If you’re about to throw away something you used to plug in or turn on, you may be dealing with electronic waste. What does electronic waste include? Electronic devices that we no longer want or that have reached the end of their useful life. From refrigerators to smartphones to used batteries, e-waste accumulates in our homes and in our landfills.
Why can’t we throw electronic waste into the usual container?
Electronic waste is hazardous materials. Over time, their electronics can leach out toxic elements, such as mercury and lead, which can be harmful to the environment and humans.
It is not a trivial problem, since many televisions, washing machines, mobile phones, computers … which add up to more than 46 million tons of electronic waste, according to the International Telecommunications Union with data from 2016, only 20% is recycled.
What can we do then?
On the one hand, we can donate electronic products that we no longer want to reuse or recycle them in securely managed sites helps to control all possible dangers. Recycling is also another option that allows you to recover safe resources such as recyclable plastics and even gold, copper or platinum. To put the ideas in order. We can:
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Reuse products that continue to work
And it is that the fact that we do not use a device does not mean that it has no use. Let’s imagine that they just gave us a new mobile phone at work and that we already had one. what to do in that case? You don’t need to throw away the old one just because it’s from an older generation. In this case, we could donate it to social platforms such as TeloReciclo. If you do not want to donate it, you can also choose to sell it on a second-hand platform, such as Vibbo or Wallapop and get some of the investment back.
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Recondition the devices that have any defect
It is increasingly common for the mobile screen to end up broken or with a scratch. Avoid the first impulsive action, which would be to throw it away and buy a new one. It is very easy to go to the mobile technical service and have the screen replaced with a new and shiny one, brand new. And the smartphone will be like new. The same happens with a computer tower and its corresponding hardware or even with keyboards or mice. Remember that electronic products are made of different components to which we can put new parts and if one part has been damaged, the rest will be in perfect condition. There is no reason to throw the whole for the part.
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Recycle electronic waste by taking it to a clean point
If finally there is nothing to fix or nothing to do with a device in question or you prefer directly to buy a new one, we recommend recycling it. But properly. The organic garbage container or even the plastic one is not intended for electronic components. You can choose to take the device to a clean point in your locality. Where are they found? The website of the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) has a section designed to locate the clean points of our Spanish cities using a search engine. You can also deliver the device to the place where you are going to buy the new one, as establishments of this type are obliged to collect electronic waste if we make a similar purchase. In fact, there are some electronic waste collection campaigns in exchange for interesting discounts for the purchase of new devices.
