Blog | Clear It Waste

How To Dispose Of Electronics In The UK

admin — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 12:00:12 +0000

In the UK we are a nation of hoarders. Many of us are unwilling to bin unused items that we have a staggering £48 billion worth of belongings hidden away in our homes, according to research by eBay – not to mention, a typical household hoarding items worth £1,784. So, to de-clutter your home and cash-in on your old electronics, you may be wondering how to dispose of electronics in the UK.

There are some easy options available to you when disposing of electronics:

Pass it onto friends or family
Find an online/offline trade-in service
Sell it online via eBay, Gumtree or Shpock etc.
Sell via social media (e.g. Facebook Marketplace, Depop etc.)
Re-use it
Give to charity (e.g. a women’s refuge centre or homeless centre)
Recycle it

Photo credit: vladdon / Shutterstock

Cash-in on your old electronics

Instead of recycling your old electronics, you may want to earn some extra money quickly by trading in your items in exchange for money or a voucher. There are a number of trade-in websites and shops, including CeX and Cash Converters, which can be found on most local high streets and in close proximity to main towns. Depending on where you go, companies accept a range of items including kitchen appliances (toasters, microwaves etc.), old laptops, desktop computers, games consoles and, most commonly, mobile phones.

If convenience isn’t that important to you, you can get significantly more for your old electronics by selling them yourself. You can do this by selling online via websites like eBay, Gumtree or Shpock, or even social media such as Facebook Marketplace, Instagram or Depop – this may even bag you some more cash in the bank as you’re cutting out the middleman.

If you want to sell your electronic device, you must ensure that all of your personal information is wiped to avoid your data getting into the hands of the wrong people. The last thing you need is someone stealing your details and committing fraud. As a result, to reset your old electronic devices read this article on how to get personal data off your devices.

– What if my old electronic device is broken?

Most trade-in companies tend to offer one price for a fully functioning device and another if it’s damaged but still meets certain criterion – this is usually significantly lower than a working item.
Therefore, if your phone is cracked, your laptop has given up the ghost or your Xbox is beyond repair, you can still earn some money from your old electronics. This is because used gadgets are often refurbished or broken down into small components and sold individually to be reused in other electronic items or recycled be created into a brand-new component.

However, if your old electronic device is not worth refurbishing or stripping, there are some companies that will help you to dispose of electronics in a safe and environmentally friendly way. At Clear It Waste, we are able to help you with your WEEE disposal.

How to recycle electronics

It is vital that you never throw old electronic gadgets away. Of course you can get rid of your old electronic devices, but never place them directly into your bin to be sent to landfill. By doing this, your old electronics may leak hazardous and toxic chemicals into the soil, thus contaminating the land. As a result, it is vital to dispose of electronics properly to ensure this doesn’t happen.

Recycling of WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) is a specialist part of the waste and recycling industry. Therefore, to ensure that your old electronics are recycled responsibly, you should follow the WEEE guidelines carefully.

According to Gov.uk, televisions, laptops, tablets and mobile phones with screens must be disposed of carefully and safely. This is because some components inside the electronic items are hazardous – lead, mercury and other substances can leech from old monitors and circuit boards – which means you are putting potentially toxic materials into the ground which can negatively affect people’s health as well as wildlife too.

Some hazardous components can include the following:

Activated glass
Phosphors
CRT
Fluorescent backlight
Printed circuit boards containing nickel
Capacitors
Ni-Cd batteries for portable devices

Photo credit: Gwoeii / Shutterstock

– Which parts of a gadget can be recycled?

