Vast quantities of phones, appliances and other electronic waste (e-waste) end up in landfill every day, even though most of it can be recycled.
E-waste can be anything that is no longer needed and plugs into a power point or runs on batteries, including old televisions, refrigerators, lighting and even hearing aids.
Here are five advantages of recycling e-waste:
Recycling e-waste can keep a range of harmful materials out of the environment.
fluorescent tubes and lamps, contains toxic mercury that can leach into waterways when it is thrown into landfill.
The same goes for batteries, which can feature lead, mercury and cadmium.
For example, when a is recycled, the plastic parts and toxic lead are recycled, while the sulphuric acid is neutralised and then converted into sodium sulphate to make fertiliser and detergent.
3. It supports non-renewable recycling
The growing demand for electronic devices and appliances means a range of metals and other non-renewable resources need to be mined and processed.
However, many of the materials used to make smartphones, appliances and other e-waste can be re-used again.
These resources include steel, aluminium, copper and gold — not to mention large amounts of plastic that can be turned into new products.
Recycling e-waste puts these materials back to work after you’re done with your device, while dumping e-waste in landfill means more resources need to be dug up to make your next laptop or TV.