Common items of electrical and electronic waste are:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/amp/types-of-e-waste-
1440681505-1

Large household appliances (refrigerators/freezers, washing machines, dishwashers)

Small household appliances (toasters, coffee makers, irons, hairdryers)

Information technology (IT) and telecommunications equipment (personal computers, telephones,

mobile phones, laptops, printers, scanners, photocopiers)

Consumer equipment (televisions, stereo equipment, electric toothbrushes)

Lighting equipment (fluorescent lamps)

Electrical and electronic tools (handheld drills, saws, screwdrivers)

Toys, leisure and sports equipment

Medical equipment systems (with the exception of all implanted and infected products)

Monitoring and control instruments

Automatic dispensers.

Environmental Concerns

The main environmental concerns are resource depletion and dangerous substances arising from waste
from electrical and electronic equipment.

If electrical and electronic products are disposed of in landfill sites, millions of tonnes of materials that
could be recovered and reused for new products are being lost. Recovery of these materials would
reduce the need to extract more raw materials for the manufacture of new products.

Some electronic equipment and/or its components contain substances that are considered dangerous to
the environment and human health if they are disposed of carelessly. Although these dangerous
substances are usually only contained in small amounts, they have great potential for causing serious
environmental damage.
Disposing of WEEE

Landfill Sites

Landfill is the disposal of waste material by burying it. Space at landfill sites is becoming scarce. It is not
appropriate to dispose of waste from electric and electronic equipment in landfill sites because of the
harmful substances that waste from electric and electronic equipment is known to contain.

Incinerators:

Incineration is the process of burning materials at high temperatures.

Recycling of Waste from Electric and Electronic Equipment

The recycling industry is complex. There are large shredder operators and smaller specialist recyclers.
They are backed up by other companies, which provide services such as plastics recycling and refining
precious metals. In addition, there may be small repair and refurbishment initiatives. Recycling
companies also collect items for export to countries with more advanced recycling systems and those
that extract components and materials for recycling.

Shredders process a mixed range of equipment to recover different materials, primarily metals. Large
hammermills, also known as fragmentisers, shred a mixed stream of metal-rich materials, including end-
of-life vehicles, household appliances and other light iron.
What should I do with my electronic discards?

The mantra of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" applies here.

Reduce your generation of e-waste through smart procurement and good maintenance.

Reuse still functioning electronic equipment by donating or selling it to someone who can still use it.

Recycle those products that cannot be repaired. Computer monitors, televisions and other electronic
equipment should NOT be disposed of with regular garbage, as this is illegal in California. To find an
organization that will manage your electronics for recycling, search the directory.

https://www.calrecycle.ca.gov/electronics/whatisewaste#

Here are 5 reasons why electronic waste is such a problem:

Electronic waste keeps growing and growing: Today people are buying more and more electronic
devices and the electronic devices are being retired faster. For example, cell phones usually have a
useful life of 18 to 24 months. In 2012,the average U.S. household spent $1,312 on consumer electronic
products a year, according to a study by the Consumer Electronic Associations (CEA). More than 20
million tons of e-waste are produced every year.

Environmental effects of e-waste: The toxic materials from electronic devices are released into bodies of
water,

guiyu-child-wires.jpg

groundwater, soil and air, affecting both land and sea animals. When you throw out your e-waste they
wind up in landfills, causing toxic materials to seep into groundwater. When e-waste is warmed up, toxic
chemicals are released into the air damaging the atmosphere.

Tons e-waste is shipped overseas: Much of this left in junkyard to polluted the environment or burned
for scrap by kids. Informal recycling markets in China, India, Pakistan,Vietnam, and Philippines handle
anywhere from 50 percent to 80 percent of the world’s e-waste. In Guiyu, China, one of the largest
electronic waste landfill sites in the world. When electronic devices are dumped in these developing
countries the impact is detrimental to the environment of the country and the health of the people.
Health implications of electronic waste: Computers and most electronics contain toxic materials such as
lead, e-waste-3 (1).jpgzinc, nickel,barium and chromium, specifically with lead, if released is not the
environment can cause damage to human blood, kidneys, as well as central and peripheral nervous
systems. Residents of Guiyu, China exhibit substantial digestive, neurological, respiratory and bone
problems.The impact of electronic waste is detrimental to the health of the people in these developing
countries.

Electronic waste and data security: Managers should be concerned with where their electronic
equipment is going after disposal because they are worried about sensitive data loss, identity theft,
consumer scams, data breaches and loss of integrity. These are just a few of the problems that can be
cause by not properly disposing of your electronic waste due to people stealing information from the
hard drives in e-waste.

