Recycle Laptops Safely and Responsibly
When it’s time for a new laptop, rather than unceremoniously sending your old one to the great motherboard in the sky, recycle it. This helps reduce e-waste by extracting precious metals like copper, silver, and gold, as well as plastic materials, for use in other electronic devices. It’s also an excellent way to help someone in need of a working computer. If your laptop still has some life left in it, consider donating it to a local or international non-profit organization, such as Human-I-T, World Computer Exchange, Computers With Causes, or Digitunity.
The biggest benefit of laptop recycling is that it cuts down on e-waste. When electronics end up in landfills, they can sit for years and leach toxic substances like barium, lithium, mercury, lead, and cadmium into the surrounding soil and water. This contaminates the environment and affects people and animals who live nearby.
When you recycle your laptop, the data that was stored on it is destroyed. This prevents sensitive information from being accessed in the future and helps to protect your privacy when shopping for a new laptop. It’s a good idea to wipe the hard drive of your old laptop before sending it off for recycling, or, if this isn’t possible, physically destroy the physical hard drive.
How to Recycle Laptops Safely and Responsibly
Another benefit of laptop recycling is that it saves energy. In fact, one million laptops recycled saves the amount of electricity needed to power 3,500 U.S. homes for a year. This is a huge impact on our environment, so make sure to recycle your laptop whenever you can.
The best way to recycle a laptop is to take it directly to the electronics retailer that sold it to you. Many large retailers, such as Best Buy and Staples, have extensive electronic recycling programs that allow you to bring in your unwanted laptops for free. In addition, most laptop manufacturers have their own takeback programs. If you purchased your laptop from Apple, for example, you can get credit for your unwanted device that can be applied toward a new one.
If you’re unable to sell or donate your laptop, then it’s essential to find a responsible and certified electronic recycler. Look for the E-Steward label on an electronic recycling company’s website, as this indicates that they meet the highest standards for e-waste management and recycling.
It’s also a good idea to wipe your laptop of all data before you send it off for recycling. This will ensure that any personal information you have on your laptop isn’t stolen in the process, such as passwords or bank account details. It’s also a good idea to backup any important files you want to keep before you do this, so that you can always access them later.
If your laptop isn’t able to be recycled or donated, it can be dismantled for the individual components. These can be used in other products, or sold to a manufacturer who can resell them as refurbished laptops. Some parts, such as the keyboard, monitor, and battery, are even reusable.