The detrimental effect that items of single-use plastic, such as water bottles and shopping bags, are having on the natural world has been widely covered in the media in recent times.
Do you know what to do with your outdated electronic and electrical equipment in the event that anything fails or you decide to upgrade? Many of the components of electronic equipment, particularly those made of plastics, can be disassembled and recycled. This is especially true of electrical equipment.
Do you know what to do with electrical things that need to be thrown away? Does your company understand how to adhere to the WEEE Regulations, which stand for the Waste Electrical and Electronics Equipment Regulations?
Used electronic devices
Take a second to reflect about the malfunctioning or unused technological devices that you have stashed away in your business or in your house. Can you give an estimate of what you have stashed away in the attic or garage that you no longer use but that may be of use to someone else or might be recycled and made into something else? There’s has to be an old cell phone collecting dust at the back of one of the drawers in the kitchen, isn’t there?
Are you able to fix it?
What are some things you may do in the office or other place of work to dispose of your WEEE waste? What should you do if an electrical appliance suddenly stops functioning properly? Having it fixed is the most obvious course of action to take. Is there any chance that the machine can be saved? Often, workstations merely require extra RAM, a replacement screen or even just a new battery to still run to full potential as if it just left the factory. It is possible that the apparatus has a few more years of use left in it, provided that all of the software is brought up to date.
When It Comes Time to Purchase Something New
What should you do with a piece of equipment that is no longer useful if the cost of repairing it is more than the cost of purchasing a new model? Because of the rapid rate at which technology is advancing, it is now considered quite normal for companies to be required to replace their computers every few years. Depending on the size of your company, that might amount to a significant amount of electronic waste that is redundant.
How to get rid of things in a responsible manner
In order to ensure that you are in compliance with WEEE requirements, the best course of action is to first copy off any information from the hard drive that you may use in the future, and then to reset the computer to its original factory settings. After that, the hard disc needs to be wiped clean by a legal data destruction business in order to ensure that no trace of the data remains. Remember that photocopiers and printers also include a hard drive that will need to be destroyed in a safe manner when they are disposed of. Your shredding service provider will be able to transport these items, in addition to the general paper shredding, to a secure unit so that it can be disposed of in a safe manner.
Why should one dispose of things properly?
Plastic accounts for around 23% of the typical composition of a personal computer. The remaining components of the apparatus are made of various metals, including steel, as well as precious metals, like copper, silver, and gold. Elements of great value that may be recycled and used again! It may come as a great surprise to find out that practically all of the components that make up a mobile phone can be separated and recycled. Even though electronic equipment only accounts for a relatively tiny fraction of the garbage that is thrown away in landfills, the total quantity might be reduced even more because regulations are being enforced to fight irresponsible disposal. It is in everyone’s best interest to stop potentially hazardous substances from leaking into the ground. Your organisation would do well to recognise that it is industry standard to ensure that everything that can be broken down and utilised again by a reputable recycling company is in fact broken down and used again by that company.
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