Mayer Metals Corporation is based in the Metro Detroit area and provides business to business
electronic waste recycling. We provide our customers with:

Data Security Solutions

Hard Drive Shredding

Environmentally Responsible Recycling via an R2 Certified Facility

Competitive Prices

Mayer Metals Corporation in partnership with OmniSource Electronic Recycling, will provide you with
the most competitive rates and provide you with peace of mind that you are disposing of your
organization’s electronic waste safely and responsibly. All electronic waste is recycled in an R2 Certified
facility. All hard drives are destroyed and Certificates of Destruction in compliance with Department of
Defense (DoD) security standards are provided.

To learn more about electronic waste recycling, there is a ton of information in our Ultimate Guide To
Electronic Waste Recycling

https://www.google.com/amp/s/info.mayermetals.com/blog/5-reasons-e-waste-is-a-problem
%3fhs_amp=true
How to segregate waste

February 02, 2012

Waste is constantly generated in one’s apartment complex or office building. It is important to dispose
of it appropriately and responsibly. Segregating waste before disposing of it makes it simpler to recycle.

Pre-process requirements:

Dividing the waste into the categories by which they need to be segregated.

Waste can be segregated as

Biodegradable

Non-biodegradable

Biodegradable waste includes organic waste, e.g. kitchen waste, vegetables, fruits, flowers, leaves from
the garden, and paper.

Non-biodegradable waste can be further segregated into:

Recyclable waste – plastics, paper, glass, metal, etc.

Toxic waste – old medicines, paints, chemicals, bulbs, spray cans, fertilizer and pesticide containers,
batteries, shoe polish.

Soiled – hospital waste such as cloth soiled with blood and other body fluids.

E-waste: Floppy disks, batteries, CD’s etc.,

Process flow (with ideal number of days indicated for each process)

Identify categories that waste needs to be segregated into

Procure separate bins for each separate segregation category

Make sure that wet, dry, bio-medical and e-waste is segregated properly at source.

Dispose biodegradable waste with the local BBMP garbage trucks or begin a composting pit in your
house garden

The recyclable waste can be picked up on a weekly basis by various organizations that recycle waste.

Toxic waste if any must be isolated and disposed of in a responsible manner depending on the kind of
toxic waste.

Soiled waste must be sent to an incinerator.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Department /Organisation: BBMP

Location: Local BBMP office

Do remember : (important points)

Toxic waste must be treated carefully as it can be hazardous to you and the environment around you.

Starting a composting pit for the biodegradable waste is a useful and economical idea

Do not keep biodegradable waste in your household for more than a day.

https://www.ichangemycity.com/how-to/how-to-segregate-waste
“E-waste is discarded electronics that, when improperly disposed, have the potential of harming our
ecosystem,” Dina Montes, the NYC Department of Sanitation press secretary said, defining the term for
me. “Many electronics carry heavy metals like mercury, lead, lithium, and other hazardous materials
that can pollute the air when incinerated or contaminate our ecosystem if thrown into landfills.”

Montes explained that e-waste encompasses a long list of devices, and that New York has specifically
made it illegal to throw away devices that contain those environmentally toxic materials, including: TVs,
monitors, computers, laptops, mice, keyboards, small servers, printers/scanners, tablets/e-readers, MP3
players, VCRs/DVDs/DVR players, fax machines, video game consoles, and cable/satellite boxes.

Since you can’t just put these objects in the regular trash, many places, including New York City, provide
citizens with alternative methods for their disposal — like recycling events or other drop-off locations.

But that’s not all there is to it.

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IF ONLY IT WERE EASY

After speaking with the New York City Sanitation Department, I thought that handing my mess of
tangled cords off to a friendly recycler would be the end of it. What a relief! Drawer = clean!

Unfortunately, nothing in this good ol’ capitalist world of ours comes that easily. It turns out that, in
order to be a responsible citizen, I needed to know a lot more about where e-waste actually goes once
you hand it off to some so-called “recyclers.” There are a lot of so-called “recyclers” out there who take
the good intentions of e-waste recycling individuals and turn their junk into environmental and
humanitarian disasters.

“Globally, e-waste is the most traded hazardous waste on the planet,” Jim Puckett, the executive
director of the Basel Action Network (BAN) said.
BAN is an electronics recycling watchdog organization that monitors where electronic waste ends up
after being “recycled.” Unfortunately, all too often, e-waste from affluent countries like the U.S. gets
shipped offshore to third-world countries, to facilities that reclaim materials like steel and aluminum in
order to sell it — at great cost to worker health and the planet.

“It's very crude, very damaging to human health, [this] so-called ‘recycling,’ Puckett said. “They are
trying to get commodities like steel, etc., but they're not taking care to do it properly.”

Substances in electronics like mercury, lead, cadmium, and brominated flame retardants need to be
carefully removed from electronics and disposed of as hazardous waste. Only then can the rest of the
materials in recycled electronics be accessed safely.

