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Have you ever thought what happens to the e-waste that you throw away? If you dispose of them in the trash, your old stuff ends up in a landfill. But if you choose to recycle, the stuff you threw yesterday could end up back in a store. In the U.S. recycling has become a need as the population and amount of e-waste generated continues to grow in volumes. The huge growth of consumer electronics has led to an ever-expanding surge of end-of-life electronics that must be recycled. These e-waste materials if not recycled can pose to be an environmental and health hazard. Recycling e-waste creates a lot of jobs for people involved in professional refurbishing and recycling in the U.S. and all over the globe. In the waste and recycling industry, jobs provide desirable benefits such as flexible work hours, bonuses, education and training opportunities as well as opportunities for advancement in the field. Some of them provide health insurance to their drivers, mechanics, and welders. There are many positions that are available in the electronic recycling industry for Electronic Recycling Professionals. Let’s take a look at the positions below.

Core opportunities refer to the opportunities offered by companies to collect and manage waste and recyclables. At Surplus Service we hire drivers, helpers, technicians, maintenance crewmembers, facility maintenance, and upkeep staff, welders, heavy equipment operators, materials processors. Core opportunities also refer to people who oversee the core activities of the company such as supervisors and managers. In the U.S. there is an expanding need for Environmental Experts to provide sustainable waste management practices. These positions range from environmental scientists, engineers, biologists, geologists, civil engineers to soil experts. These environmental experts also help to provide groundbreaking environmental technology and solutions which are then executed by hazardous materials experts, landfill gas operators and gas technicians.

At Surplus Service, we have an able, diligent, passionate and resourceful team of environmental experts who help us deliver the best e-waste recycling solutions that lead to higher sustainability reuse and disposal of electronics rather than simply recycling them or sending them to the landfill. There are multiple people from various backgrounds who enter this industry, some of the career paths of these employees range from engineering, IT, procurement, accounting, human resources, operations management to sales and marketing. However, each position requires certain skills and requirements. For example, route managers are expected to have at least a bachelor’s degree or prior work experience in the areas of waste management.

electronics Recycling is always a good idea. Landfills are definitely not the place to pile up computers, laptops, tablets or mobile phones. Even now in the U.S., most electronics are not recycled. Make an environmental impact by electronic recycling before it reaches the landfill. Every business and organization must have strict policies in place for recycling e-waste. If your company has a strong e-waste policy, great.  If you think your boss does not feel strongly about the need for recycling electronics, you can break his misconceptions through this article. Read on.

Recycling is More Expensive than Disposal – According to the EPA, disposing of trash costs around $75-200 per ton while curbside recycling program costs as less as $50-150 per ton. Well designed recycling programs can be cost-effective when a large number of people decide to do it together.

Most Electronics Recycling Companies Throw away Electronics – One of the top misconceptions about the electronics recycling industry is that companies earn revenue through the charges that are levied to pick up the equipment and they don’t really recycle electronics. Ask your recycling company about their license and the process they follow to recycle electronics. At Surplus Service, we offer transparency and accountability in everything that we do.

Recycling E-Waste Wastes Energy – Recycling e-wastes conserves more energy than mining, manufacturing or lumber. The metals in electronics are present in their pure form and hence recycling the same makes more sense than investing the time and effort to create them from scratch from their original form. These metals are also important keys to the economy of the recycling industry.

Electronics are not Dangerous – Electronics are highly toxic and hence they require the right electronic recycler to recycle them in a responsible way. Did you know a laptop contains small traces of toxins such as antimony, arsenic, chromium, and lead which can cause real health problems if they are leached in an unsafe manner? Never try to self-dispose your e-waste. Find a professional e-waste management service provider such as Surplus Service who can help you find e-waste recycling solutions that lead to higher sustainability reuse

E-Waste Recycling isn’t Worth It – This is perhaps the most dangerous misconception about recycling e-waste. Cynics are of the opinion that it’s better to sell off e-waste for a lower value than recycle to conserve the environment. It is important for each individual to educate his peers or colleagues about the need for e-waste. Did you know in a recent report by the United Nations states that in five years, the world’s electronic waste would grow by 33% from 49.7 million tons to 65.4 million tons? Well, that’s the weight of 200 Empire State Buildings or 11 Great Pyramids of Giza (Tech Republic, 2014)

