Old devices tend to pile up and eat up physical storage space, but you can’t just throw them in the bin. E-waste poses a significant environmental threat if not disposed of responsibly.
E-waste can contain hazardous materials, such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and brominated flame retardants. These can harm the environment and human health.
Here are some tips to responsibly get rid of e-waste at your home or office:
- Understand what makes up e-waste
- Reduce your e-waste
- Use e-waste recycling centres
- Consider donating or selling functioning devices
- Dispose of batteries separately
- Manufacturers often offer take-back programs
- Opt for certified e-waste recyclers - Symetri can put you in touch with a few.
- Educate your staff or household members
- Repurpose or upcycle.
- Encourage manufacturer responsibility.
Author
Richard Huggins
Richard joined us in 1997 as an apprentice IT engineer conducting on-site installations of CAD workstations and Microsoft and Novell network environments. After a brief spell away to travel the world, he returned to work on our helpdesk supporting our CAD customers. In 2007, Richard was promoted to Support Services Manager and worked in this role until 2016 when he decided to acquire new skills and widen his IT industry knowledge and left to work as an Operational Manager for one of the UK’s Top 20 leading Information Security companies. In 2019 Richard once again returned to Symetri as Head of Support and Customer Success to further improve the Symetri customer support experience and is now responsible for the IT Solutions division.
