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What are E-Wastes and Why Do They Need to Be Recycled?

26 February 2021

The number of waste products that are being discarded every day can easily fill several vacant sites. Plastic products, which include packaging, bags, and others, can often be seen in trash bins. Even paper litter can still be spotted everywhere.

While most of the aforementioned products are being recycled or reprocessed today, there is one type of waste products that industries and organisations must prioritise before they could totally pollute the environment. E-wastes, which are products that come from electronics, are now identified to be one of the main polluters of the planet Earth.

A Brief Background of E-Wastes

As previously stated, e-wastes are electronic products that have already reached the end of their service or useful life. They are typically discarded and sent to landfills if ever stores do not want to buy or retrieve them. What makes e-wastes dangerous and toxic to the environment is that they can emit toxic materials to the environment, which mostly come from their respective metal parts and components. Some traces of these toxic materials can then be transferred into the groundwater and atmosphere.

Many products that are being used today can become e-wastes once they are discarded and eradicated. Discarded home appliances such as microwaves, electric cookers, heaters, fans, and air conditioning units can become e-wastes if ever they end up in landfills. Even smart devices such as phones, watches, speakers, televisions, and tablets can become e-wastes once they are not usable anymore. Cords, cables, Wi-Fi dongles, network hardware, and other similar items can likewise be converted as e-wastes.

Benefits of Recycling E-Wastes

E-wastes must be recycled at all costs given that they can harm the whole planet. With recycling e-wastes, everybody can expect significant benefits from the said activity.

For one, the act of recycling e-wastes can easily protect the environment from toxic materials. Elements such as mercury, lead, and cadmium can all be prevented from spreading out in the open. Instead, a recycling centre will neutralise all parts and components that contain such elements and subsequently convert them into many useful products like fertiliser, detergent, and even dental amalgam.

Another great benefit of recycling e-waste is that it can further push the campaign of recycling more products as well as saving natural resources. Plastics, papers, and metals can now all be recycled and reprocessed for them to be useful again. And since electronic products today utilise most of these materials, recycling them will only save raw natural resources from being extracted.

And as more industries appreciate the environmental and health benefits of recycling e-waste, they can now start investing in the said process just to make their businesses sustainable in the long run.

Work with Victorian Metal Traders

If you want to recycle some e-waste products, feel free to work with us at Victorian Metal Traders. We are a family-owned business that builds long-term relationships by thoroughly understanding the removal of your scrap metal and collection needs. We are buyers of all grades and all quantities of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Whether its 10kg of scrap metal from your home or an ongoing service requirement, Victorian Metal Traders is your solution.

 

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