e-waste disposal in Harding, KwaZulu-Natal
What is, and what do you do with, E-Waste?
Welcome To The E-Waste Era - The Era Where Even Garbage Has A New And Distinguished Title.
E-waste or electronic waste is fast becoming one of the largest disposal problems of our era. Used T.V.s, stereos, tape decks, radios, computers, printers, fax machines, answering machines, Ipods, cell phones, CD players, the list goes on and on, and tons of it are becoming new E-Waste daily! This enormous influx of potentially toxic waste into landfills has governments scrambling for a solution.
We are a generation in love with our abundance of new, and constantly improving, technological gizmos and gadgets. As the new stock hits store shelves it has no shortage of willing buyers ready to adopt and take it home with them. But it is the outmoded and tossed aside products that has governments around the world concerned.
Welcome to the electronic age, where even garbage comes with a new and more distinguished title, welcome to the "e-waste" era.
So What Exactly Is E-Waste?
If you haven't heard the term "E-waste" before know that you'll be hearing a lot about it in the future. It is a word that has come sharply into focus in our current electronic world. It is a term which has come to represent any and all types of electronic equipment that is near to ending, or is ending, its useful life span.
These out-dated electronics are quickly becoming any one of a number of computers, telephones, televisions, VCR's, stereos, i-pods, fax machines, or some such other similar electronic product that now needs to be disposed of. In essence it has become garbage, refuse, waste, trash or whatever other term that you would prefer to refer to it as. Scientifically it is now officially referred to as "electronic waste" or as it is more commonly known "e-waste".
We are an era that over the past number of years has been, and is still, enticed by an ever evolving supply of electronic gizmo's and gadgets. Technology is advancing at a rapid pace and the newest technology today is quickly outmoded as newer and even more advanced improvements to current electronics advance to the forward front. These new and improved products hit the shelves, and our old outdated or worn out electronics become "e-waste", and as such, need to be disposed of.
So Why Can't E-Waste Be Thrown Out Along With My Other Garbage?
The sheer number of these products that are being tossed into the local landfills is creating an environmental nightmare and has governments and environmentalists alike searching for new methods of recycling this ever growing pile of electronic waste. To add to the nightmare is the fact that a large number of these electronics contain hazardous waste materials and there are just not a lot of recycling programs currently in place to deal with this new form of garbage.
The E-Waste problem came to the forefront so quickly that not a lot of recycling programs at first considered it to be a potential problem. For this reason not many programs were in place to deal with this new form of waste material.
So without recycling centers in place to dispose of their electronic waste safely, people simply threw it away with their other trash, E-Waste began filling up the local landfills to an alarming degree.
Suddenly it became glaringly clear that recycling programs were desperately needed! They had to be created immediately to help put a stop to this new environmental nightmare. Public Education programs needed to be put in place. The sheer magnitude of E-waste being so rapidly created was creating a new environmental nightmare, and people needed to be made aware of the necessity of properly, and responsibly disposing of this new form of waste.
The E-Waste era had now become a reality.
Let?s take it a step further and see what (and how much) toxic material is in your average electronic device.
Computers
CRT computer monitors contains a vast amount of lead, and there are other toxic elements in play when you?re recycling a PC or Mac. Many laptops have a small fluorescent lamp in the screen that contains mercury, a toxic material when inhaled or digested.
Computer circuit boards contain mercury, lead and cadmium. Circuit boards can also feature batteries made of mercury, and also contain mercury switches. Toxic materials make up only a small amount of the volume, but it does not take much lead or mercury to contaminate an area?s soil or water supply - Keep this in mind when you?re figuring out what to do with those old electronic devices.
Televisions
Before there were plasma screen and liquid crystal display (LCD) tubes, we were watching our Rugby games and favourite sitcoms on cathode ray tubes (CRT). The CRT model provides room for all your switches and wires in a box behind the screen, but it also stores a lot of lead. Approximately 20 percent of CRTs are comprised of lead, and equals to between four and eight pounds per unit. Combine this with the fact that the FCC is going to require all televisions to run a digital signal by February 19, 2009, and we could be looking at a lot of lead headed for landfills. Even the smallest amounts of lead can be a serious issue, and we?re talking about eight pounds per unit.
Cellular Phones
While your trusty cellular phone may not contain as much toxic material as larger electronic devices, its shelf life is only about a year and a half for the average consumer. With hip new products like the iPhone coming out all the time, it?s estimated there are over 500 million used cell phones ready for disposal. Cell phone coatings are often made of lead, meaning that if these 500 million cell phones are disposed of in landfills, it will result in 312,000 pounds of lead released.
However, the most hazardous component of the cellular phone is the battery. Cell phone batteries were originally composed of nickel and cadmium (Ni-Cd batteries). Cadmium is classified as a level 1 (human) carcinogen that can cause lung and liver damage. Alternatives contain the potentially explosive lithium, or the previously stated toxic material lead.
Donate Your E-Waste
What We Accept The PC Graveyard generally accepts e-waste items that contain electronic circuitry, whether working or not. We cannot accept items that may dispense hazardous fumes, liquids or gases.
List of Electronic Waste Accepted
Answering Machines, Recorders
CD/DVD Drives, VCRs, Recorders, Players
Calculators (handheld, desktop, cash registers)
Cameras (still or movie, digital or cartridge)
Cell Phones/Blackberries/ Palm products
Computer Backup Batteries
Computers/Laptops/ Desktops
Computer Wire/ Cables (all types)
Dictation Machines, Recorders
Dry Ink Toner Cartridges
Empty Computer Cases
Fax Machines
Hard Drives
Ink Cartridges (empty or full)
Keyboards, Mice, Speakers
Medical Monitoring Devices
Microwave Ovens
Miscellaneous Computer Parts
Monitors
Motherboards
Power Supplies
Printers
Radios, Walkie-Talkies
Servers
Telephones
Televisions (consoles, HDTV, plasma, portable, etc.)
Large Floor Model Copy Machines
What we do with the waste
The E-Waste we receive from participating businessesindividuals gets categorized into usable and non-usable components.
60% of the usable components are refurbished and sold to defray running costs, and the remaining 40% are used to build up computers which are donated to various organizations such as schools, churches, old age homes, community homes and charities.
We also recycle all non-usable components through various large recycling firms in the correct manner using the cradle-to-grave concept.
Contact us for your best solution for your end-of-life electronics ? A viable alternative to e-waste at NO COST TO YOU.
The Pc Graveyard
Trevor Walker
27 78 119 7410
27 31 916 3586
www.thepcgraveyard.za.net
mailto:thepcgraveyard@hotmail.co.za
mailto:pcgrave@gmail.com
Facebook Group: http://www.facebook.com/#/group.php?gid=38014631894&ref=ts
?Sustainable development is not something governments or
international bodies do to people. It is something people do
for themselves and for their children.?
Cielito F Habito