Skip bins for electrical waste: How do they work?
With the rapid evolution of technology, Australians are finding old electronic items accumulating in their homes at a fast rate. Old TVs, kitchen appliances and office equipment tend to consume a lot of room in homes and offices, making property owners feel as if they don't have enough space to operate.
Luckily, skip bin services are now incorporating skips that you can hire for disposing of your electrical waste. It is important to note that e-waste is not the same as many other items that can be simply dumped in a landfill. Electronic items contain hazardous materials that can contaminate the environment if not properly handled. For example, heavy metals such as lead and mercury (as well as fire retardants and chemicals) can leach into underground soil and pollute ecosystems.
It is critical to understand how e-waste is handled so you can be prepared to use your skip bins correctly when you hire them.
Once an electrical waste skip bin is delivered on your premises, you can place your unwanted electronics inside the skip until it's full or until the rental period is over. Your skip bin company will then collect the skip and take the waste for recycling. Most companies will accept a wide range of electronics, from TVs and computers to printers and fax machines. In addition, medical devices such as pagers, defibrillators and EKG machines can also be taken for disposal.
Once the items are collected, they are first prepared for recycling in order to remove any useful components. Materials such as glass, gold and plastics are usually useful for recycling. Recycling is normally done under a manual sorting process, which is conducted by the skip bin company or a dedicated recycling site.
When you're disposing of unwanted electronics, check for any items that can potentially harm workers during manual sorting. Broken glass and other sharp components are typically a common cause for injury, and you should inspect your items to remove these materials before you place them in the skip.
After manual sorting, all useful components are separated from the non-useful parts. Parts that are not needed undergo further processing to remove dangerous items that may harm the environment. It is only at this stage that the remaining waste can be taken to a landfill.
If your home is choking under the weight of unused electronics, seek out a skip bin company that can handle your electronic waste safely and effectively. They should be transparent about how their recycling process is carried out, so you can be sure that your items are not damaging the ecosystem.
