Statistics show that most people buy a new laptop every three to five years. With proper maintenance and care, a laptop can last upwards of 10 years before it reaches its end of life. That means people replace their laptops long before the laptop is no longer useful.
Instead of a continued pattern of buying new and disposing of old, consider the value of refurbished items. ERI fully supports a circular economy where things are used until they no longer work. At that point, we recycle the components to ensure that as much metal, glass, and plastic goes back into the manufacturing stream to make new products.
Explore the lifecycle of a refurbished laptop. Learn what happens when an old laptop leaves your business or home, and how ERI makes sure your old laptop lives a full life before becoming something new.
Why Recycle and Refurbish?
E-waste is a concern throughout the world. An estimated 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste were generated in 2019. That e-waste contains an estimated 50 tons of mercury. It also includes brominated flame retardants (BFRs) that are tied to thyroid issues, lead, and PCBs that are linked to certain types of cancer.
When e-waste breaks down, those contaminants can get into the air, soil, and water if extreme care isn’t used. Refurbishing helps limit certain recycling processes – incineration hydrometallurgy for example – until they’re necessary.
Two studies of e-waste recycling sites in China and Ghana found that workers had high levels of arsenic, cadmium chromium, cobalt, mercury, nickel, silver, and tin in their blood. E-waste recycling should focus on the environment, but it also must keep workers safe.
In areas where protections are lax, those metals and contaminants make their way into the water that children drink, the soil crops grow in, and the air people breathe. It’s a horrible situation, and it’s a reason why you need to choose a recycler that doesn’t ship anything overseas.
ERI strives to keep the planet and people on it safe from heavy metals and toxic chemicals. Part of this starts by making sure items are refurbished before they’re recycled. If there’s still life in a laptop, we’ll grade it and turn it into a valuable device for someone else.
Steps Used During E-Recycling and Refurbishment
If a case is cracked or scratched, it’s not a big deal. If it boots but won’t load apps, a system restore might fix the issue. If it won’t power on at all, it could be the battery needs replacing. If the laptop is 15 or 20 years old, it’s rarely worth refurbishing. If the parts needed to repair a laptop cost more than a new laptop, recycling is a better choice. How do we tell the difference?
Value Assessment
Before refurbishing is even considered, laptops are collected and assessed. Laptops are examined for damage and their age and software versions are recorded. When a laptop is over a decade old, it’s not a great candidate for refurbishing.
Data Destruction
Laptops go through data destruction to make sure no data remains on the device. You need an ITAD provider like ERI to ensure data is destroyed following the correct protocol. A retailer doesn’t need the same level of data destruction and recycling as a government agency.
Recycling of End-of-Life Laptops
If a laptop is suitable for refurbishing, it goes to a different area than a laptop that is truly at its end-of-life. End-of-life laptops are taken apart to remove the batteries, circuit boards, and other essential components. Next, they go to shredders to be cut into small pieces as part of the recycling process.
Repairs, Testing, and Resale
The remaining laptops are repaired and resold as refurbished goods. Factory settings are restored. Laptops are tested following a number of scenarios to ensure they perform as expected. Power cables and other peripherals are packaged with the laptop before it goes to an online or local retailer.
Have you been online or in a retailer and noticed laptops that say second-hand or refurbished? Those are laptops that were still valuable but needed repairs or cleaning up. Someone might get rid of a perfectly valuable laptop simply because they wanted the newest model for their work or gaming. Best of all, while it’s a like-new laptop, it’s a lower price because it’s a pre-owned computer.
Sometimes, refurbished computers are donated to a charitable cause instead of resold. A school in an impoverished area might need laptops for students. Your laptop is donated to fill a need.
Steps to Take When a Laptop Reaches Its End-of-Life
Whether you’re a retailer who’s been stockpiling old computers, a corporation, a non-profit, a medical practice or hospital, or a school/university with loads of broken or unused laptops, it’s time to recycle and remarket them. It’s not as hard as you might think.
Start by gathering your unneeded electronics and creating an inventory. Make sure you remove any USBs and peripherals that do not go with the laptop. Those are also recyclable, so don’t throw them away. We can help you recycle all electronics besides your laptops.
For a handful of laptops, go to ERI’s store to purchase a recycling box. That covers the cost of secure shipping to our nearest secure e-waste recycling facility and the entire recycling process.
If you have dozens of laptops, give us a call about remarketing. We’ll go over the optional services and create a plan of action that matches your needs and budget. If you want ERI to come to your location and destroy data before they leave your address, we can do that.
We will assess each item we receive and rate its usefulness. If it can be remarketed, we’ll remove all sensitive data, determine its value in today’s market, and share the possible return on investment with you.
Using parts we’ve collected through other recycling jobs, we restore computers to a like-new state and prepare them for resale or donation. Anything that isn’t reusable is properly recycled and sent to processors who take recycled materials and convert them to the materials used to make new goods.
Work With an Expert in Remarketing
Despite the best efforts of many Americans, 2.7 million tons of electronic goods were generated in 2018. Only 1.04 million tons were recycled. That’s just over a 38.5% recycling rate. It’s not great, especially when the recycling rate in 2015 reached 1.23 million tons.
Recycling is important. It’s the best way to have the metals needed to make new electronics. The plastic and glass can be reused. If there’s still life to your laptop, ERI provides a remarketing program where you recapture some of that value. Use the funds you gain by partnering with ERI to cover some of the cost of vital services like data destruction.
Reach ERI’s experts online or by phone. Our ITAD and e-waste specialists are happy to answer questions about laptop recycling and remarketing.