When it comes to discarding the old electronic equipment, one needs to consider the hierarchy of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. You need to only buy new electronic equipment when your old one is incapable of getting upgraded to carry out the required tasks. Consider the services of electronic recycling when you need to get rid of your equipment. Select a firm that makes use of e-Steward certified recyclers.
Reuse
Reuse accounts for the practice of selling, donating or redirecting electronic equipment and IT assets to maximize usage over their span of life. When executed in a proper manner, reuse acts as a great alternative to recycling in decreasing the amount of electronic waste.
Guidelines for reuse liability
Legal liabilities: Know that you are legally responsible for exercising effective care or carrying out due diligence for your unwanted electronic equipment and their downstream suppliers. This will ensure that the toxic components do not lead to environmental contamination.
HIPAA compliance: You need to consider the HIPAA requirements during end of life hardware destruction or end-of-life management. Make sure that there is a plan for data security in place before you release the equipment. Hospitals are required to comply with HIPAA by making sure that data security is paid attention to before the equipment is reused or donated.
Options for reuse
• Get in touch with a company for asset recovery to discover a market for your used equipment.
• Redistribute your equipment to individuals or departments in your organization
• Asset recovery needs cautious analysis and deployment of IT equipment. The options include resale, refurbishment, opportunities for donation and recycling.
• Donate used IT equipment to charities so that it can be used by those who are in need. Ensure that these organizations are mindful of the proper handling of electronic waste and do not just ship it to developing countries.
• Browse the Basel Action Network website for added information on national and international laws that restrict the trade of hazardous waste.
Recycling
Recycling accounts for the method of dismantling electronic items into materials that can be reclaimed to manufacture new materials. There is a huge variety of electronic recycling practices, both unsafe and safe, in place for the purpose of recycling IT equipment. Four phases are involved in the recycling of electronic waste. The generator of hazardous electronic waste needs to ensure that all the four phases are given due consideration.
• Guaranteeing adequate data destruction and certification.
• Reducing the electronic devices into component materials that can be easily reclaimed. This can be attained via mechanical destruction like crushing, granulation or shredding or via manual disassembly.
• Once the electronic devices are physically reduce, it is vital to separate component materials and send them to their respective markets for the purpose of final processing like refining, incineration and secondary smelting.
• The ultimate processing can happen either in high-tech facilities or in crude operations that can be quite polluting. There are no markets for certain materials and thus, some unwanted materials will go to waste-to-energy incinerators, landfills, etc.
• Manufacturing of new products by using reclaimed materials.
Standards and initiatives of electronic recycling
First, you need to select an electronic recycling provider that best meets your requirements and safeguards the environment and the health of living beings. The provider should effectively handle hazardous electronic equipment based on international and national laws. Your recycler should verify that they do not dump toxic e-waste in landfills or transport it to developing countries and also have sufficient facility coverage or closure insurance. When you contact an electronic recycler, you need to ask in-depth questions about their recycling facilities, RCRA and HIPAA compliances and worker safety policies.
