A Crystal Clear Perception of Hazardous Waste Hierarchy

Hazardous waste management in the UK has been a major concern of the government and its concerned departments. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the Government of the UK have prepared a ‘Waste Hierarchy’ to ensure safe and green IT disposal. The hierarchy flow-chart includes methods of prevention, reuse and recycling guidelines, and WEEE compliant recovery and disposal options. The business owners across the country are encouraged to follow this hierarchy religiously and only resort to eco-friendly methods for disposal of their worn-out IT equipments. One easy way to act in the legally permissible manner is to have recourse to third party agencies that act in accordance with the exciting rules. However, a clear cut understanding of the waste hierarchy is also important. Here below is a brief rundown.

Understanding the hierarchy

The hazardous waste pecking order includes five stages. These stages are:

• Prevention: Manufacturers are advised to use less hazardous materials while making the IT equipments. They should also run ‘computer recycling’ programs for encouraging their patrons to reuse and recycle their used IT equipments and implement best practices.
• Preparation for reuse: The computer users ought to check, clean, repair, and refurbish the IT equipments they use on a day-to-day basis. They should use IT equipment towards the end of its life cycle and should not look for disposal options before these equipments reach their End-of-Life (EoL).
• Recycling: Computer manufacturers and users should look for scopes for turning hazardous substances into reusable products. The users need to get in touch with the independent IT disposal companies or government departments to get their overworked and redundant IT equipments. Composition of knackered IT equipments is also recommended wherever possible.
• Recovery options: The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has also prescribed several recovery options such as gasification, pyrolysis (in order to produce heat, fuel and power), anaerobic digestion, back filling and energy recovery incineration etc.
• Disposal: Only materials that are not scheduled as ‘Hazardous’ can be filled in landfill areas along with municipal parts. However, none of the computer parts and peripherals falls in this category.

What does the Waste Hierarchy Mean in Practice?

How you can be a part of the nationwide movement for disposing of IT equipments and the WEEE prescribed computer disposal practices. You can just call a computer disposal agency and ask them for taking away the redundant IT equipments that might have been piled up in your office storeroom. You should check, however, whether the agency is permitted to collect the e-waste. Inspection of their modus operandi is imperative. If you are on a lookout for a similar agency, you should just go on the internet and look for these agencies online.

Try to be the change you want in this world

As a global citizen, you might have envisioned a greener and better planet at some point of time. But have you played your part yet? What are the changes that you can bring in your organization for safe and green IT disposal? Here below is a quick checklist for you to putting the hazardous waste hierarchy into practice.

• Check what type of waste your company produces. You need to act purposefully so that your business deals with hazardous waste in the eco-friendly way.
• You need to find out whether there is more scope to send hazardous waste to a computer recycling agency.
• You need to test out whether the e-waste materials produced by your organization could be sorted in a better manner.

If you can lay emphasis on these areas, your business will definitely grow as a green and responsible one and you can set an example for others. It all starts right from your doorstep.

Computer recycling Regulations across the Globe

The problem of increasing e-waste is a major concern of the governments of all the countries dotted across the global map. All the statespersons are keen to resolve the problem and several laws and other guidelines have been implemented and prescribed in the past to make the planet a greener and more beautiful one. The process is continuous and researches are on track to find out more feasible solutions. It is a good thing that governments are fast responding to the call of the hour and this is why several rules and regulations have been devised across the world to ensure green computer recycling. Let’s take a brief look at these governing laws.

Eco-friendly recycling laws in Europe  

Back in 1991, in Switzerland, the first e-waste recycling system was initiated. At first, used refrigerators were used to be collected. Gradually, other electrical and electronic devices were added to the system. SWICO was the responsible organization for collecting processing these e-wastes. The EU put into action a new law in 2003 under the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Directive). The directive got implemented in the whole of Europe gradually and Italy and the United Kingdom were the last to join the league. Success rate of this computer disposal regulation varies largely from one country to another. Some countries have been able to collect and recycle 1 kilogram of e-waste per annum per capita whereas some other countries collecting 13 kilogram of electronic waste per annum per capita.

Eco-friendly recycling laws in the United States

US Federal Laws: Numerous e-waste bills are considered by US States Congress. The National Computer recycling Act which was implemented by Congress member Mike Thompson plays a pivotal role in this regard. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act 1976 is another mainstay of US e-waste recycling mechanism. However, the bylaw is intended for recycling CRT monitors only. The state regulations slightly differ from this.

US State Laws: All the states of America have different governing rules and regulations for ensuring green computer disposal. Most of these legislations address the issues from bigger perspectives. Back in 200, the Arkansas Computer and Electronic Solid Management Act was put into action. Many other states have different governing rules for safe and green IT disposal. 

Eco-friendly recycling laws in Asia

It is mandatory in Japan for manufacturers and sellers to recycle their manufactured products (e.g. AC machines, refrigerators, televisions) in an Eco-friendly manner. However, at present there are no governing rules mandating recycling computers and mobile phones. In Taiwan and South Korea, the manufacturers and sellers of electronic and electrical equipments need to recycle at least 75% of their manufactured products.