When done right, this process is complicated and expensive. So some recycling operations in third-world
countries with fewer environmental and workplace protection laws and enforcement cut corners for the
sake of profit.

“Once the recycling is happening in a developing country, there's a reason it was exported, and the
reason is economic: because they're trying to avoid the cost of doing it properly,” Puckett said.

Instead of using high-tech shredders and uniforms, workers at unethical recycling facilities simply smash
electronics open to gain access to the valuable and recyclable commodities. This process releases
mercury and other hazardous materials into their breathing space and the soil. Then, the facilities often
burn in open pits whatever isn’t reclaimed — which causes leftover substances like flame retardants to
turn into toxic pollution for the surrounding environment and adjacent workers.

This means we all need to be vigilant about where we’re recycling our products. It’s not enough to just
trust where your city government sends your e-waste; recently, BAN discovered that the recycler
contracted by the City of Houston was ending up in these toxic pits.

Luckily, Puckett reassured me that there is a solution. BAN has a newly strengthened certification called
the E-Stewards certification, which it awards to recyclers who don’t send recycling overseas to “smash
and bash” operations. Puckett also recommends checking out Greenpeace’s electronics report card, as
well as the organization EPEAT, to see which organizations use the most reclaimed materials while
making electronics in the first place. I was excited to learn that according to both organizations, Apple’s
iPhone beats out almost all other manufacturers, although its “green” processes certainly still have their
flaws.

“Before we created the E-stewards program, we actually told people to hang onto their items, to not
recycle them, until we had a solution,” Puckett said. Now that the program exists, “We stand by it. It
does look after your data, and looks after the environment, and gets those commodities back into the
recycling stream, so we have a circular economy. It’s far more efficient and far better for the
environment in the long run.”

Armed with this information, it was time to dive into the drawer. I’m proud to say I’m more cable-free
than ever before, though I couldn’t bring myself to part ways with my digital camera, which maybe
someday I’ll use again.

I also learned a few things along the way. Here’s what I found out for recycling e-waste from lightbulbs
to batteries and beyond.

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BASIC TIPS

1) First, make sure your city’s sanitation department is E-Steward certified. Look for the E-Steward label
on their website, or locate them in the “find a recycler tool.”

2) If they are certified, check to see if your town’s sanitation department has e-waste recycling events or
pick-up. You can drop off all of the e-waste below at these events, unless otherwise specified.

3) If not, find an E-steward certified recycler using the “find a recycler” tool.
4) Know that manufacturers will often allow you to send back and recycling with them. However, make
sure the manufacturer is E-Steward certified first.

5) An alternative: You can take your e-waste to any Staples, which is E-Steward certified, for recycling!
Here’s a list of everything the retailer will accept.

6) If an item is leaking, pack it in a larger container, like a sturdy box. Use an absorbent material, such as
kitty litter or newspaper, to soak up excess fluid. And it’s a good idea to wear latex gloves or something
else to protect your hands from chemicals.

7) Place anything that has broken glass (such as TVs, monitors, or phones) in separate sealed bags or
boxes.

8) Appliances, batteries, and light bulbs aren’t usually accepted at general municipal drives, but cities
will often have special drives and locations for items like batteries.

GETTING SPECIFIC

Not all e-waste recycling is created equal.

The amount of hazardous vs. reclaimable material in your e-waste varies from product to product.
Municipal drives will accept most of your e-waste, but because of product differences, there are a few
steps you should take before handing over your digital detritus. In order to protect yourself, and the
planet, here's what you need to know.

Computers, phones, and tablets

It’s a good idea to wipe the data off of your phone, computer, or hard drive before you recycle it. If
these devices end up at sketchy recyclers, your personal information could be exposed. However, an E-
steward certified recycler will also destroy all data to prevent it from being taken during the recycling
process.

Tech accessories

According to Earth 911, more than 70 percent of a gadget can be recycled. That’s because they’re made
of valuable substances like plastic, steel, aluminum, copper, gold, and silver. The more these items are
re-claimed, the less electronics manufacturers have to use energy to create substances like plastic, or
damage the environment by mining for metals.

Household items

Staples and many municipal drives and pick-up events often won’t take batteries, light bulbs, or
appliances. But these items still contain re-claimable materials, like aluminum, as well as hazardous
waste, like mercury and lead. A great resource is the search function on Earth911, which allows you to
find recycling spots for particular items via your zip code.

Batteries

The way batteries are recycled depends on what they’re made of. For example, Alkaline batteries are
100-percent recycled, while mercury batteries require the separation and disposal of mercury at a
hazardous waste site.

