Did you know that most IT equipment can be reused or broken down into parts? This means that when possible you should always try to recycle your old IT equipment. Read through our guide to find out the best way to do this.
Whether you are upgrading your IT materials or need to dispose of excess computers in preparation for an office move, all business owners will need to get rid of their company electricals at some point. Whatever the reason, it is essential that all electronics are recycled properly, and not just thrown out along with the rubbish. Though we’re more clued up than ever when it comes to recycling paper and plastic, many of us are unsure how to do the same with our computers. This handy guide to everything there is to know about recycling IT electricals should help bring your business up to speed.
Unfortunately they are very difficult to recycle, partly because the important components are hard to find, and partly because they are susceptible to damage during recycling. Most non-recyclable electronics are not biodegradable, which means their components contain very little energy (Tesla’s battery is a good example). If data, camera, or other crucial parts of the device get damaged during recycling, they can end up in the already difficult already difficult to recycle landfills.
Firstly, a computing device is made up of components, including CPUs and CPUs also contain the hard drive, memory, etc. Individually, these electronic devices are quite expensive to recycle, but the combined cost of all the parts is even more daunting (read this ‘crap concerning courier’ article to understand the depth of the problem faced by e-waste recyclers, not to mention the human tragedy behind it). Most business PCs, machines, laptops, etc. Do not contain central processors, graphics card, RAM, wireless cards, hard drives, or any other components that need to be separated.
These devices are all valuable, delicate, and single-use. Only specialized types of recyclers have the expertise to disassemble them into components that are recoverable. Engineers need to identify such ‘dumping’ points where these components enter the recycling stream that already have a specialized trash collector comprehensive enough to identify the right electronics for these ‘dump’ points.
Even more importantly, because these devices are fragile and still function, the set-up for recycling them must be flawless: you cannot just throw all the electronics into a big, complex, and potentially grounding box and hope for the best — as this would cause a ‘crash’ that is impossible to fix — you can’t even just take all the components off of all the PCs and put each of them on a separate sheet of paper. It would be like trying to harvest corn from a field by throwing their husks on the ground and hoping for the best. You will never throw their whole devices into a container, so each component must be identified individually before being placed into a ‘trash bag’.
This is where getting rid of such ‘dumping’ points is an absolute must. Chances are that they cannot be found, because sometimes even the most diligent shredders encounter situations during recycling. For example, sometimes if you have identified a device component that is quite hard to find, it can end up in a dump truck filled with paper-based FOG (fertilizer impregnated paper) from a nearby fertilizer plant. You cannot even see it on any of the trucks, so if it is still circuit board of any kind, you know that it’s not going to be able to be recycled.
Each category gives you suggestions on how to do what you’re trying to do with your IT equipment. If you’re unsure of what kind of device to take to recycling, take a look at the encourage guidelines.
CON big machines are devices used for processing, packing, or shipping. If you’re unsure which devices to chuck in the recycling below, take a look at the nonelectronic list.
The recycling facility provides single-use equipment such as printers, scanners, and copiers, as well as office supplies such as paper and toner. These materials are best to be sent to a landfill or incinerator.
Other items, such as printers, PCs, gaming systems, and mobile devices can be returned to your local recycler.
Western Digital has a set of guidelines so that it can properly identify the kind of electronics it picks up, as well as providing recycling instructions where appropriate. Write the refuse on their labels ‘Chipped’ or ‘Discarded’ in case it is intended for recycling.
Any memory chips and hard disc drives must be identified by their RAM size.
If you have an older laptop, the makers recommend that it is first recycled at the end of its useful life.
If you need to discard a smartphone or tablet, you’ll need to make sure it meets certain criteria. Write the refuse on your label ‘Old’ or ‘Chipped’. Most specialist centres will accept fax machines, PDAs, VHS tapes, camcorders, and other similar small business equipment. It’s best to leave them at your disposal to facilitate fast recycling.
PCs and laptops typically need to be open to access the internals to be resealed. This process is both time-consuming and expensive, so place them at the top of your refuse. A desktop PC can be recycled at any point, whilst a laptop is best to use in series in order to speed up the process. It’s also a good idea to separate the different types of device to prevent other types of electronics from contaminating your refuse.
Unplug all peripherals from any electronics that you plan on recycling. These might include printers, scanners, modems, hard disks, memory cards, and removable drives.
Make sure you take special care of keyboards and mice, especially if they stay plugged in. The best escape route is to place them directly on the refuse with the plug facing inwards. There’s no need to soak in water as this can damage the insulation on mechanical parts.
Be extra cautious with wired devices — try to ensure they have been opened, reset, or decommissioned via the escape route, as they are more prone to damage during the process.
It’s no surprise that one of the top uses for electronic waste is as furniture. From modems to hard drives to printers and much more, it can be quite easy to generate piles of old, broken, and non functional equipment. While some businesses might not simply rollover their old IT equipment, others will want to minimize the amount of IT waste generated as I’ve previously mentioned. Since most of the articles I’ve found about recycling IT equipment focus on computers, we will start by looking at items such as routers, switches, cameras, microphones, printers, and scanners.
To recycle the above items, we must first enable their recycling. This means unpacking said old, broken, and non functional equipment and reselling it. Confusing? Don’t worry. This post is going to break it down for you.
Remove the hard drive
Take the hard drive out of any hard disk drive. Wait until it has been fully removed from the outer casing. Ideally you’ll be left with the outer and internal components of the hard drive but only if you remove everything that’s not the hard drive itself. Take all the hard drive’s internals along with it, and place them into a large brown polybag, which you’ll use to protect your equipment from moisture. Then stick it in the recycling bin, along with any trash or extra materials such as screws, tape, plastic pieces, etc.
Some hard drives are slightly bigger than others which can affect the recycling process. A standard hard drive is about 2.5 inches in diameter, while a 3.5-inch hard drive is commonly used in desktop computers. As we don’t want to waste too much plastic (and therefore have to use a slightly thicker bag), we will recycle these standard hard drives first.
Next, take rid of any cables coming out of the hard drive. The red arrows and labels indicate where they are plugged into. Pull out and dump the old, broken, non-functional cables from the hard drive. You want to keep as much of the hard drive as possible to prevent further damage later. You can simply put them back in their original location afterwards. Some people will place them in their laptop bag but any rubbish bags you end up recycling should be placed into the garbage rather than the recycling bin. Once again, it’s better to recycle adult than toddler toys.
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