Electronics Recycling Is Beneficial

Perhaps you are wondering why there is so much hype about Chicago electronics recycling these days. Consider these interesting statistics: one cell phone can contaminate one hundred fifty-eight gallons of water while; two and a half ounces of oil are used to make one ink-jet cartridge, and in a single year the number of ink-jet cartridges thrown away, if stacked end-to-end, would circle the entire earth. In short, electronics recycle programs help not only you, but everyone around you. It's one of those things where what you do personally actually helps others.

Chicago electronics recycling has been ramped up via rapid technology change, low initial cost, and planned obsolescence. This makes for a fast-growing surplus of electronic waste around the world; electronic waste is currently the fastest expanding global problem. Technical solutions are available, but in most cases a bundle of prerequisites such as legal framework, electronics recycle pick up system, logistics, and other services need to be implemented before application of that technical solution. Whether it’s been applied or not, electronics recycling, in the present, helps.

It is estimated that in America alone, an estimated seventy percent of heavy metals in landfills comes from discarded electronics, while electronic waste represents only two percent of America's trash in landfills. The EPA says that unwanted electronics from the year 2005 totaled two million tons and it has continued to increase and that discarded electronics represented five to six times as much weight as recycled electronics - hats off to electronics recycling. The Consumer Electronics Association estimates that U.S. households spend an average of fourteen hundred dollars annually on an average of twenty-four electronic items, leading to speculations of millions of tons of valuable metals in desk drawers.

The importance of Chicago electronics recycling is evident when you take a closer look at electronic waste. Up to thirty-eight separate chemical elements are incorporated in electronic waste. Many of the plastics used in electronic equipment contain flame retardants. These are typically halogens added to the plastic resin, making the plastics difficult to recycle. Because the flame retardants are additives, they easily leach off the material in hot weather. This causes a problem because when disposed of, electronic waste is normally left outside and the flame retardants leach into the soil. Recorded levels are ninety-three times higher than soil with no contact with electronic waste. The unsustainability of discarding electronics and computer technology is a great reason to advocate electronics recycling or re-using electronic waste.

If you would like to help with America's, and the world's, electronics recycling problem, you will benefit directly by clearing out some space in your home, and saving yourself some money at tax time. It won't cost you a penny to do what is right as most Chicago electronics recycling companies operate electronic recycle pick up points. In other words your recycled items will be picked up at your doorstep for free. You will also have available to you a Tax Deductible Donation Acknowledgment that will be filled with an amount you believe the electronics you just donated are worth.