Overview / Background:
One of the most common materials that nearly all companies and individuals have to dispose of is electronic waste. From household quantities to large volumes at stores and business across the country, there are millions of tons of E-Waste that need to be recycled every year. In 2019 alone, the United States generated 6.92 million tons of E-Waste, which only 15% of that was actually recycled. That is below the global average of 17.4%, and well below Europe’s impressive 42.5%.
WTS recycling event:
WTS recently participated in an annual electronics recycling event. Employees, family and friends were encouraged to bring in electronic waste to be recycled, including old laptops, printers, TVs and other miscellaneous electronics. In total, WTS employees brought in 1,984 lbs. of electronic waste. In addition, over 150 lbs. of batteries were collected as part of the annual event.
Partnership with WTS client on various electronics projects and routine E-Waste:
On a larger scale, many of the WTS customers have electronic waste that needs to be recycled on a routine or project basis. Some of these projects involve shipping electronics from thousands of retail stores across the United States, including Hawaii and Puerto Rico. As part of these projects, 1.3 million pounds of E-Waste were brought to certified recycling facilities to be properly dismantled and recycled. In a current single project, WTS has helped one client to recycle over 10,000 printers to date. In addition to these projects, about another 300,000lbs. of electronics were recycled through routine and one-time shipments from that client’s manufacturing sites and partner facilities.
WTS has supported them in their recycling efforts for the past 8 years and have successfully and responsibly recycled over 4.4 million pounds of their electronic waste since 2013.
Data:
2013 – 2019 = 2,811,005 lbs.
2020 = 1,594,916 lbs.
TOTAL: 4,405,921 lbs. of E-Waste
