Electronics contain more valuable scrap metal than we realize. It all begins with the materials used in these products before the cover goes on. Metals like aluminum, silver, brass, copper, neodymium, dysprosium, praseodymium, terbium, gadolinium, lanthanum, and gold are used. These have excellent thermal and electrical conductivity and resistance to corrosion which are needed in electronics production.
After your electronics stop working or become obsolete what happens to the leftover materials that remain? What if you were told that money is paid for recycling scrap metal? As well, you save on storage, and are helping to create a healthier environment and reduce landfill.
Metals are valuable; they can be recycled repeatedly without any damage to their properties. Aluminum and steel top the list as the most recycled materials in the world. This puts scrap metal at a very high value.
The financial incentive off recycled metal is not all there is; there is the environmental imperative, which includes preserving our planet through the use of less energy to produce more products from the same metals. Creating new products from virgin raw materials does use a lot more energy than using recycled materials. Manufacturing costs are reduced by using recycled inputs, and more money can be made. While on the environment, less carbon dioxide and hazardous gases are emitted when recycled metal is used.
Yet, several challenges still rock recycling companies like Kelowna Recycling who are involved in collecting electronics and metal scrap. For example, why is the metal recycling rate still around 34% when almost every kind of metal available can be recycled? This may be because of a lack of information. Many companies do not know that metal pickups are an option.
Another challenge is that the design of some electronic products and the mixing of metals make recycling increasingly difficult. For example, recycling smartphones is tough – with over 70 different elements combined in its production; separating and reusing them is almost impossible.
We’re here to Help
Give the team at Kelowna Recycling a call and we’ll provide plenty of information on what can and can’t be recycled. We provide onsite bins for metal and other construction scraps, and convenient pickups throughout the South Okanagan. Call us and find out more!