We think of electronics as holistic devices so we’re sometimes not aware of what they are comprised of. Around 80% of a phone is recyclable for instance, so even if you have spare parts lying around, chances are they can be recycled. Specifically, the following parts can be recycled:

Batteries – Most gadget batteries are made from Lithium Ion and are recycled in an oxygen-free mechanical process that separates it into its core elements of cobalt and lithium salt concrete, stainless steel, copper, aluminium and plastic.
Bezel – The bezel of a gadget refers to any metal, plastic or other materials covering the exterior that doesn’t include its glass screen. These can be very valuable to sell, but by recycling you are also doing your bit in helping to be eco-friendlier!
PCB boards (main boards) – These are the parts of electronics that look like a maze of wires and metal buttons, and they can be re-used if the materials are effectively extracted.
Memory chips – Any gadget with a memory chip has the potential to be valuable. When extracted, materials that can be yielded include mercury, lead, iron, silver and even gold.

– What is the process for recycling electronic components?

The method of recycling components varies for each local recycling plant, so it is important to speak to your local recycling centre to be sure. As a general rule of thumb, most places include the following:

Collection – Once you’ve agreed on a price for your old electronics or electronic components with the recycling company, you will then send them off.
Shredding – Your electronic devices and components are shredded into small pieces to allow for more precise separation its components.
Sorting and separating – A powerful magnet can separate any valuable metals from waste streams on a conveyor, allowing the useful materials to be reused/sold in the future.

If you are worrying about how to dispose of electronics safely in your local area, it is best to check your local council’s rules to find out what can be recycled, to avoid unintentionally recycling the wrong items. You can check this out via the Recycle Now website, which gives you detailed information about what you should and shouldn’t do, as well as a list of the best places to dispose of your electronic goods nearest to your location.

Which European country produces the most e-waste per household?

To find out which European country produces the most e-waste per household, we utilised e-waste data from the Global E-Waste Statistics Partnership and household composition data from the United Nations to identify who produces the most e-waste on average per household each year.

We found that Norwegians are the biggest culprits in Europe when it comes to e-waste, as the average amount generated per household is 57kg annually.

The UK is in second position as British households are guilty of producing 55kg of e-waste per year.

Irish households produce an average of 52.4kg of e-waste every year and therefore are in third spot. Whilst in fourth place is Switzerland who generate 51.5kg of e-waste per household.

Other European countries whose households produce more than 45kg of e-waste include

Spain (49.4kg)
Netherlands (47.5kg)
Cyprus (47kg)
France (46.2kg)
Luxembourg (45.4kg)

At the other end of the scale is Moldova who generate the least amount of e-waste in Europe, at an average of 11.6kg per household each year. Coming after Moldova is Ukraine, with the country producing an average of 19.3kg of e-waste per household.

Feature image credit: charles taylor / Shutterstock

Ways To Dispose Of Used Office Furniture

admin — Wed, 17 Feb 2016 11:51:14 +0000

Every now and then we change the office furniture due to a variety of reasons that leaves us with junk items such as furniture and equipment. If left unattended, these items land up in junkyards and increase the waste that reaches the landfill. You can either take help from waste removal companies to sort this out for you or use the following tips to dispose of the used furniture properly.

Create an inventory

Having clear information of the furniture you want to dispose of can save you and the rubbish removal vendors a lot of precious time. You can also minimise headaches and miscommunications caused due to poor planning. The best way to start is to use a standard spreadsheet to record the office inventory. Start building a list from there and later collate the data of the furniture that needs to be removed.

Prepare a plan of action

Having account of the used furniture is not enough. You also need to take vendor relations, safety on-site, budgets and other such factors that can affect the outcome of the overall project. Going into this unplanned can lead to waste of time and effort, logistical disruptions, landfill fines and fees, environmental hazard etc. Since most of these risks are connected with one another, they may be hard to avoid without proper processes.

Work with reliable vendors only

Once you have the stock of items that you want to dispose of from your office , the next most important step is to hire a waste removal company that is reliable and works in accordance with local laws. You can ask for recommendations and also validate the industry certification as a part of your due diligence. Once you have a list of vendors, you can ask for a quote.

The success of your project depends a lot on your vendor so choose carefully!

