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There are a number of benefits of recycling electronics, such as reducing the need for mining natural resources, saving energy and data security. However, what about recycling electronic components such as cables, chips, circuits and other components found in electronic devices. Can these be recycled as well?
In short, yes! All forms of electronic devices including smaller electronic components are considered and treated as e-waste when they are no longer in use or have simply reached the end of their lifecycle. It is often in these smaller electronic components where natural resources such as gold, iron, copper, platinum and palladium are often found. When you recycle these devices, precious metals such as these are extracted from the e-waste, thus saving natural resources, reducing pollution and conserving energy. This is because mining for these devices in the earth requires a large amount of energy to be mined, processed and transported, not only producing greenhouse gas emissions but also pollution.
Some of these smaller electronic components such as chips and harddrives also store sensitive and identifying information. This is another reason why it is important to recycle these components as well. If you simply throw away these components, information that is stored on these devices may be retrievable by anyone who happens to come across your old devices. Getting these devices recycled by a certified recycling company ensures that information will be erased or the device will be completely destroyed, thus making information 100% irretrievable.
