Computer recycling in and around Montreal
Are you once asked why is the world’s waste park changing so rapidly? Last year, humans produced about 56 million tonnes of e-waste. Among these e-waste, computer components are estimated at nearly 12 million tons. With these figures, the world is on the way to disaster and action must be taken quickly. Did you think once that it is possible to recycle most of your computer equipment? Today, for obvious health and ecological reasons recycling a computer is an important gesture to save the planet.
Recycling your computer hardware: what is it?
Computer recycling is an activity that involves recycling computers, laptops, and other computer equipment in use around the world. Indeed, the observation made after some studies shows that many people abandon their machine at the release of a new more evolutionary. Which, on the face of it, is normal.
However, abandoned materials are usually thrown in the garbage or are mixed with objects geared towards conventional recycling. What you need to know here is that the components of a computer are generally harmful to health. Therefore, they should not be in the same batch as a can of Coca-Cola when recycling, for example. To this end, what is the purpose of recycling?
Recycling thus gives a new life to a computer equipment. For this purpose, it can be repackaged for a new use or rather recycled. That is, using the components of the material to make another one.
Recycling computer hardware:
recyclable components
In a computer hardware, the range of recyclable components is quite large. It ranges from processors to hard drives to motherboards, PCI cards and memory bars. To this end, here is a non-exhaustive list of computer components and the likely recyclable materials they may contain:
Processors: They may be called Intel, AMD. In either case, processors are the heart of computers. From their recycling one can obtain gold at the pins and reception beaches, but also at the wires of links that connect these two parts. Other precious or non-precious metals such as palladium, silver, aluminum and copper are recovered.
The motherboard: it is as important as the processors, since it allows the connection between all the components (microprocessors, memories) of the computer. Containing lead at a very harmful level, it is the perfect illustration that computer components cannot be discarded in any way. Its recycling makes it possible to obtain gold. Indeed, this stainless metal is found in many computer components.
The PCI card: also called the girl card, it is considered a fundamental element in computer science. Indeed, it is the one that connects extension cards on the motherboard of a computer. Recycled, the PCI card can be adapted to a mobile phone or other computer devices. There is aluminum and sometimes gold.
Memory bars: Memory bars or RAM are valuable components in a computer. They can be repackaged for other purposes, or you can use them to increase your computer’s capabilities. In either case, the planet wins.
Hard drives: Mass memory of any computer, hard drives are useful components both when they work and when they are damaged. For this purpose, some of its parts can be used to repair other hard drives. However, one could recycle its tray, which is mostly made of aluminum and one more rarely made of glass or ceramic. The tray is covered with ferromagnetic layers that contain the information stored on the hard drive. Here, thanks to the various cutting-end recycling methods, cobalt and other alloys of nickels and iron oxides can be removed and used to make other components.
Other components: It should be noted that most components (processor, hard drives, computer screens, printers, motherboards, scanners, keyboards, mice, USB sticks, cables, headphones, tablets, etc.) of a computer equipment can be recycled. Metals such as gold, copper and aluminium are the most sought-after elements. However, even plastics used in the manufacture of cases and other protections are recyclable.
Recycling computer hardware: the different steps
Whether in Montreal, Quebec City or anywhere else in the world, recycling computer equipment follows virtually the same steps. In the province of Quebec, you must first register with an approved computer equipment collection structure. But long before that, it is essential to sort between still functioning and unrecoverable materials. After this step follows that of the treatment. Here, the waste collected will be disassembled and the materials sought will be extracted from the various components.
Conclusion
Today, it is estimated that only 20% of e-waste, e-waste that includes computer equipment, is processed worldwide. Very harmful in the vast majority, it is important to opt for their recycling in order to use them differently.
Contacting our company specializing in computer waste collection is the closest solution to you. You become an eco-responsible citizen ready to save humanity. This gesture on your part, even if it is individual, will be a giant step in the preservation of the ecosystem.
