Our e-waste vendor subscribes to the ISO standards management system and is R2 qualified. The City of Durham has a Waste Disposal and Recycling Center (Transfer Station) at 2115 East Club Boulevard that accepts e-waste at no charge from residential users. If you are making a new purchase, ask if they have a plan for your old equipment.
Some retailers provide free or low cost electronics recycling. Visit Earth 911 for a list of local companies that accept electronic donations or provide recycling options. Instead of placing used electronics in the trash, they should be donated for reuse or be recycled. Rockville provides unlimited electronic and metal recycling collected by appointment only. Informal processing of e-waste in developing countries can lead to adverse human health. Used electronics which are destined for refurbishment, reuse, resale, salvage recycling through material recovery, or disposal are also considered e-waste. Working cell phones can be used to dial 911, even without an active telephone account. Electronic waste or e-waste describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. Introduced in 2012, the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme is funded by companies that import electronics. Many domestic violence prevention organizations accept cell phone donations. Mobile Muster Australia has a wide range of e-waste recycling initiatives. Most batteries today are made from lithium, which contains lead, and is also a potential explosive. Cadmium is considered a human carcinogen, causing lung and liver damage. Originally, cell phones had Ni-Cd batteries (made with nickel and cadmium). The batteries though, are the most hazardous component of cell phones. This translates into roughly 312,900 pounds of lead that could be released into landfills.
Since the average life span of cell phones is only 18 months, an estimated half billion obsolete and unused cell phones are lying around.