An Insight into E-Waste Recycling and Its Process

The trash generated from obsolete, broken and surplus electronic devices accounts for electronic waste. Electronics comprise of multiple hazardous materials and chemicals that get released into the environment when not disposed properly. The average American is known to possess an average of ten electronics in their household and minimum two of these devices are cell phones. Since electronics have a short life, they become obsolete soon and end up in landfills unless they are properly disposed of using electronic waste recycling services. 

It has been estimated that only 20 percent of the e-waste is recycled and the remaining ends up in landfills. Electronics contain a range of valuable materials like tin, copper, iron, fossil fuels, silver, gold, aluminum and titanium. A lot of materials used in the manufacture of electronics devices can be recovered, recycled and reused. 

Advantages of e-waste recycling 

Recycling of electronic waste allows us to recover multiple valuable metals and materials from electronics. This results in saving of natural resources and reduces pollution, creates jobs and conserves landfill space. Services of national electronic recycling help in cutting down the waste owing to production as a lot of resources are needed to produce electronic devices. It has been estimated that around 81 percent of the energy linked with a computer is utilized during production and not during operation. 

The process of electronic recycling 

The process of electronic recycling can be challenging as electronic devices that are discarded account for sophisticated devices that are manufactured from differing proportions of plastics, metals and glass. Depending on the technologies that are employed and the materials that are being recycled, the process of recycling can differ. Here is a look at the generalized process that is followed: 

Assembly and transportation 

The first two stages of the recycling process are collection and transportation. E-waste recyclers place electronics take-back booths in particular locations and transport the assembled electronic waste from these sites to recycling facilities and plants. 

Shredding, Sorting, and Separation

Once the electronic waste is collected and transported to recycling facilities, the materials present in it are required to be processed and separated into clean commodities for the purpose of making new products. Effective transportation is pivotal to electronic waste recycling. Shredding of e-waste makes way for the sorting and separation of plastic materials from internal circuitry and metals. 

The ewaste companies utilize a strong overhead magnet that separates steel and iron from the waste stream on the conveyor and gets it ready for sale as recycled steel. Additional mechanical processing helps in separating circuit boards, copper and aluminum from the material stream. Technology of water separation is utilized to separate glass from plastics. The ultimate step in the process of separation locates and extracts any of the remaining metal leftovers from the plastics to purify the stream even more.

Preparing the recycled materials for sale 

After the execution of the stage of shredding, sorting and separation, the separated materials are geared up for the purpose of sale as usable raw materials required for producing new electronic items or other products.