Maintain Your Office – Have The Waste Removed

admin — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 05:59:55 +0000

Most of the offices generate a load of waste through regular official activities. Before the advent of computers, the waste used to be mainly paper, carbon paper, typewriter ribbons etc. Now, there is a new dimension to office waste – electronic waste. Apart from waste paper, cardboard boxes and others, computer monitors, keyboards, mouse, power chords, RAMs, removable storage media, defunct hard disk, printers, scanners etc make up a bulk of office waste. While waste paper can just make the office dirty, the electronic waste can make the environment toxic. To maintain the look and the environment inside the office you have to go for regular and comprehensive office clearance to get rid of waste.

Mode of office clearance

Recycling

All the cardboard containers and shredded paper can be handed over to recycling agencies. These companies recycle paper and cardboard to produce new paper and cardboard respectively.

Toxic waste removal

Electronic waste cannot be recycled completely; some of it must be dumped in landfills. However, the WEEE norms stipulate that at least 4 Kg of material should be recovered from such junk per person per year. For this, you have to hire agencies that remove waste according to WEEE guidelines.

Permanent destruction of sensitive data

Many of the fixed and removable storage media may contain a lot of sensitive data. Such data must be safeguarded lest these should be taken over by unscrupulous elements. This is where office clearance is different from other waste clearance. Before clearance of waste from your office you have to ensure that all the sensitive data has been permanently deleted from such removable media.

How To Make Your Office Eco-Friendly

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 07:09:25 +0000

Offices are big consumers of energy and consumables like paper, ink, staples etc. Therefore, eco-friendly initiatives must include offices to bring about a perceptible change. To make your office eco-friendly, you must ensure that the use of consumables is restricted and the energy consumption is minimal. This also brings down the need for office clearance services in London and therefore helps in minimising the impact on the environment.

Reducing paper waste

Shredded paper constitutes about 40% of office waste. If you can reduce this wastage, you can help your office go green. There is so much you can do to reduce paper wastage.

Put a leash on supply of paper

If you put a leash on the supply of paper, your employees will become mindful of every piece of it. This will help in bringing down the instances of faulty printing, and reduce paper waste.

Reduce dependence on paper

Go digital and reduce your dependence on paper. Update your mailing list so that you do not need to send letters to new entities.

Switch off office machinery

Office machinery like computers, fax machines, printers, photocopiers etc consumes huge power even when these are on standby mode. Not only that but if kept in standby mode regularly, these machines can get overworked and get damaged. Damaged machines may require fitting of new parts or a replacement of the whole machine with a new one. This will increase the load on office clearance services and therefore on the environment. To stop this, you must ensure that machines are switched off if they are not in use for more than 10 minutes. This will help your office go eco-friendly.

Benefits Of Using E Waste Disposal

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 10:07:53 +0000

All the domestic and commercial waste needs to be collected and disposed off responsibly so that it least harms the environment. However, special care must be taken for some special waste such as E-waste. Electronic and electrical waste such as television sets, computers, printers, scanners, pen drives, dysfunctional ovens, refrigerators, washing machines etc are hazardous waste and need to be disposed off by the route meant for toxic and hazardous waste disposal. However, such waste can be recycled to some extent and needs to be recycled as per WEE norms, which states that at least 4 kg of material should be recovered from such waste per year per person. Non adherence to these may invite penalties. It is better to handover the task of collection and disposal of E-waste to E-waste disposal services for your electronic rubbish removal services in London.

They are equipped with data destruction equipment

Electronic waste such as computers, hard disks and other storage medium, removable storage medium etc may contain official secrets or videos, images or documents related to your family or assets. These may be extracted by unscrupulous elements and used with ulterior motives. For this, is it essential that data in such devices is destroyed before rubbish clearance in London takes action. E waste disposal services have people who are experts and experienced in data destruction.

Separating the hazardous and toxic material

Electronic waste like televisions and computers contain various parts made of various metals and other elements. Separating these elements is a complex task and only E-waste disposal companies are equipped to deal with this.