A question we get asked quite a bit is…
Why do you charge for this service when “XYZ” is offering the same thing for free?
Why don’t I just take my e waste there?
Besides, don’t you recover costs from the computers you recycle?
The recoverable material extracted by the recycling plants is minimal, and doesn’t cover the complete “Resource Recovery” process.
The complete “Resource Recovery” process includes more than just extracting the precious metals from the circuit boards, where the limited value is found, it also deals with the safe and effective processing of the dangerous chemicals found in all electrical components.
There are substantial costs involved in processing these chemicals, and the value recovered from the precious metals only goes part way to covering the costs.
Some of the chemicals that need to be safely processed:
Fire retardants for plastics:
- TBBA – tetrabromo-bisphenol-A
- PBB – polybrominated biphenyls
- PBDA – polybrominated diphenyl ethers
- PVC – polyvinyl chloride
Heavy metals:
- Arsenic – Light emitting diodes
- Barium – Getters in CRT
- Beryllium – Silicon controlled rectifiers (power supplies)
- Cadmium – Batteries, CRT Screens, Inks & Toners
- Chromium VI – Data tapes, Floppy discs
- Lead – CRT Screens, Batteries, PCB
- Lithium – Li-batteries
- Mercury – Early LCD monitors
- Nickel – Batteries, CRT electron Gun
- Rear earth elements (Yttrium, Europium) – CRT Screen (Fluorescent layer)
- Selenium – Older photo drums
- Zinc Sulphide – Interior of CRT Screens
The list goes on, but these are the most common toxins found in your electronics.
All of these chemicals have been going into landfill, where they sit for many years, but eventually leak out into the land and waterways ultimately affecting the flora & fauna we depend on.
This is now becoming a global concern and many business operations have been setup to deal with the onslaught of this waste.
Therein lies another problem.
It takes vast quantities of waste to keep these plants operational, and New Zealand by its self does not generate enough.
Hence, we need to store & export this waste.
This is the underlying reason we need to charge for the service.
We need to locally separate the waste into waste streams for local recycling and international recycling.
Locally recyclable materials
- Metal
- Aluminium
- Some plastics
- Copper Wire
- Front CRT Glass
Exported recyclable material
- Rear CRT Glass
- Circuit Boards
- Some Plastics
The cost of freight is substantial
If another business offers to recycle your electronics for free, ask yourself where they are saving on expenses?
1. Administration?
2. Storage?
3. Freight?
4. Paid recycling services?
Often businesses are extracting the limited value from the e-waste they collect and dumping the rest in landfill.
There are laws being put in place to stop the dumping of electronic waste in landfill, but as with all laws, they will take time to be finalised and actioned.
Our advice is that before taking your electronics to someone who offers to recycle for free you:
Ask what happens with your electronics once received by them
Ask if any of it ends up in landfill and if so what exactly they are discarding in the landfill
Make sure they are using safe practices in dismantling
Question who the recycled items are going to for processing
If you have any questions about the answers you receive and want to make sure that you’re making the best decision, feel free to contact us.
