The Importance of Electronics Recycling

Although federal and state laws are a little slow on the uptake when it comes to regulating e-waste, responsible businesses, institutions and individuals are jumping on the eco-friendly bandwagon when it comes to recycling their old computers and electronic devices rather than sending them to the landfill. As an organization utilizing advanced technologies, you’re no doubt aware of the legal concerns associated with information security, which is why you understand the importance of partnering with experts at wiping and reselling, or alternately shredding and recycling electronics to ensure sensitive data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

Compliance with privacy laws aside, it’s also important to make sure you take steps to do less harm to the planet and the people that live on it. This means considering the best possible ways to recycle outdated electronics when you upgrade to newer equipment. Here are just a few reasons why it’s so important to behave responsibly and recycle your electronic devices.

Reduce Waste and Pollution
Each year, millions of tons of e-waste are dumped in landfills, and with electronics purchases exceeding $1.5 billion annually, the turnover is only likely to increase in coming years. This leaves business owners and IT professionals with a conundrum. Should they follow the trend and dispose of e-waste the old-fashioned way or take the responsible path and recycle?

There are several important reasons to choose the latter, not the least of which is the fact that there are already laws in place regarding the safe disposal of toxic elements found in many electronics, and you must comply with them. However, you should also do your part to reduce the waste and pollution inherent to e-waste dumping.

Already, our landfills are filling up at an alarming rate, and the speed at which electronics become outdated isn’t helping the situation. Furthermore, organizations that dump e-waste often neglect to remove toxic elements that pollute the environment and pose health risks to plant and animal life, and even humans.

Did you know that an older computer monitor could contain upwards of four pounds of lead and other toxins? Do you really want to be responsible for polluting our environment with this toxic waste when you could safely and responsibly recycle it?

Recoup Costs
What you might find truly surprising is that you could simultaneously save money and make money when you elect to recycle old computers and electronics. When computer equipment and devices are properly wiped by professionals, they can be resold to help you recoup some of the initial costs, which is a lot better than dumping them and losing out on potential profit.

However, you could also end up saving money by reselling computer equipment, or even shredding and recycling components. When you dump devices, you not only risk penalties for improper disposal of toxic waste, but also a slew of issues related to data theft should dumpster-diving thieves gain access to hard drives and the sensitive data they contain.

This could lead to penalties for failure to comply with privacy laws, lawsuits from disgruntled customers or employees whose data was stolen, and loss reputation and revenue in the long run. In other words, you have only to gain from properly recycling electronics.

SEAM provides IT recycling and data destruction services including onsite shredding and hard drive wiping to South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and Nebraska.

Schedule a pickup or contact us for more information.