Recycling

The New Recycling of Electronic Waste

The tech boom has brought a lot of additional benefits to modern human society, not the least of which being less paper generated to fill up landfills. However, the new use of computers and laptops has created a new type of waste. The new waste that is being created when people trade out their old computers, is dubbed ‘e-waste’, due to its electronic nature, and it is also generating problems for landfills and other trash disposal systems.

Going Green Computers, a company founded by Bradley Frick in Illinois, has been working to recycle old computers so that they don’t end up in our nations’ landfills. The landfills are already crowded, and companies such as Frick’s intend to keep as many laptops and used desktop computers out of those landfills. Currently it is estimated that only 13% of disposed computers are recycled, even though they make up the fastest growing segment of waste today.

By stripping down old computers for parts before they end up in a landfill, companies like Going Green provide a needed service to the community. Many times as businesses and schools replace their aging computers, they would rather not simply toss the old ones into the trash, so recycling companies will come, pick them up and begin the recycling process so that the parts can be used again.

It is a scenario with several winners; first, the schools are able to remove their old systems without having to haul them away or create more waste. Secondly, the recycling company makes a profit from the resale.