Moore’s Law Creating Computer & e-Waste Recycling Issue for Orlando FL Landfills

 

Inbuilt obsolescence and the pace of technical improvements in computer, cell phone, and IT equipment is leading to toxic landfill problems in cities like Orlando because of what’s known as e-Waste

 

 

In the opinion of Florida e-waste recycling experts Sensible Recycling, Moore’s Law, Intel Corporation co-founder Gordon Moore’s observation that computer chip density roughly doubles every 2 years has an alarming, less beneficial consequence for large tech-heavy cities like Orlando, Florida.

New, more capable chipsets lead to faster obsolescence of working computers, cell phones and the network server equipment that enables the interconnected world. As a result, businesses need to update their IT infrastructure frequently in order to compete in the fast-moving electronic economy, and in doing so, create massive stockpiles of old computing equipment known as e-waste that ends up in local landfills.

Orlando FL is the world’s best-known family tourist destination, but it is also home to one of America’s fastest-growing technical communities, which includes aerospace, computer chip, and finance companies. In addition, the low cost of living in Florida compared to California’s Silicon Valley, and its well-educated workforce is attracting a great number of new tech startups to the region which will only make the e-waste and computer recycling problem more acute for Orlando’s city hall in the future.

Aaron Enos, CEO of veteran owned and operated Sensible Recycling of Jacksonville FL notes “Public awareness of the dangers of electronic waste is pretty low. The sleek exteriors of smartphones, laptops and computer systems make it hard to envision them as dangerous, but underneath that outer shell there are materials like lead, cadmium, lithium and a host of other toxins that will eventually leak into groundwater.”

The most often used alternative to landfill is the incineration of these devices, but that only leads to toxic compounds like dioxins being released into the air. The fact of life firms and city halls are beginning to come to terms with is these materials have to be handled in a way that neutralizes the danger to the public and doesn’t simply swap groundwater pollution for air pollution in the waste handling process.

Fortunately, there is a wealth of recyclable materials in all electronic devices, and especially in equipment such as computers, disk drives and cell phones where there is a large number of chips on each printed circuit board. Recycling of copper and aluminum from e-waste is fairly obvious, commonplace and easy to do, but surprisingly, there is also more gold and silver per pound of compacted electronic waste than in the alluvial deposits of most commercial gold and silver mines. That simple fact is helping to create a market for ultra-low cost recycling options for businesses with aging IT infrastructures.

Enos adds “There is a solid enough business model in e-waste that it’s possible to offer a completely free, zero dollar service to any size of business. Devices are picked up for free then processed safely and securely, all free of charge. Witnessed and certified destruction services like hard drive shredding are also provided free of charge because there is enough money in the residual materials of a typical disk drive, computer or cell phone.”

Visit the company website using the link at the top of this article and schedule a free pickup of obsolete computers, cell phones, and IT infrastructure products and begin a zero cost relationship that will have great benefit for the people of Orlando and the local environment.

I just sat through a presentation from a local competitor that decided to use his time speaking to spout scare tactics concerning hazardous waste, the EPA, and his lack of knowledge of the electronics recycling industry to justify the fees he charges for recycling electronics to support his overhead bloated company. Instead of informing his audience about our industry, he decided to use his time to bash our “free” model of recycling because we are taking business away from him.

As a customer, why should you pay a fee for a service in that a business is generating revenue from unless that fee is going towards paying bloat because the business is not being run in an efficient manner? Inefficiency comes in different forms: whether it is lack of understanding the industry, paying for gimmicky certifications or corporate status, or just a lack of the fundamental knowledge of how to maximize revenue from the material that needs to be recycled. If a company is charging fees for recycling items that have value on the backend, ask yourself why.

Customers should not have to be chided into using one company over another through the use of scare tactics. All too often we see businesses or individuals use scare tactics on their customers in an effort to drive more business. Unfortunately, there are bad actors in the recycling industry and customers should be concerned about how their material is being handled or how their data is being destroyed, but when an “electronics recycling” company has to resort to misrepresenting what the EPA Superfund rules are and how they are used or tell you the EPA could come after you, be wary.

Finally, when an “electronics recycling” company can not figure out how to find value in the electronics residents and businesses give to them to recycle (like printers and monitors), then you need to ask yourself what kind of “electronics recycling” company they really are. Obviously not a good one, or not really one at all.

Sure there are items that cost to be disposed of properly, but this should be a cost of doing business. Electronics recycling isn’t about cherry picking the items with a high margin or to charge money for lower grade items in order to make more money to support a gimmicky business model. Electronics recycling is a service in which the goal is to do good for the community and the environment. We at Sensible Recycling are fortunate enough to have a profitable business that answers the call of environmental stewardship and providing a valuable service to our community at no charge. This is the point this competitor misses. Not charging forces us to find value in nearly everything that comes through our doors which in turn leads to responsible recycling. Value is not found through gimmicky certifications and corporate status. Value to me means providing a service that does everyone good.

And to the guy that spoke this morning: if your company is having a hard time competing with mine and you have to make insinuations and scare people to make up for the business you lost, maybe you should take a look at your model and trim some of that overhead out. Also, you are in violation of your gimmicky certification for selling your escrap to a local non-certified recycler. Practice what you preach!