With Earth Day fast approaching, now is the ideal moment to craft a meaningful sustainability strategy. Celebrating its 55th anniversary this year, Earth Day embraces the powerful theme: Our Power, Our Planet—a call to collective action. Waste reduction is one of the most urgent areas to address, especially regarding electronic devices. Items like smartphones, laptops, tablets, smartwatches, and computers often escape the waste conversation. Yet, when improperly disposed of, they can release hazardous substances that harm the environment and human health. Responsible e-waste management is more than just cleanup—it’s a vital step toward a healthier planet.
E-waste as Hazardous Waste
Electronic waste is often overlooked because old IT assets end up in storage closets or drawers, but e-waste comprises 70 percent of the earth’s toxic waste and continues to grow. As one of the fastest-growing solid waste streams in the world, e-waste is classified by The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Disposal as hazardous because of several factors.
- Electronics contain Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) that are known to cause chemical fires when damaged.
- Electronics are manufactured with metals like copper, silver, aluminum, palladium, and tantalum, which present challenges when e-waste is disposed of improperly.
Challenges of E-waste Disposal
E-waste disposal is exceptionally challenging because it cannot simply be thrown out like municipal waste. LIBs and metals limit disposal options, eliminating landfills and incineration as safe disposal methods. The precious metals in electronics leak toxic chemicals that eventually soak into the soil and pollute the groundwater. This can affect the surrounding water supply and cause severe illness in animals and people living in nearby areas. Another popular method is incineration, which many turn to to avoid potential environmental pollution, but incineration also causes pollution. Rather than soaking into the groundwater, the chemicals pollute the air when electronics are burned and can also cause health issues for those living nearby.
Environmentally Sound E-waste Disposition
As the only environmentally sound disposal method for e-waste, recycling eliminates pollution, prevents hazardous materials from being sent to landfills or incineration facilities, and helps keep working devices in circulation via device reuse. IT asset disposition enterprises like HOBI collect retired IT assets and ensure they are disposed of responsibly via electronics recycling. ITAD providers also offer services such as repair and refurbishment for asset redeployment, adding value to IT assets after they are retired. Reusing assets keeps them in circulation and helps reduce e-waste.
Earth Day is about taking action to protect the planet and partnering with an ITAD provider for responsible e-waste disposal, which helps reduce e-waste and eliminate toxic waste from the environment. For more information about our ITAD services, call 817-814-2620 or contact HOBI at sales@hobi.com.