Recycling Your IT

7 Facts about E-waste

2011-08-08

Read facts about E-Waste.  It certainly makes for interesting reading, with you finding out lots of things you did not know and will hopefully make you think twice about your recycling habits:

  • According to surveys,the UK consumes 1.8 million electronic items per year and less than 20% of that e-waste is recycled.
  • In Britain each year, we throw away a million tonnes of electronic waste – enough to fill Wembley Stadium six times over.
  • E-waste occupies a major part of the countries trash in landfills. Only a few people recycle their computers, which means the other 85% end up in landfills. The e-waste equals 70% of overall toxic waste. Studies indicate that the amount of lead in electronics alone causes damage in the central and peripheral nervous systems, the blood and the kidneys.
  • It’s energy efficient to reuse used computers, but only about 2% of PCs ever find their way to a second user.
  • About 50 millions cell phones are replaced worldwide a month and only 10% are recycled. Recycling a million cell phones would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a great extent.
  • The European Union banned throwing e-waste in landfills in the 1990s. Current laws hold manufacturers responsible for e-waste disposal.
  • Large amounts of e-waste have been sent to Asian and African countries. Reports say that around 80 % of the e-waste in the U.S. is exported to Asia.

Reading this makes you realise how important it is to find a company that will recycle your IT correctly.  Recycling Your IT is a company that prides itself on following the correct procedures when it comes to computer recycling.