What is E-Waste?
If you’re using any type of electronic devices, chances are you’re generating e-waste. According to a recent National Geographic article, the average American household generates over 176 pounds of electronic waste every year, and that e-waste accounts for over 70% of the toxic heavy-metal waste found in many of the world’s landfills. But, what IS e-waste, and what makes it so dangerous?
WHAT IS E-WASTE?
According to CalRecycle, “the term “e-waste” is loosely applied to consumer and business electronic equipment that is near or at the end of its useful life.” These items can include things like:
- Hard Drives
- Servers Drives
- Memory Boards
- Back-Up Tapes
- Cell Phones and Tablets
- Keyboards & Mouse
- Computer Accessories
- Network Routers
- Switches & Modems
- Monitors & CRT Devices
WHY IS E-WASTE DANGEROUS?
As we stated above, 70% of toxic heavy-metal waste in landfills is electronic waste, but what makes these items so dangerous? In addition to being made of items with excessively long half-lives like plastics, many of them are made of metals and contain things like lead, arsenic, mercury, and more.
When these items are not properly disposed of and recycled, they are often shipped to countries where they burn the electronic devices to help break them down, which releases harmful chemicals into the air or allows it to seep into soil and water supplies, harming the environment around the “disposal” areas.
WHAT SHOULD I DO WITH MY E-WASTE?
If you have electronic devices that you are no longer using, many electronics companies or electronics retailers have trade-in or recycling programs to help eliminate the burden or electronic waste and reward consumers for responsibly disposing of them.
If you are not looking for a trade-in and upgrade, OR if your device is full of secure information, consider the secure e-waste destruction solutions from Augusta Data Storage. Your devices will be securely shredded and then recycled as a part of our zero-landfill process. If you are in need of a safe and secure way to dispose of your e-waste, contact Augusta Data Storage today! Interested in a sneak peek of our process? Here’s a quick video that gives you the inside look.