What Is The After-effect of

Recycling E-waste? Electronic waste which is also referred to as e-waste includes all the

electronic components which have no use. Some examples of electronic

components are mobiles, cameras, printers, hard drives, microwaves,

refrigerators, bulbs, laptops and all the accessories. Though there are a lot

of ITAD companies still a lot of electronic waste ends up in landfills.

According to some reports of US environmental protection agency, 60% of

end of life electronic devices end up in the trash

There are a lot of reasons why every individual should reconsider the

decision of throwing electronic waste into trash or landfills. Maybe the after-

effects of electronic recycling can help in knowing how things are changing

in the world.

Let us see the after-effects of electronic recycling:

• The natural resources are saved: A large portion of natural

resources is non-renewable. This means in case once they are used it is

very difficult to recover them. Electronic recycling helps us in limiting the

use so that fewer resources are depleted. For example, there are a lot of

precious chemicals used in the production of electronic devices. When

these electronic devices get mixed in landfills, there is pollution. The

pollution is due to these precious but harmful chemicals.

With the help of electronic recycling, these chemicals can be separated.

This separation has two major benefits. First is that these chemicals are not

allowed to mixed in the landfills. This can reduce pollution on a large scale.

The second benefit is, as the devices are not in the working condition these

elements can be extracted and can be used in new devices. This way the

need for new chemicals in the market decreases. This way fewer resources

are depleted and the environment is saved. According to a study, recycling

approximately 1 million computers and laptops can save a huge amount of

energy. This energy can be used to run approximately 3500 homes for one

year. Now it can be clearly seen that this study is only based on computers

and laptops, just think of the result if all the electronic components can be

recycled.

• Recycling the scrap metal: With the increase in local electronic

waste recycling programs, the scrap metal recycling industry is also

becoming powerful. In this process, the scrap metal is processed and

recovered. After this, the material is used in the production of new goods.

The best part about the whole process is that the metal can be recycled

again and again as it does not degrade. Thus, it acts as raw material for the

new products. From a broad perspective, this helps in lowering the levels of

carbon footprint. While talking about scrap metal recycling, it is important to

differentiate between the types.

In 2014, the value of the nonferrous scrap industry was approximately $32

billion whereas, in 2015, the value of the ferrous scrap industry was $18

billion approximately.

• Creation of jobs: As the industry of recycling is becoming huge,

more and more jobs are created every day. Due to the increasing demand

for scrap components, many individuals are setting up local electronic

waste recycling companies.

According to the findings of UN entities,

Every year approximately 50 million tonnes of electronic waste is

discarded. Comparing to commercial airlines ever made, the weight of

electronic waste is much more. In terms of GDP, the value of electronic

waste is 62 billion dollars approximately. This value is more than the GDP

of many countries. From this data, the level of employment generation in

Local electronics recycling program can be clearly seen.

Millions and millions of people worldwide work informally in the Local

electronics recycling program. Approximately 600,000 people have the duty

of collecting, repairing, dismantling and recycling of e-waste only in China.