone. Discarded electronics now account for 70% of all landfill soil pollution. From there, hazardous materials are absorbed into the local ecosystem where it quickly spreads. E-waste contaminants can travel thousands of miles on currents of air or dissolve in water to trigger acidification. From there it’s also too easy for these materials to enter our bodies and wreak havoc.
Newtech Recycling Helps Protect You from E-Waste
Laura Fuentes with Infinity Dish explained, “The substances from e-waste may cause severe health issues in humans, such as brain damage, lung cancer, DNA damage, and acute bronchitis. The best way to prevent e-waste damage is to educate consumers on what it is and how to dispose of e-waste properly.” Proper disposal of e-waste is exactly what NewTech Recycling is here to do.
With all the varied and potentially deadly effects of e-waste on human health, it’s up to all of us to be responsible in recycling our old and broken tech devices. Newtech Recycling makes it easy with affordable recycling programs in PA and other service areas that include flexible scheduling, collection, and removal services. Whether you’re responsible for overseeing a small business or a large corporate headquarters, it’s important to us to make the process as easy as possible.
At Newtech Recycling, we know all about e-waste effects on the human body. We want to protect you and your loved ones, as well as future generations, from those effects. If you value your health and the environment like we do, contact Newtech Recycling today. Let’s work together to make the world a safer place.
We all know our electronics are valuable. Our tech products are often very expensive, and most of us take precautions to protect them from any damage. While we might appreciate having nice electronics, many of us don’t understand exactly how valuable they are.
On the outside, all we can see of our electronics is glass, plastic, and common types of metal. None of this comes off as being extremely important or valuable. However, inside your devices, you can find many precious materials. Knowing this now, you might be wondering what precious metals are in electronics and are old electronics worth anything.
Understanding what materials are used in your electronics is important to help people realize the need for them to be recycled responsibly. Keep reading to learn more about the most used metal in electronics and how we should be recycling precious metals from electronics.
Commonly Found Precious Metals in Electronics
Precious metals are rare, naturally occurring metals with a high economic value. We normally think of precious metals used in jewelry, such as gold and silver, because they are expensive luxury items.
If they are so rare and valuable, then why are they being used in electronics around the world?
The simple answer is precious metals are often excellent conductors of electricity. Each type of precious metal used in electronics has its own value, and the reason that type of metal is chosen is its performance over other metals.
Let’s take a look at the precious metals we can often find in electronics and why they are used.
Gold
Most people associate gold with being an extremely expensive and valuable metal, and it isn’t something you’d think about being in your electronics. However, gold is found in many devices we use today, like cell phones and laptops. Gold is often used in coatings for touch-sensitive display screens, platings for semiconductors, and in connectors on motherboards.
Only a small amount of gold is used in most devices, but when you consider the huge number of devices out there, it quickly adds up.
Silver
Nearly every electronic today is bound to contain silver. This precious metal is affordable compared to other metals and is extremely conductive, making it the perfect choice for many electronics. It’s usually found around solders, contacts, relays, and switches. Silver paste is also used in cell phones, tablets, and microwaves.
Copper
Copper is used in many electronics, from small devices to large appliances. You can find copper in motherboards and wiring. The major reason that copper is used in so many electronics is its conductivity.
Other Metals in Electronics
Besides the precious metals in electronics mentioned above, modern electronics contain many other metals and materials. Here are two of the most common and their causes for concern.
Lithium
Lithium isn’t a metal that most people think of often, but you likely use it daily. You can find lithium in most rechargeable batteries. Today, lithium is used in batteries of all sizes, from cell phone batteries to electric car batteries.
Lithium-ion batteries also contain other metals, such as cobalt, nickel, and manganese, which are very toxic to the environment when thrown away in a landfill.
Lead
Of course, everyone knows the dangers that lead can have in certain conditions. In well-maintained electronics, lead doesn’t pose much of a threat. Lead only becomes a serious concern when electronics are disposed of improperly.
If electronics are exposed to the elements, they can leak harmful toxins into the soil, so services like cell phone recycling are extremely important.
The Importance of Recycling Precious Metals from Electronics
If you had a small piece of precious metal, you probably wouldn’t throw it in the trash. Now that you know how valuable the materials in your phone are, you know that it’s extremely important for them to be recycled.
These precious metals used in electronics are non-renewable resources. This means we only have limited quantities of these metals, and once they’re gone, we won’t be able to get them back.
Your electronics are filled with valuable metals, and tossing them in the garbage is extremely wasteful and dangerous for the environment, not to mention illegal in many states. By using resources like a computer recycling program, you know that none of the precious metals in your devices are going to waste or polluting the planet.
Recycle Precious Metal from Old Electronics with Newtech
Landfills are already filled with old electronics that contain precious metals, but you can help prevent more from ending up there. When you contact a certified e-waste company like Newtech for technology disposal, we recycle precious metals from electronics and ensure nothing ends up in a landfill.
Are you a business looking to recycle old electronics responsibly? Contact Newtech Recycling to learn more about the recycling programs we offer. We currently serve New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New York.