Single use

California is the only state that prohibits citizens from throwing single-use alkaline batteries in the trash.
Other states allow trashing batteries because they’re no longer made with mercury, which is the
hazardous substance. However, it’s a good idea to keep recycling batteries because they still contain
materials like steel and zinc that can be reclaimed! So do like the Californians do. You can recycle these
batteries at battery drop-off events through your city. Or, you can urge your workplace to subscribe to a
battery recycling service, which will deliver a box or a bucket to your office that you can fill with
batteries and then send in the package for recycling. Multiple retailers also partner with Call2Recycle,
which allows you to drop off batteries at collection sites like Best Buy.
Rechargeable

Rechargeable batteries eventually lose the ability to hold a charge. And when they do, recycling them is
a must. Unlike single-use batteries, they can contain corrosive acids and heavy metal elements that can
be toxic to the environment. You can recycle these at Call2Recycle partner locations, at retailers that sell
rechargeable batteries, or through subscription services like Battery Solutions.

Light bulbs

Light bulbs aren’t technically e-waste, but CFLs, fluorescent bulbs and tubes, and high-intensity
discharge bulbs contain mercury, which means they have to be disposed of responsibly. According to the
EPA, you can recycle mercury-containing bulbs and tubes through waste collection agencies, local
retailers, and mail-back services (such as Think Green from Waste Management). Unfortunately,
incandescent bulbs aren’t recyclable. They are non-toxic, though, so you can throw them in the trash. Or
if you want to make sure that the metal and glass in the bulbs has a second life, you can use a mail-in
service from a company like Terra Cycle.

Electric toothbrush

This is a trick category! According to Earth911, the portion of an electric toothbrush that qualifies as e-
waste is the battery. Separate the rechargeable battery from the rest of the toothbrush. You can recycle
the plastic and metal components as you would regular items, and the charger (if it has one) with your
other tech accessories.

https://mashable.com/2018/04/26/how-to-recycle-ewaste/

Here are some are some eco-friendly waste disposal techniques that you can use to dispose of
electronic waste locally:

5. Give Your Electronic Waste to a Certified E-Waste Recycler

The positive aspect of e-waste recycling is that you have quite a few recycling options.

You need to find an e-waste recycler who is officially certified by the Basel Action Network (BAN). BAN is
a non-profit organization of recycling companies which are dedicated to recycling e-waste in a safe and
responsible way. All members have to make a pledge and display their Pledges of Responsible Recycling.
So working alongside a certified recycler means that you don’t have to worry about polluting another
nation or risk losing your personal details to criminals.

Precautions to Take Before Donating or Recycling Your Electronics

Upgrade your computer instead of simply replacing it

Format all your personal information from your products before discarding

Take out the batteries from your gadgets before getting rid of them

4. Sell Off Your Outdated Technology

One man’s junk is another man’s treasure as the old saying goes. This can be applied to helping you get
rid of your old electronics. You can tap into online sites like craigslist, eBay or even resort to having a
garage sale as this will help you get rid of your outdated electronics as well as earning some money.
Examples of this are old Nintendo video games which can sell for as high as $40 a piece. Most electronic
shops are always ready to buy your old electronics.

3. Donating Your Outdated Technology

Old gadgets that you no longer need can be donated as they may be useful to others. Your old computer
may be useful to either an NGO or students. You should ask yourself these 2 questions before disposing
of your old electronics:

Is the electronic item working?

Does the computer have any of your personal information?

A lot of organizations and businesses offer electronic donation programs which you can choose from.

2. Visit Civic Institutions

Enquire amongst your government, universities, and schools for any recycling programs they run as a lot
of organizations have started assigning a certain day and place for environmentally conscious citizens to
come and drop off their e-waste.

1. Give Back to Your Electronic Companies and Drop Off Points

A lot of electronic companies tend to have an exchange policy whereby they take back your old gadgets
when you buy a later version, sometimes offering you a discount on your new purchase.

A few recycling companies have set up electronic drop off initiatives along with drop off points for
products such as cell phones and tablets after which they are recycled. You can ask your local electronics
shops regarding any information about drop off locations.

Safeguard Both the Environment and Your Sensitive Information

Electronics are an important part of our lives today but the flipside is the e-waste that comes along with
it. So make sure to format your electronic devices before disposing of them in a proper manner as the
consequences of not doing so can be painful.

Author Bio

Erich Lawson Erich Lawson is passionate about saving environment by effective recycling. He has written
a wide array of articles on how modern recycling equipments can be used by industries to reduce
monthly garbage bills and increase recycling revenue. You can learn more about environment savings
techniques by visiting Northern California Compactors, Inc blog

https://www.google.com/amp/s/greencleanguide.com/5-ways-to-safely-dispose-of-your-electronic-
waste/