Every year, about 20-50 million metric tons of electronic waste is discarded globally, but only 12.5% of it is recycled.
Waste Management Report by United Nations suggests two conclusions about the global e-waste parameters:
Not that we aren’t doing anything to act upon the second point - the government (both local and state, across the globe), NGOs, and locals have churned out several e-recycling programs to raise awareness and dispose e-waste safely.
The main culprit here i: electronics proliferation. The rise of affordable and handy telecom equipment, frequent tech innovation and the company’s need to be up-to-date with it, and several other economic and business factors are all equally responsible for the legacy burden an organization faces. Add the lowered EOL (end-of-life) quotient for electronics and the perfect recipe for disaster (quite really) is ready.
This article looks at some of the major points: e-waste and the threats posed by it, why responsible e-recycling is essential, why choosing experienced ITAD companies might save the day, and much more.
Let’s get started.
We discussed the state of e-waste in the introduction. Explosive, dramatic, rapid. Ironically, e-waste is rarely seen as an ‘explosive’ occurrence- not when compared with ‘obvious’ waste, such as paper, chemicals, kitchen waste, and the like. Regardless, it is dangerous. Even fatally hazardous when incinerated/dumped without proper safety measures. Think of the small metal, wiring and all the chemical that comprises the inside of an electronic equipment.
Electronic waste may contain toxic components such as lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium, beryllium, lithium and more that can have a massive impact on the environment (and human) once the materials end up in a landfill or if they are improperly managed and disposed. - A report by Ohio EPA
The main threat is: improper disposal and irresponsible recycling of electronics. Which can be controlled to an extent, if organizations choose to go for responsible e-recycling. You just have to take a few steps into consideration. Scroll down to know more.
The question is:
Since e-waste is this ruinous to the environment and life, what do we do with it?
The options, suggestions are many. You may dispose them on your own, or you may look for a helping hand (an e-recycling partner of sorts). Before you choose either of the above-suggested options, we recommend you take a look at some e-recycling facts:
You may not know this- there are several legal factors tagged to an irresponsible e-recycling, apart from the obvious environmental factors. “Mandatory Commercial Recycling”, a law imposed by the US government is one of the many examples of it.
It says: Businesses that generate four (4) cubic yards or more of commercial solid waste per week shall arrange for recycling services. The same requirement is also applied to multifamily dwellings of five units or more.
Every recycling law, local or state, carries jurisdiction terms which when ignored can lead to heavy fine and confiscation of certification or both.
Isn’t it crazy to think that your regular office phone or speaking device or VoIP equipment contains precious metals? Absurd, yes. But true. Small amounts of gold, silver, cadmium and other precious metals can be found in your equipment. Explains why illegal re-selling and recycling is a common occurrence in developing countries.
On the other hand, several developed countries invest a good chunk of their budget in conducting what they call ‘earth discovery’. This step involves extracting rare earth metals from electronic devices.
You are planning to recycle your old equipment. You are going to destroy all the data on devices. But before you do any of that, ask yourself: do you have a mature disaster recovery and a backup plan for it?
The backup part is self-explanatory. You’ll still need to access your valuable information- regardless of the fact that you’ve destroyed the device that carried it initially. Moving the data to the cloud comes in handy here; you get one-click access to it.
Disaster comes in many shape and forms. Here, disaster is the part where you lose your important corporate data. Information that is imperative to smooth functioning of the business. Say, an Avaya equipment that carried crucial client contact list. Therefore, having a well-structured disaster recovery plan is essential- as critical as the equipment itself.
IT Asset Disposition, or ITAD, involves a responsible, full-cycle disposition of inutile IT equipment- from initial assessment, categorization, shipping, dismantling, re-categorization to final disposal. Each step of the ITAD process is guided by the environmental policies laid out by the government.
An ITAD company ensures:
Publish Date: July 12, 2018 8:07 AM | 1 |
I am checking out all the amazing and daily updated content on ContactCenterWorld.com and networking with professionals worldwide
Send To Friends Post On My Wall