Old cell phones, laptops or tablets: how many do you have at home? On average, we have more than a hundred electrical appliances at home. We want the very latest iPhone or laptop and throw our old ones in a corner to let it dust. As a result, we leave valuable raw materials unused. Where do you leave your e-waste? Here are the tips on how to give your old mobile or other device a good new destination.
What kind of e-waste is there?
Just to summarize, what kind of e-waste is there. With e-waste, a distinction is made between large appliances, such as a vacuum cleaner and a laptop, and small appliances, such as an electric toothbrush, a smartphone or cables. In addition, there is small chemical waste, including your batteries and energy-saving lamps. The different sizes are kept separate, because they are processed in different departments.
We throw away valuable materials
A large amount of electronic waste is lost because it ends up with residual waste. Gold in e-waste valued at $22 billion thrown away in 2016. There are more materials that are valuable, such as plastic and metals.
Why should we throw this away when it is still worth so much? The raw materials can be reused if the devices are disposed of separately from the residual waste. So it is a shame to dump precious raw materials with the residual waste. In addition, it is more dangerous to dispose of the e-waste with the residual waste. This is because no account is taken of any leaking substances from the devices. These substances can come into contact with your skin and that is dangerous.
Where can I hand in my e-waste?
There are several solutions for e-waste. You can of course hand in your e-waste to waste labs/ media market. For all the waste that you hand in here, you will receive some amount / discount vouchers that gives you a discount at various shops and cafes in the area. After all, waste is useful and has value.
There are also various waste points of the Municipality where you can deliver all your waste separately, including electronic waste. As a resident of NYC, you can hand in fifty kilos of small chemical waste here every day. Here you will find the different waste points.
What happens to your e-waste?
Have you always wanted to know what is happening with your old phone or laptop? The national government has drawn up various rules on how the materials are processed. First of all, the submitted devices are again sorted by size. Then the devices are disassembled and the raw materials are sorted and grouped. Harmful substances are safely isolated so that they cannot escape to the environment.
The disassembled parts are processed into usable raw materials. This means that fewer new raw materials need to be extracted from the environment. Much more environmentally friendly! Do you want to know who does all this and how much is processed?
Upcycling
Instead of recycling, e-waste can of course also be upcycled. It is then used to make works of art. That is why she asked all visitors to the Drift festival last summer to bring their e-waste. Together with the visitors she put together a work of art from the waste on the spot. And there are more artists who see the artistic value of old devices. In Portugal, someone saw lampshades in old washing machine drums. Your broken smartphone can therefore be part of a work of art!
Tips for reducing e-waste
Do you want to limit your total amount of e-waste? Buy rechargeable batteries instead of one-time use batteries. The batteries do not have to be thrown away after one year of use, but will last for years. It is also possible that your mobile needs a thorough service and then works fine again. In that case, the recovered smartphones are often sold in developing countries. Or you can use it yourself again.
By delivering our waste to the right places, together we ensure that the materials get a second life!
Misty Jhones