The explosive growth in the electronics industry has taken the world by a storm leading to a growing issue of end-of-life electronics. Toxic materials from these electronic devices like lead, cadmium, mercury are released into landfills which in turn pollute the environment and threaten the spread of harmful diseases to human and animal life. If these items are misused, chances are they can cause organ damage, neurological damage, and severe illness not only in the workers that handle them directly but also the people living in these communities. Recent reports in January 2019 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) states that e-waste is the fastest-growing waste stream in the world, with an estimated waste stream of 48.5 million tonnes in 2018. Considering this, there is an immediate need to educate people about responsible electronics recycling programs which can ensure disposal or reuse of electronics in an environmentally friendly manner.

About 50,000 dump trucks worth of electronics are sent by Americans to the recyclers each year. Not just that, you would be surprised to know that the U.S. produces more e-waste than any country in the world. Harmful and toxic materials such as lead and mercury can harm the people and the environment. At Surplus Service, we are on a mission to make the planet a sustainable place to live for the current generation as well as preserve the natural resources for the future generation. Our team is dedicated to environmentally safe and responsible ways of dismantling and recycling of e-waste.

Old electronics will always remain resourceful in terms of valuable metals like gold and copper. If more organizations, companies, and individuals practice the safe disposal of electronic recycling, the next generation of smartphones can be made from their predecessors. This can, in turn, lead to the decreased need for mining precious metals and rather focus on conserving finite resources. Currently, the Japanese model of recycling is inspiring the rest of the world with its significant national recycling efforts. With its sophisticated recycling technology in place, Japan ensures that e-waste is done right. About 100 major electronic waste facilities are available in Japan, including small, local and operating facilities. The Law for the Promotion of Effective Utilization of Resources was passed in 2001, which requires manufacturers to recycle goods and reduce the generation of waste.

By 2020, the number of connected devices is projected to grow to 31 billion. Recycling companies and environmental scientists are working on developing innovative technologies and solutions through which e-waste can be reused, reduced or disposed of safely. Did you know that scientists have developed carbon nanotube technology to filter out extremely low concentrations of rare earth elements? Extraction costs for mining will decrease as soon as these technologies become more widespread.

We all love our cell phones, tablets, and laptops. Don’t we? Most of us also love to replace these gadgets and upgrade them with the latest models. But, have you pondered over the thought where do all those older electronics end up once they are disposed of? About 30 to 50 million tons of electronic devices are tossed away every year around the world. Many of those devices today end up forgotten under the desks or end up in a landfill. The volume of e-waste is expected to rise by a whopping three to five percent as consumers demand more devices. Old gadgets still remain sources of precious and valuable materials like gold and copper. Recent research indicates that scientists are working on environmentally friendly options to extract these metals and use them in the future.

Did you know California leads the world in environmental policy? We at Surplus Service have taken a proactive role through our innovative contributions to e-waste recycling technology and solutions with our trademark UpcyclIT® solution in the Bay area. Our continued efforts towards e-waste recycling have earned us the Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award (GEELA) – California’s highest environmental honor. Our vision and mission have been to encourage small and big companies to adopt safe and environmentally friendly ways to dispose of e-waste through the smart use of technology. We are equipped with state of the art technology, methods, and processes to ensure your business gets the best e-waste recycling solutions that lead to higher sustainability reuse and disposal of your electronics rather than simply recycling them or sending them to the landfill.

Technology plays a vital role in improving e-waste methods around the world. A concept known as e-waste mining is proving to be beneficial to a number of countries by meeting their e-waste needs on one hand while creating jobs and economic benefits in the process on the other hand. Research by researchers at the Macquarie Graduate School of Management in Sydney, Australia and the State Key Joint Laboratory of Environment Simulation at Tsinghua University in Beijing in their journal Environmental Science and Technology proves that this idea is maybe profitable. In the U.S., the lack of comprehensive legislation on the federal level in regards to recycling e-waste continues to be a challenge for recyclers. One of the biggest challenges while dealing with e-waste is the design of the products is increasingly sophisticated and smaller, this increases the complexity in recovering precious & rare elements. Hence, the setup of recycling programs is extremely necessary to ensure people are able to deal with complicated products.