E-waste is a popular, informal name for electronic products nearing the end of their “useful life.” Computers, Tablets, cell phones, video cameras, digital cameras, answering machines, photo copiers/ scanners,  radio’s, DVD players, tape players, televisions, VCRs, stereos, copiers, and fax machines are common electronic products that make up this category.  Things not included in e-waste are “white goods” such as washer & dryers, dish washers, refrigerators, freezers & waste compactors.  This is a completely different waste stream of its own.  Sometimes they also classify microwaves into the e-waste category while others lend it to go into the white goods classification. As far as we’re concerned the microwaves belong in the white goods category.

Our Company (URC) Unlimited Resources Corporation is your place to locate good used late model e-waste recycling equipment.  We always have shear shredders as well as cross belt and drum magnets to help with the separation of all different types of e-waste.  The most popular item to come along in the past several years is the four shaft shredders and we currently represent one of the best manufacturers of these in the world and that is the Raptor line of shredding equipment.  They make several different sizes & models of these four shaft shredders and each can be fitted with a custom built screen that will allow you to get the e-waste shred down to a consistent size before it exits the shredder.  This will allow for easier sorting once the e-waste has this more consistent size.  Of course all ferrous metals are easy to remove by using magnets, but the non-ferrous metals and the plastics generally require some sort of eddy current system to insure proper sorting of the rest of the materials.  We don’t sell used eddy current systems because generally when they are sold used they have major problems so we steer completely clear of these used machines.  We would be able to offer you new eddy current systems @ a fair price.

Several important facts about e-waste everyone should know:
1. Did you know that currently 80 to 85% of electronic products are discarded in landfills or incinerators, which can release certain toxins into the air?
2. Did you know that E-waste represents 2% of America’s trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste?  The extreme amount of lead in electronics alone causes damage in the central and peripheral nervous systems, the blood and the kidneys.
3. Did you know that 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste are disposed worldwide every year?
4. Did you know cell phones and other electronic items contain high amounts of precious metals like gold or silver? Americans dump phones containing over $60 million in gold/silver every year.
5. Did you know that only 12.5% of e-waste is currently recycled?
6. Did you know that for every 1 million cell phones that are recycled, 35,274 lbs. of copper, 772 lbs. of silver, 75 lbs. of gold, and 33 lbs. of palladium can be recovered.
7. Did you know that recycling 1 million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 U.S. homes in a year?
8. Did you know that E-waste is still the fastest growing municipal waste stream in America, according to the EPA?
9. Did you know that a large percentage of what is labeled as “e-waste” is actually not waste at all, but rather whole electronic equipment or parts that are readily marketable for reuse or can be recycled for materials recovery.
10. Did you know that it takes 539 lbs. of fossil fuel, 48 lbs. of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water to manufacture one computer and monitor?
11. Did you know that electronic items that are considered to be hazardous include, but are not limited to: Televisions and computer monitors that contain cathode ray tubes, LCD desktop monitors, LCD televisions, Plasma televisions, Portable DVD players with LCD screens?

Much of the e-waste worldwide that comes from mainly the well developed countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Korea, and many European countries ends up being disposed of in either China, West Africa, or India.  These countries are quickly becoming some of the most highly contaminated lands in the world because they are allowing many different types of hazardous materials to be dumped and stored at these sites and thus they are endangering the health and welfare of whole communities by this action.  All these developed countries have treaties to prevent this type of e-waste disposal but each one is still leaning toward the cheapest method of disposal, not the most environmentally friendly methods.  And many innocent people from all these countries will continue to die for many years to come even if the whole world began doing the right thing immediately because much of the land in these countries has already been so heavily contaminated with extremely high levels of lead and other harmful toxins that have leached out of these improperly discarded e-wastes products over the past 20-30 years.

So next time you feel the need to have the latest, greatest new electrical device in the world remember that how and where you do dispose of your old device really makes a difference.  Make sure that the company that you choose does properly dispose of your device in an environmentally friendly manner.  Let’s each do everything possible to keep our world safe for our kids, grandkids and for future generations yet to be born.  Our company URC encourages everyone to recycle and please make sure that it is being done in as environmentally friendly manner as possible.  Call Ann @ 660-295-4204 for any questions that you might have about e-waste recycling equipment.  Our company specializes in used Recycling Equipment sales and we take pride in our work.  We also offer new Raptor equipment and offer shredders that are both two shaft and four shaft model machines.  So when you have the need for most any kind of recycling equipment don’t hesitate to give the “can-do crew” @ URC a call.  If we don’t know the answer then we will try our best to help you find the right people to talk to find the proper answer.