Recycling Waste Electronics

Waste electronics are subject to significant recovery rates that enable the in excess of 95 percent recycleable materials.  These consist of Metals, Plastics and glass.  The remaining 3-5 percent by volume comprises landfill or incineration by-products, which cannot be re-used efficiently. The main components of WEEE, in terms of weight, are iron and steel followed by plastics (EEA, no date). As can be seen, iron and steel are the most common materials found in electrical and electronic equipment and account for almost half of the total weight of WEEE. Plastics are the second largest component by weight representing approximately 21% of WEEE. Non-ferrous metals including precious metals represent approximately 13% of the total weight of WEEE and glass around 5%. (ref:  WEEE Recycling)

 Within the European Union, WEEE or e-waste consists of some 10 categories, each of which is subject to stringent control and highly technical recycling processes (ref: UK WEEE Disposal).  These categories comprise:

• Large household appliances
• Small household appliances
• IT & telecommunications equipment
• Consumer equipment
• Lighting equipment
• Electrical and electronic tools
• Toys, leisure and sports equipment
• Medical devices
• Monitoring and control instruments
• Automatic dispensers

RECYCLING CFLs

There is a lot of information available now about compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). Many environmental campaigns and websites have been devoted to every American changing at least one conventional bulb in their house to a CFL. CFLs require less energy, give off less heat and last ten times longer than regular light bulbs. However, CFLs contain a small amount of mercury prompting the question, "what's the best way to dispose of a fluorescent bulb?"

Most CFLs sold to date are still in use as they last up to five years. Within the next couple of years though the United States could be looking at 100 million light bulbs flowing into landfills along with their mercury. The first step in disposing of your burnt out CFL would be to call your waste service to see what they recommend. If you don't get any answers from them, contact your city directly. Another option is to bring the bulbs back from whence they came and see if the store offers a recycling program. Lastly, the USEPA offers a handy website where you can look for recycling centers in your area.

Have look at 5 Ways to Recycle a CFL from Lighter Footstep for more info on recycling your CFLs