6 Facts About Electronic Waste

#1- It takes 539 lbs of fossil fuel, 48 lbs of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water to manufacture one computer and monitor.




#2- A large number of what is labeled as "e-waste" is actually not waste at all, but rather whole electronic equipment or parts that are readily marketable for reuse or can be recycled for materials recovery.


#3- Recycling 1 million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 U.S. homes in a year.


#4- For every 1 million cell phones that are recycled, 35,274 lbs of copper, 772 lbs of silver, 75 lbs of gold, and 33 lbs of palladium can be recovered.


#5- 80 to 85% of electronic products were discarded in landfills or incinerators, which can release certain toxics into the air.


#6- Only 12.5% of e-waste is currently recycled.


The key to this is to recycle. Most people use a cell phone for less than a year, and if those of us planning on buying a shiny new iPhone or Galaxy S5 can be convinced to recycle our old phones, we’d be doing the planet a huge favor. Our old phones can not only be used by others, but the cash we get from selling them can help fund our next purchase. At the same time, by selling or donating an old phone, we’re keeping it from adding to the rubbish in our landfills, and also enabling someone else to obtain an affordable phone. Hence, if you aren’t already practicing it, you should take an initiative to recycle old cell phones and other e-waste in your household.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-lesser-known-facts-about-e-waste-recycling-2012-10


https://www.dosomething.org/facts/11-facts-about-e-waste