Celebrating Earth Day with Electronics Recycling: A Guide for Businesses

April 22nd falls on a Tuesday in 2025 – it’s a day known best as Earth Day. Peace activist John McConnell came up with the idea in 1969, and Senator Gaylord Nelson organized the original Earth Day in 1970. The goal was to help raise awareness about the problems facing the environment. 

We all have Rachel Carson’s non-fiction book “Silent Spring” to thank for the general idea that led to the establishment of Earth Day. Her book also played a part in the development of the EPA. We’ve already seen many executive orders that move away from protecting the environment. In 2025, business owners and leaders need to stand up and show their concern for the environment. Celebrate the day by focusing on electronics recycling.

The Environmental Impact of E-Waste

Your workers use multiple electronic devices every day. From your drivers or delivery people who have their smartphones and GPS systems to guide them on the road to your office staff who have computers, phones, printers, copiers, etc., it’s a lot of e-waste being generated every few years. That e-waste is a growing problem for the environment.

E-waste contains heavy metals and toxic chemicals that cannot just go into the trash. You’ve heard of waste and recycling trucks catching fire and having to dump their load into the middle of the street? That happens when a lithium battery gets crushed instead of going to the correct recycling facility. Maybe you’ve heard of high levels of lead and mercury in the soil or groundwater near landfills where devices were improperly disposed of. 

That’s just old electronics. Each time you or an employee needs a new device, the components that go into that electronic device come from the earth where mining activities harm the animals, plants, and even miners. Soil erosion is a concern. Recycling reduces the need for new materials, instead of reusing materials that are already in older electronics.

Recycling your old office electronics helps the environment in those ways, but it also benefits you.

How Businesses Benefit from Electronics Recycling

What information is stored on your electronics? Do you keep employee information like W-2s, details related to company insurance and benefits electives, or wage and salary details? Do you keep customer or client information like credit cards and contact information? If you’re a hospital, you likely store private health records. 

When you recycle electronics using a reputable ITAD and electronics recycling provider, you protect that personally identifiable information (PII) and sensitive PII (SPII) from theft. Theft of PII isn’t as bad as SPII as it’s usually information like phone numbers or mailing addresses.  SPII can lead to financial loss, phishing, and social engineering attacks, such as SNNs and bank account information.

When you recycle office electronics properly, you protect your workers and customers. Data is destroyed properly before electronics are recycled. With ERI, you have paperwork showing that you had data destroyed either at your business or in one of ERI’s secure facilities to ensure no PII or SPII was left behind during the recycling process.

Another aspect of recycling your office electronics is that you don’t damage your company’s reputation. In 2021, Walmart was fined $7.5 million because employees placed over a million batteries, electronics, and other hazardous waste into the landfill rather than properly recycling them.

Walmart isn’t alone. Target faced a similar lawsuit in 2018 and paid fines of $7.4 million. In addition to costly fines and lawsuits, irresponsible actions turn the public against you. Your actions end up losing valuable clientele.

Tips for Creating an Effective E-Waste Recycling Program

The importance of proper e-waste recycling is undeniable, but how do you get your employees to participate? Our checklist helps you create an effective e-waste recycling program.

The first stage in developing a recycling program for electronics is to get prepared. 

• Determine what electronics you will be recycling.
• Research the state and federal laws that apply to your specific business. 
• Set recycling goals.
• Establish a budget.
• Research ITAD and e-waste recycling partners.
• Choose the best e-waste recycling partner for your needs.

Once you’ve established what will be accepted and who you’re working with to meet your company’s e-waste recycling goals. It’s time to get the rest of your employees on board.

• Create laminated posters to hang in visible areas. 
• Add recycling guidelines in the employee handbook.
• Establish at least one drop-off location that’s accessible to all employees.
• Hold paid training sessions to help your employees understand your goals and their role in ensuring e-waste is recycled correctly.
• Cover the steps they need to do before dropping off any electronics.
• Provide a way for them to reach out and ask questions that arise.
• Send out reminder emails and check in regularly to ensure everyone has the support they need.

Now that employees are ready to recycle, it’s time to set up a way to ensure recycling goes smoothly. 

• Assign workers, often the IT or maintenance department, to manage inventory as electronic waste is dropped off.
• Keep the inventory stored online and in a print form that’s secured in another location.
• Work with your recycling partner for pick-up times and days.
• Make sure all paperwork when items are picked up and transported to a recycling facility is stored with the inventory sheet.

Each time a load of electronics is processed and sent to the recycling facility, it’s important to evaluate the things that went well and anything that didn’t work out as expected. Use that insight to make tweaks to your program.

For example, most departments did a great job recycling all old electronics, but you didn’t include contractors in your training sessions. They didn’t follow the new guidelines and gave their damaged equipment away. That could be costly to your business, so take steps to prevent it from happening again.

Why Choose ERI for Your Business’s ITAD and Recycling Needs?

Many e-waste recycling companies appear in your searches, so how do you choose one for your company’s recycling program? 

Pick a recycler who holds these certifications:

• R2 and e-Stewards: Awarded to companies that follow strict standards regarding worker health and safety, data security, and environmental protection.
• ISO 14001: Awarded to recyclers who are serious about limiting environmental impact and continually monitoring their Environmental Management Systems to ensure nothing changes. 

ERI is the first ITAD and e-waste recycler to achieve carbon neutrality. In addition to the above certifications, we hold several others that prove our dedication to keeping our customer’s data secure from the moment we take possession of electronics. 

We’re happy to help you set up an Earth Day electronics recycling event. Give us a call or reach out online to learn more about our business electronics recycling and data destruction services.