the united states generated 6.3 metric tons of electronic waste in 2016, according to the latest installment of the global e-waste monitor. the amount of electronics we discard is second only to china.

electronic waste, or e-waste, is expected to be a growing problem as the rate of technological development continues to increase. e-waste includes discarded phones, computers, tablets, music players, printers, cds, tapes, wires, and other items that require electricity to function.

discarding electronics means discarding valuable metals such as aluminum, copper, silver, and even gold. according to the global e-waste monitor, global e-waste was valued at more than $60 billion. yet, only 20% of that waste is being disposed of properly, meaning most of that value is lost.

while e-waste constitutes a small portion of the waste that is ultimately found in landfills, it is responsible for the majority of hazardous waste. electronics such as television monitors and computers are often latent with mercury, lead, and other harmful substances.

“that tiny percentage makes up the vast majority of what is dangerous to the environment. that’s why it’s so important to eliminate as much e-waste from going to landfills as possible,” says nate mulliner, director of business development at e-asset solutions computer and electronics recycling.

e-asset solutions, based in the washington, d.c. suburb of falls church, virginia, is one of many businesses working to reduce e-waste by refurbishing discarded items and recycling parts.

if you have a tendency to hoard your old electronics in an untouched dresser drawer, mulliner recommends taking those items to be recycled before they become obsolete.

“first and foremost, stockpiling is a better option obviously than just getting rid of it,” mulliner says. “please do that. if you have one choice of either stockpiling it or throwing it away, stockpile it. but, you don’t want to do that for too long either.

“you don’t want to stockpile things until the best methods of recycling them go out of practice,” he says. “you go to recycle something that someone has a lot of practice recycling, that method is a lot faster, more streamlined, less invasive.”

mulliner recommends finding a local electronics recycler who is certified by one of two governing bodies within the industry: r2 or e-stewards. these certifications ensure that companies are using best practices for the planet, while also prioritizing one of the trickier elements of electronic recycling: data security.

“data security is paramount, for our actual legal liability and for your safety,” mulliner says. “especially in this day and age when things like digital identity can be stolen so easily, it’s extremely important to properly get that taken care of.”

in compliance with r2 certification, every hard drive, cell phone, cd or other data-containing device is wiped clean in the first step of processing at e-asset solutions. if you are uncertain about a recycler’s data destruction policy, there are ways to protect your information before handing it over.

“for a lot of things with a solid-state hard drive, like an iphone or an ipad, especially apple products, the factory reset is 99.99% effective,” mulliner says. “for anything with a hard drive, i would recommend some level of data destruction and you don’t have to go to an expert person to do that. there are wiping software programs you can download for free that are just as effective as something we would use.”

certification guidelines also prevent electronic recyclers from taking hazardous waste to landfills or exporting it overseas. this addresses an important issue. much of the world’s recycling waste was sent to china until the country started imposing bans on waste imports in 2018. unregulated and unsafe electronics recycling practices had previously caused staggering rates of cancer-causing toxins in certain areas of the country. while the chinese government attempts to control this humanitarian issue, southeast asia is at risk of taking on the world’s excess of hazardous material if waste is not handled responsibly.

ecoatm uses technology to solve a problem created by technology. ecoatm finally meets the required thresholds of convenience and instant cash incentives necessary to inspire mass consumer participation in recycling electronics, similar to the way 1970’s redemption laws dramatically impacted bottle and can recycling.

e-waste is the fastest growing segment of our national and global waste streams. the average u.s. household now owns 26 different consumer electronic devices for a staggering total of nearly three billion devices, many no longer wanted but still in working condition. unfortunately, no previously existing systems have inspired mass consumer participation in responsible recycling of these devices and the majority enters our landfills as toxic e-waste. over time, this e-waste breaks down and can release a variety of toxins into the water table including cadmium, lead, mercury, and arsenic. these toxins can then enter our water supply and eventually our oceans.

united states (u.s.) retailers will sell over $200 billion of new consumer electronics this year according to the consumer electronics association, while during the same period nearly $25 billion of used, but still valuable, electronics will be retired to u.s. drawers and closets and eventually our landfills.

e-waste is a very complex and rapidly growing problem worldwide. solving this problem on a large scale involves creating an eco-system of the required stakeholders to collaborate together on a solution. it requires the collaboration of the oems who make the devices, the retailers who sell them, and the consumers who buy and retire them. given the enormous underserved worldwide demand for used mobile phones and other electronics and the enormous and growing stockpile of these devices cluttering the homes of us consumers, ecoatm recognized a rare opportunity to build a huge sustainable enterprise which benefits consumers, retailers, oems and the environment alike.

ecoatm’s genesis occurred in an august 2008 coffee shop discussion when founder mark bowles reviewed a nokia survey indicating that only three percent of consumers worldwide were recycling used phones. realizing that one billion mobile phones shipped annually, mark set out to develop a system that would finally meet the consumer threshold required to inspire mass participation in electronics recycling. the answer soon emerged: consumers must be presented a convenient recycling option within their everyday path (grocery, malls, big-box retail), and it must provide incentive in the form of instant cash. the automated, self-serve kiosk concept was born.

ecoatm’s solution is to use advanced technologies to solve the e-waste problem created by technology itself. the basic technologies of machine vision, artificial intelligence, and robotics that ecoatm uses have existed for many years, but none have been applied to the particular problem of consumer recycling. however, ecoatm has done much more than just apply existing technology to an old problem. we were challenged to developed significant innovations within each of those existing basic technologies in order to make the system commercially viable.

don’t throw them away, says frank grazzini of eversafe recycling. there are some hazardous chemicals in many consumer electronics that should be processed. plus, some of the precious metals and plastics, in circuit boards for example, can be melted and reused.
frank showed us around his shop where he dismantles equipment before sending it back into the manufacturing stream.

on a cold, dreary sunday afternoon, 641 vehicles drove through the whitman high school parking lot to drop off tons of e-waste for recycling. a big shout out to the whitman green team for helping move traffic and unloading cars.