Consumers are purchasing more and more electronics every single year. Most of these electronics have a very small shelf-life. Newer, better versions come out regularly. We the consumers always must have the best, right?
What happens to those old electronics once consumers are done with them? The majority of them end up in the trash.
This is actually atrocious to the environment because the majority of electronics contain hazardous material.
The World Economic Forum released a report in January 2019 saying that e-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the world!
Keep reading to learn how you can combat the problem:
What is E-Waste
Electronic waste, also known was e-waste or e-scrap, is discarded electronics that are thrown in the garbage. These electronics have not been cleaned of hazardous materials, which can endanger wildlife, soil, water, and more. There was no attempt to repurpose these electronics. These electronics haven’t had their valuable copper stripped from them.
What we find to be the saddest aspect of e-waste is that most of these electronics could have easily gone to a new home. It’s not hard to drop something off at Goodwill, or a similar donation center. If they were broken, they could have been repaired. It’s wasteful. Hence why it’s called e-waste.
More Than Environmental Waste
Did you know that there is information stored within your shirt making electronics that can be accessed long after you complete your job? For digital shirt making products, an image of what you’re printing is scanned into the machine. The machine reads the image and prints it onto the shirt.
The shirt making machine erases the information from its local memory, but it’s still accessible to a trained hacker. Even if it’s been years since the digital print was made.
A verified E-cycler has the ability to wipe your information clear from the machine. This will protect you and your loved ones.
ECS Refining
Thankfully, companies like ECS Refining make recycling your old electronics quite easy. These companies take the old electronics, remove the hazardous materials, and try and repurpose everything that they can. In fact, we loved ECS Refining so much, we bought their website, ECSRefining.com, in order for you, our readers, to learn more about the importance of recycling your old electronics. The company may be out of business, but their mission was important enough to keep alive.
We are going to be launching a series of articles that talk about properly disposing of your old shirt making electronics, such as heat press machines, vinyl cutters, and screen printing machines.
Where To Recycle Your Old Electronics
Your local Government has resources on where you can recycle your old electronics. Do a Google search for the term ‘electronic waste recycling’ for more information.
Thank You
Thank you for reading. We’re glad that you’ve taken an interest in recycling your old electronics. Stay tuned for our series of articles on electronic waste.