Recycling facilities around the nation face ever-growing piles of discarded electronics every month. Per the Global E-Waste Monitor, the amount of e-waste increases by approximately 2.86 million tons each year. We’re a digital world, and people often own dozens of different electronics in their homes or workplaces. Once an item is no longer working properly or contains outdated technology, a newer, updated version takes its place.
While consumers need to dispose of their electronic devices properly, electronics manufacturers play a vital role in end-of-life management. If manufacturers don’t do their part, it sends a message to consumers that a circular economy doesn’t matter. It makes your company look bad and even greedy, suggesting you only care about your bottom line and not the impact your devices will have on generations, decades or centuries later.
The Hazardous Nature of E-Waste
The amount of e-waste increased by 82% between 2010 and 2022. It’s alarming to think of where all of that e-waste goes when it’s broken or no longer wanted. Each year, electronics manufacturers push their new, upgraded, even better models.
Thankfully, rebate offers from these companies encourage users to send back their older devices, making it easy to recycle electronics properly. Yet, not every electronics manufacturer offers take-back or buy-back programs.
Consumers shouldn’t have to shoulder the cost of recycling and returns. E-waste recycling shouldn’t be a burden. In rural areas, especially, electronics recycling is difficult to access due to the lack of close by recycling facilities or retailers who accept used electronics for refurbishment or recycling.
Every used electronic contains a variety of metals that are harmful to the environment. If electronics end up in landfills or illegal dumpsites, these metals can leach into the groundwater or soil, where they become airborne or ingested through foods that grow in the contaminated soil or live in contaminated water. The metals can leach into dug or drilled wells where people drink or cook with the water. These metals and some of the issues they cause include:
- Arsenic – Toxic in high doses. Causes cancer, gastrointestinal issues, heart disease, and more with long-term exposure.
- Cadmium – Causes the “Cadmium Blues,” a flu-like illness. Severe exposure can lead to bronchitis, pneumonia, and fluid buildup in the lungs.
- Chromium – Leads to blood cell, kidney, and liver damage if large quantities are ingested. It can also cause allergic skin reactions.
- Lead – Symptoms build slowly and include abdominal issues, cognitive problems, depression, insomnia, tremors, and more.
- Mercury – Causes unusual sensations like burning, itching, or painful skin, high blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, and memory impairment.
- Selenium – Excessive exposure impacts the gastrointestinal system, skin and nails with brittleness and discoloration, and even hair loss.
This is where the social responsibility of electronics manufacturers becomes paramount. It’s not merely a matter of compliance with regulations, although those are crucial. It’s about a fundamental ethical obligation to mitigate the environmental and social impacts of their products from cradle to grave. This responsibility manifests in several key areas:
Designing for a Circular Economy
As a manufacturer, you have the power to embrace a circular economy and urge your consumers to do the same. A circular economy focuses on:
- Longevity (Creation of durable, long-lasting products.)
- Repairability (Using designs that are easy to fix and making parts available to consumers or repair technicians.)
- Reducing Hazardous Materials (Avoiding harmful metals and substances in your products.)
- Recyclability (Building products with materials that are easy to recover in an electronics recycling facility.)
- Reusing Materials (Prioritizing the use of recycled plastics, glass, and metals in the construction of your electronics.)
When you take these steps, make sure you share how much of your item came from recycled materials. It makes it easier for shoppers who want to support a circular economy to quickly identify products to consider versus products to avoid.
Establish and Cover the Cost of Take-Back Programs
About half of the states in the U.S. do not have e-waste legislation. Most of the other states place the cost of recycling on the manufacturer. Manufacturers must fund and operate take-back programs for any electronics they sell within the state.
California uses an Advanced Recovery Fee System where consumers pay a fee when purchasing certain electronic devices. That fee goes into a fund that’s used to reimburse e-waste recyclers who recycle electronic goods.
Either way, manufacturers should ensure that the collection and recycling of their electronic devices is done correctly to protect people and the environment. This includes:
- Making Collection Processes Convenient: Consumers should be able to easily recycle their electronics. This includes measures like bringing them back to the retailer, postage-paid mail-back programs, or collection events that are accessible to everyone.
- Fully Covered Costs: Manufacturers need to shoulder the cost of the recycling and not force consumers to pay.
- Choosing Certified E-Waste Recyclers: Manufacturers need to work with e-waste recycling companies that are certified to ensure the environment, workers, and communities are protected during collections and recycling processes.
As part of a take-back or other recycling program, manufacturers need to make consumers aware of how to recycle electronic items. A website that highlights why it’s important to recycle, how to recycle, and what happens to your electronics after they’re collected.
The Benefits of Embracing Proper Recycling
When you embrace recycling of the electronics you manufacture, you gain benefits that go beyond helping the environment.
- Avoid regulatory fines and penalties for improper disposal of hazardous waste.
- Enhance your brand’s reputation and become the company people talk about in positive ways.
- Gain consumer loyalty, especially with eco-conscious consumers.
- Save money on raw materials by reusing materials you’ve recycled.
- Use sustainability and innovation to build better products and products that consumers want to own.
Stay Updated on the Best Recycling Practices
Manufacturers need to stay updated on recycling innovations and advancements. As efficiency in recovering materials improves, it’s better for the environment and provides more materials for the creation of new electronics.
ERI is a leading e-waste recycling company specializing in environmentally friendly recycling and ITAD services. We recycle all electronics, including batteries, light bulbs, and white goods (dryers, stoves, ovens, etc.), and data destruction services are available when sensitive data is found on electronics from retailers, medical centers, banks, etc. Give us a call for the latest information on electronics manufacturing and ITAD services.