Whether it’s Black Friday or Cyber Monday, electronics have the best deals for holiday shoppers worldwide. Although the global health crisis altered shoppers’ behaviors considerably during 2020, an estimate showed $190 billion were spent on holiday season sales.  

Rapid technological advances make consumers, especially gadget aficionados, want to keep up with the latest trends, resulting in millions of old electronics being sent to landfills as soon as they upgrade to the latest models.

Given that nearly 100% of electronic waste is recyclable, statistics reveal that only 20% of all waste is recycled in the USA. Ever paused for a moment to wonder about the environmental impact caused by the number of consumer electronics burned through us collectively every year?

Contamination

All household appliances are recyclable; at least most of their components are. Every year, mobile devices, televisions, chargers, computers, and other old electronic items are improperly dumped into a landfill. Over time heavy metals such as mercury, chromium, beryllium, etc., glass, plastic, and other toxic substances leach into the soil and pollute the air or seep into the waterways, causing potentially disastrous consequences for human health and the environment.

Natural Resources

Recycling valuable raw materials, such as silver, copper, gold, palladium, platinum, glass, and plastic, from e-waste means they can be reclaimed. According to the UN, the process helps conserve natural resources and reduces the need to mine them from the earth.

EPA suggests that metal deposits in, for example, a ton of circuit board are 50 times richer than one metric ton of ore mined from a mine.

Reclaiming valuable materials from e-waste can cause the demand for mining precious metals to dip significantly, resulting in the reduction of greenhouse emissions released by manufacturing virgin materials.

Your E-waste Can Be Someone’s E-Treasure

• If the devices are functional, consider selling them in garage sales or recycling companies and manufacturers who refurbish them or reproduce new gadgets using the raw materials from old ones.
• Some retailers also offer deals where you can exchange old, working devices to get new ones at discounted rates.
• Another way is to donate to underprivileged people, NGO’s, shelters, hospitals, and schools where they can be reused to help someone.

The Right Way Forward

If you aim to reduce your carbon footprint and have a bunch of old electronics you’d like to dispose of responsibly, Grizzly Junk Removal is here to help. Our licensed experts are trained to work with top recycling facilities to sort e-waste of all types.

We then separate the components that can’t be recycled and dispose of them using eco-friendly junk disposal methods. Connect with us at 714 309 0201 to schedule a pick-up appointment or to find out more about our commercial junk hauling, furniture removal, professional appliance removal, e-waste removal, bulk garbage removal, and the other junk we remove from anywhere in Orange County.