Major industrial complexes and corporate headquarters alike have large inventories of computers, office equipment, and many other electronics that need to be disposed of properly. It's illegal to throw away electronics in most states, and although a few individuals may be able to get away with the sneaky act, industries getting rid of their computer waste are likely to get the full force of fines as well as media coverage as the government makes an example out of the disposal. To avoid legal troubles while keeping the world cleaner, here are a few techniques to make any electronics recycling move a lot more efficient--and with a bit of money coming your way in the process.
What Are The Recycling Costs And Payoffs?
Before tossing everything into a roll off dumpster destined for a recycling center, do you know what the recycling rates or market prices for different computer components are? There are a few price points to figure out first:
- How much are whole computers worth at recycling centers?
- How much can the computers (or parts) be sold for to private buyers?
- How much are the metals and materials worth at recycling centers?
- How much are the metals and other materials worth to private buyers?
- What are the labor costs associated with each of these options?
Every option has an associated labor cost, since someone has to either load up trucks, take apart computers, inventory computer or parts for sale, and look up prices. You need to weigh all of these costs against the easiest option of just throwing all of the computers into a recycling dumpster, which is the easiest option with an easier recycling payout to calculate.
Making Efficient Pickup, Delivery, Or Sales
One of the more cost-intensive options is scrapping computers for individual metals and other materials, because someone with computer skills is needed to take the computer apart and separate the materials.
This may be worth your time if the prices of certain scrap metals skyrocket, and it's a good idea to contact a dumpster rental service for color-coded recycling bins to separate different materials. There are materials such as rare earth magnets inside hard drive (not to be mistake for Solid State Drives or SSDs, which are a different technology that performs the same task) that could be sold to hobbyists or other private buyers for more than recycling center payouts before of the difficulty behind recycling rare earth materials.
If you're planning on selling the old computers in bulk, someone will need to inventory each system and assess their quality. As-is sales aren't quite as cut-and-dry as one would expect from the term, as you may end up with a few refund demands depending on if a court considered the sale careless.
The same goes for donating computers, but you should consult a tax professional to weigh the benefits and consequences of sales versus tax-deductible donations.
No matter your choice, there will be some materials that need to make it to a recycling center. Contact a dumpster rental service to prepare a large-scale pickup and delivery plan for an industrial amount of computers and other electronics. For more information, contact companies like TCM Sweeping and Disposal.
