Lesser known facts about e-waste Recycling-Infographic

All of us owe our lives to the advancement of technology that has not only made the whole world part of a global community but also made our lives easier and entertaining. But have you ever thought whether there is a chance for this advancement to rebound on us? Well there is certainly a chance unless we take care of our e-wastes properly.

Technology-a boon

Technology is advancing in leaps and bounds and every now and then you will learn some new software, some new device or some new technology hitting the market. This is certainly a blessing for us since it shows the power of human intellect. But it may jeopardize the safety of the environment.

Just think- what did you do with your last mobile device? Did you dispose it off properly or have you just thrown it away in parts. In the second case, you are adding harmful toxins to the ecosystem that is going to boomerang on your own self. Don’t worry because you are of a crowd of millions who are disposing off their mobiles in improper methods of not knowing how it is threatening their absolute own existence.

Magnitude of threat

The world population is around 6,854,000,000 so one can imagine the magnitude of the danger when 61% of the world’s population are mobile users, and the number of cell phones are around 4,180,000,000. Additionally most of the mobile users do not use their mobile for more than one year. Where do these devices go? Unfortunately, these millions of tons of devices are dumped in the landfills polluting the ecosystem. So, 65,000 tons of mobile phone devices are discarded every year from which 6.5 Eiffel Towers can be made!

The environment is a powerful time bomb that is being fueled by our own negligence. One day it will be strong enough to destroy us. The harmful elements in the cell phone devices like chromium, arsenic and mercury damage the soil ecosystem and as well know, in the ecosystem if there is disagreement in one stratum, all the strata are affected. Not just the mobiles, the TVs, the computers, the CRTs all add toxic lead to the atmosphere. Can you believe it- two per cent of the landfills in America alone consists of E-waste; among toxic pollutants, 70% are e-waste?

Yet with the poisonous materials, we are also disposing off sixty million dollars each year. How? The cell phones include some precious metals like silver and gold. Around 4.7 tonnes in gold and 49 tonnes in silver are lost in the process.

If we don’t charge our mobiles for one day, 35 billion pounds of toxic gasses will be saved from being eliminated. I am not asking you to stop charging your devices, but just helping you to understand the importance of misuse of mobiles. Stats show that only five hundred mobiles recycles will feed an entire household comfortable for one year.

Recycle your old devices

So here is what you must do, you must recycle your devices. If you are planning for the new ones, sell of the old ones. You will not only get cash to ease your burden on the next purchase, but also be taking an eco-friendly step. Resonating to the responsibilities towards Mother Nature, all the leading brands like Acer and HP have new plans for you as they will take your older laptops and recycle it to give you as trade off or for parts in the new model that you are purchasing. The Corporate sectors are the ones who have the highest use of laptop and computers. But this realization has not struck them as yet. Most of them are yet to pick up recycling.

The government needs to take action also. There must be laws to prohibit polluting landfills with e-wastes. Let’s use technology wisely and reap its benefits without the threats.

Sell cell phones to Pacebutler as it is one of the best phone recycling companies.


Infographic by : Pacebutler