Keeping up-to-date with the latest technology is important in business. You need computers to store your growing data.
Your sales staff may need laptops to process orders. Cell phones keep you in touch. Tablets can take digital signatures from clients – and the advances keep coming.
Getting new technology is easy. But your old technology cannot just be thrown out with the office trash. This is e-waste and it needs to be recycled.
Surprisingly, it seems that most people – possibly even most companies – have no idea where to recycle it. They may not have a clue where to start.
Even more surprisingly, most companies are not even aware that recycling e-waste can benefit their business – yours too. What are some of these benefits? Here are five:
Positively Impact the Environment
Every electronic device has something that can be recycled. Gold and copper are just two metals that can be recycled. Computer chips are often melted down to be remanufactured into new ones. This helps keeps resources maximized and costs down.
However, there are items that cannot be recycled, heavy metals, such as mercury and lead that can be harmful to the environment and humans sitting in a landfill. Recycling e-waste keeps these things out of the landfills.
How does all of this benefit your business? Customers and employees who are environmentally-conscious feel more a part of the solution if the people they do business with or work for are in the fight.
Contented Workers
Recycling e-waste is a responsible thing to do. People who are environmentally-conscious tend to have a healthy air of responsibility that has a tendency to work its way into other areas of life.
Imagine an environmentally-conscious employer, the air of responsibility magnifies ten-fold, and it is contagious. It can blossom throughout the company. It puts everyone on the same page.
In turn, an ethical company that keeps the environment involved in its decisions is be more likely to retain their employees, and that always benefits a business.
Improve the Company Brand
When people see your company brand, what words would come to their mind?
Your company brand is your company’s reputation, and there has been research to suggest that environmentally-committed companies perform better than others. Your current and future customers will stand by you.
In fact, many “green” businesses make it a practice of partnering almost exclusively with other green companies. They work well together. Customers can and do pick up on this. That too is a benefit for your business.
Clear the Clutter
Most of the time when new electronic equipment is purchased, the old devices are stuffed away into a corner of the building or cubicle or a shelf somewhere collecting dust.
Recycling these items will tidy up these areas, clearing office clutter and free up space for something that needs to be stored. This act alone can improve the work environment.
More importantly, recycling your e-waste will be environmentally-friendly. Decluttering and keeping the valuable precious metals in circulation, and the heavy metals out of the landfill.
Reduced Costs
If there is one thing that companies always have at the forefront of their business minds is the bottom line. Here is where recycling e-waste can work in your favor.
Most waste removal companies charge you by weight. So if it rains, and your trash dumpster is not covered, you could be paying for water weight.
Recycling, however, is less expensive – depending on your location, it might even be free. Shop around for a good recycling program that fits your business.
A Word About Data
One thing that people fear about recycling their e-waste is risking their data being swiped by a criminal. However, this fear is only justified if you do nothing to protect it.
The best way to handle your data prior to recycling is to simply erase the data. All devices are programmed with a function to restore the device to the factory defaults, the settings it came with when you obtained the device new.
Once the sensitive data has been removed or the device reset, it can then be recycled safely with no cause for fear. Some who want to make sure of this simply remove the hard drives from the devices that use them. There are also ways to clean solid state drives, like your flash drive. Through the manufacturer or your IT person, you should be able to find a way to make your device safe for recycling.
Summary
If you value benefits such as impacting the environment in a positive way, contented workers, a strong, reputable brand, clutter-free office space, and reduced costs, then you may want to think seriously about recycling your e-waste. The benefits will be far-reaching, all the way through to the environment.
