subject: What Are You Doing With Your Old Electronics, Recycling? [print this page] Many cities have started their own recycling programs to help decrease the impact on our landfills. However there are many items Americans are unaware of that may be recycled like old electronics. Everyone owns a television, DVD player and many other electrical products that have the ability to be recycled and reused because after all they are just metal, plastic and glass. Cheap electronics and appliances could be the culprit but it is up to us to look toward the future when recycling and not just question the cost.
With so many electronics being available for so cheap it may be a sign to most people that they can throw away an old computer or TV without care because there are so many available for less out there. However the EPA is stating that over 2,500,000 tons of e-waste or old electronics are being sent to the landfills every year because only 340,000 tons are recycled. With over 3 million tons of waste being created by electronic products alone every year we need to make a bigger impact than recycling 10% of our e-waste.
Companies in the electronic technologies sector are stating the first quarter of 2012 has been huge for sales. With only a quarter of the year equating to over half their previous years companies like Samsung, Apple and Nokia who are major players in the market are seeing this as a big year for consumer electronics. Not to mention they are the main providers of the cheap electronics we use in our everyday lives. Does this mean there will be even more e-waste being thrown into our dumps every year?
We cannot wait for companies like these to make the decision for us because as they have done in the past, nothing will happen. With all these quarterly profit reports coming in it is hard to believe that the responsibility remains on us but it is a cruel fact of life. If you want something right you have to do it yourself. That is why we are urging consumers to recycle or sell their electronics for less. There are plenty of cheap electronics to replace your old products however if we continue at this rate the government will most likely step in. Placing taxes or fees on the creation of every piece of hardware created so they can make up for the cost of recycling it themselves.
By simply giving old electrical products away or to secondary stores we can reduce the impact. Not only that, you can just as easily throw your old cameras, smartphones and other products in the cities recycle bin. Allowing their recycling programs to handle the e-waste may be the easiest way of reducing the 3 million tons of waste created every year. More importantly to some however, it will keep our products we use daily at a lower price. Without all the taxes and additional fees from the government we can continue to preserve our cheap electronics and be happy consumers.