Eco-friendly recycling laws in Australia

Electronic Waste has been a major headache of the Australian Government since 90s of the last century. The Environment Protection and Heritage Council first identified the environmental issues that are pertaining to improper computer disposal. In 2009, a definite law came into action. New Zealand gave nod to Basel Convention recommendation back in 1994. Their recycling laws are primarily based on the directive only.

E-waste recycling laws in Africa

The computer recycling laws are very loose which gives way to illegal dumping. Countries like Nigeria and South Africa are coming forward to ban and prevent e-waste export to Africa. The UN is also taking preventive measures.

Avoid Generating Hazardous Trash By Choosing Computer Recycling

The Confusion Veering Computer Disposal

Modern computer users often get puzzled about the right process of IT disposal by the dichotomous opinions of experts. Thus, half of the pile of trash ends up inside locked, unused cupboards and garbage cans installed outside the properties while the rest undergoes an eco-friendly processing. It is only rare that a neat layout of the appropriate disposal process has been offered to iron out all creases of befuddlement. This is where all the computer waste mismanagement stems from. This article aims to simplify the process and resolve issues pertaining to electronic waste disposal and recycling.

   

A computer is not likely to be disposed in its whole state. It is dismantled, with  parts extracted out before they are done away with. Fragmentation is necessary because each part requires a different sort of processing for computer recycling and disposal.

Disposing Hard Disks Properly

There has been cases in the past where computers discarded have been subjected to serious hacking. Data breaches, cyber attacks and identity theft are common consequences of data leakage and hacking. The hard disks of the decommissioned computers are the components that support infiltration. If you do not want your private and sensitive data to fall in the wrong hands, then make sure that the data has been wiped clean from the memory of the device.

• Hire certified services to shred or melt the data. The service providers employ different techniques like sending electromagnetic shocks, drill holes, hammer the disk, etc. to make sure that the inside data is not retrievable at all.
• You can also use software for complete deletion of the data to enable recycling. The companies overwrite the data randomly for more than 7 times until no trace of the previously existing data remains. What’s better and different about this process is that the hard disks will still be in their reusable form.
• If you mean to maintain a backup while deleting the hard disk clean, then you can opt for an efficient drive duplicator. These software actually delete data while saving them up in a different location to ensure both computer disposal and data preservation.

Safe Disposal of Computer Batteries

Computer batteries contain toxic substances that can harm the environment potentially. So, it is of utmost importance to discard them correctly so that they are not left open in dump grounds and waste lands. 75% of these batteries are recyclable. Hence, disposing them off and let the lithium-ion compounds harm the ecology is not fair.

• Accumulate all the batteries
• Contact the municipal authority of your locality
• Find a environment-friendly computer recycling company and surrender the batteries in safe hands

Watch It

• Do not burn computer batteries
• Do not store old batteries in your home with metals and other batteries as the combination can be inflammable
• Go overboard to ascertain that every shred of data has been deleted from the system

Proper and Accepted Norms for Computer disposal

At times when computers and other IT equipments become worn out, it becomes a major headache for the owners on how to get rid of them. For business owners, the problem is even more intense. As because they own a good number of computers and peripherals, the heap of non-functional IT equipments becomes a major concern for them and they look for innovative yet legally compliant computer disposal solutions. The issue of recycling and disposal of old computers is not so intricate on the face of it. But when it comes to complying with the existing standards and rules and regulations, the task is a daunting one. What are the accepted norms of disposal of IT equipments? Why are they appropriate in this global environmental scenario? Let’s discover.

WEEE Directives and the Implication

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipments) guidelines are considered as a whole the most accepted norm for IT disposal in the UK and all other European countries. As per WEEE, you must dispose of the computer parts and peripherals through legitimate government bodies or authorized independent organizations. You cannot just throw of the worn out equipments in landfill areas. It bedevils the environment and the humankind as a whole in various manners. What are the adverse environmental effects?

Ill effects of improper disposal

Improper disposal of hazardous IT equipments contaminates the soil and water to a large extent. these parts and peripherals of computers contain myriad of toxic materials such as lead, cadmium, aluminum that contaminate the environment and partaking contaminated foods and beverages can cause incurable and fatal diseases. Studies have shown that improper IT disposal gave rise to diseases like lung cancer, skin cancer, bladder cancer, kidney cancer, prostate cancer, liver cancer, nasal cancer, stillbirths and many more diseases. The respective governments of different European countries, therefore, came forth to implement stringent regulations to prevent these issues.

Citizens’ responsibility

You part, as a responsible citizen, is to call a computer disposal agency and entrust your used and computers and peripherals to them. You must thoroughly check whether a disposal and recycling agency properly follows the guidelines and execute disposal tasks within the set and accepted guidelines. You must also check whether the agency adheres to the EPA 1990 guidelines. Reputable recycling agencies are like consortiums of environmentalists, lawyers and recycling strategists who put in their collaborative efforts towards recycling and disposal of client computers.

For finding a dependable computer disposal agency, you need to go on the web, do a fair amount of research and find company websites. You should then call or mail each of the companies t check and ensure whether they comply with the basic guidelines for disposal and recycling accepted all across the Europe, US and the rest of the world as well.