E-waste or electronic waste refers to those electric and battery-operated appliances that have either become obsolete, susceptible to malfunctions, or simply unneeded. In this modern and digital, it is simply impossible to run one’s business without the aid of electronics and digital or cloud-based data. Many people mistakenly think that once their electronics have reached their end of life, they have become non-hazardous. However, this assumption is far from the truth as discarded and obsolete electronics can have dangerous materials like mercury, lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury, and beryllium which is why corporate electronic recycling is so important.
You would be surprised to know that only 12.5% of the total e-waste in the United States currently gets recycled. The industry of local electronics recycling is still in its nascent stage as not many corporations take advantage of recycling their e-waste. Simply dumping the IT assets of your company in a landfill puts your business at risk of data breaches and hacking. Hard drive destruction is one of the most prominent aspects of the safe disposal of IT assets. Local electronic waste recycling can benefit your business immensely and cut down extraneous commercial costs.
A large proportion of what is termed as “e-waste” is not entirely wasted material as chunks of it can be refurbished and reused later on as well. Here are the top 4 reasons why companies and business owners need to adopt the ethical practice of recycling their e-waste:
1. Cutting Business Costs
By reselling certain units and reusing the components of certain electronics, businesses can adopt a smart asset recovery strategy. These practices help in maximizing the recovery value of your assets at a large scale. Moreover, it can become an additional source of revenue for companies to resell what they no longer need.
2. Reduced Load on Landfills
When e-waste is negligently dumped into landfills, its toxic materials can make their way into the waterways and create pollutions as well as other environmental hazards. Many state governments have banned the act of dumping e-waste into landfills and some of them have hiked the costs of doing so which is why companies should take the responsibility to keep landfills from overflowing with e-waste.
3. Improving Brand Reputation
Your customers will begin to see your business as ethical, eco-friendly, and sustainable, provided that you are actively recycling your waste and ensuring sustainable policies at your workplace or organization. When your company regularly meets its green goals, your employees also take pride in being a part of your proactive team.
4. Prevents The Exhaustion of Non-Renewable Resources
Electronics contain rare and non-renewable materials like gold, copper, and aluminum which are on the verge of exhaustion due to mining, excavation, and so on. When a company recycles its e-waste, it means that these rare resources can continue to offer value by being reused. This would have been extremely tedious had the company’s e-waste been dumped into a landfill.
On a Final Note
Whether it is a small start-up in India or a large multi-national corporation in the States, every company can adopt a sustainable approach towards managing their electric waste. By reaching out to ITAD companies and local recycling agencies, you can find better ways to cut down costs and be more ecologically conscious.
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