Where does it go? Personal electronics edition
Personal electronics like cell phones and laptops are, for many of us, as much a part of our daily lives as breathing. But regardless of your screentime habits, at some point even the trustiest of electronics will wear out, get dropped one too many times, or need an upgrade. When they do, Ridwell is ready to help you recycle them responsibly or (with a little luck and a few key steps) find them a new home where they can be reused!
We work hard to find incredible partners to accept recycled electronics in every area we serve. Today, we’ll take a peek at the operations of our Seattle electronics partner, 1 Green Planet, to show you what happens to electronics after they leave Seattle-area Ridwell bins. Brandon Vannoy, Owner of 1 Green Planet, was thrilled to show us how it all goes down. “1 Green Planet is extremely excited to support Ridwell with electronics recycling and are happy to help them achieve their lofty environmental goals. Being attached to such a remarkable organization helps us motivate our employees to be that much more aware of the positive affects our company can have on our most precious commodity – Our Planet EARTH!” We couldn’t agree more — let’s dive in!
Repair
One of the most impressive things about 1 Green Planet’s Operations is their commitment to reusing as much as possible, which is evident in their approach to processing. The minute items enter their warehouse, whether they’re from a personal drop-off or a massive load from a partner like Ridwell, they meticulously sort through the stash to ensure they set aside anything that can possibly be reused directly, or repaired for reuse. Down rows and rows of shelves, they carefully categorize items waiting for their turn to be fixed up by their team of skilled repair technicians.
Reuse
If an item doesn’t have individual resale value, at many recyclers it would end up as scrap. At 1 Green Planet, electronics such as chargers and adapters are batched up into gaylords (industry lingo for “gigantic cardboard box”) of similar items so that they have the highest likelihood of being resold on the used electronics market. The sight of box upon box of chargers, phones, tablets, and much more all sorted by brand or type not only looks cool, it’s a crucial part of maximizing the reuse potential of your recycled goods.Not all wire can be saved, and the work of aggregating wires and cables is both time consuming and generally not the most profitable work in the world of rehoming electronics. However, finding these items a second use in spite of the costs is certainly the right thing to do from an environmental standpoint.
On the subject of maximizing reusability, there are a few important steps you can take to boost the chances that your personal electronics will have another life as a phone or tablet for someone else to use.
First, call your carrier to request that your phone be unlocked. This makes it more likely that the phone can be reused because it can accept a SIM from another carrier.
Second, remove any passcodes, Face ID, or Touch ID locks from your phone. Here’s how on Android, and on iPhone.
Completely wipe your phone of all data. While the steps can be a bit different for specific phone models, here’s a good guide for wiping iPhones and Android phones.
Recycle
If these steps are not taken, or if your device is too damaged to be reused, it will instead be recycled for parts, glass, and scrap metals, which the team meticulously strips from the items they receive. These are sorted into their different components for recyclers downstream who can use them as raw materials to produce parts for new devices, or, at times, directly reuse them in electronics repair.
In the case of hard drives, these are sent through a special crusher that punctures the disk with a large, dense spike, which, if you ask us, is a pretty metal way to ensure your data privacy. Here’s a before and after:
Where you come in
It’s a sad fact that the sheer number of electronics consumed grows tremendously each year, yet the percent that get recycled has not kept pace. Our environment pays the price: each year, over 50 tons of mercury and 71 kilotons of BFR (brominated flame retardant)-treated plastics are released in undocumented e-waste around the globe. When electronics are recycled properly, we can both reclaim other valuable materials and keep these toxic contaminants out of our soil and water.
While this is big problem and taking a bite out of it is difficult, we’ve always believed that the small things matter — and the steps our community takes to recycle their electronics is the way we make our mark on it. The most important thing you can do to cut e-waste is to reduce, so hang on to those phones, readers, and tablets as long as they’re functional and have them repaired whenever possible. But if you’ve got old devices, cords, or printer cartridges hanging out in your desk drawers or closets, let us help you take care of them the right way. Ridwell picks portable electronics as well as cords, chargers, and printer cartridges up as two of our rotating featured categories, and we make sure they get into the hands of a great partner who prioritizes reuse.
And — one last way you can help cut ewaste — share this post with your technology-loving friends! Spread the word about what a big deal recycling e-waste is, and help even more of your community’s old electronics find a brighter future!
