Product category:
General Print Supplies, Services for Printers
News Release from: J & G Environmental | Subject: E-waste handling programme
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 16 August 2006
Printers Gear-Up For Electronic Waste
Disposal
Printing companies are gearing up for a new waste disposal and recycling programme involving tens of millions of pounds worth of redundant electronic equipment.
Printing companies are gearing up for a new waste disposal and recycling programme involving tens of millions of pounds worth of redundant electronic equipment Print waste management specialist J and G Environmental said more than half of all visits to its website are now from environmentally-concerned printing companies enquiring about the ethical disposal of IT and telecommunications waste
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 18 May 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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Faced with the possibility of a growing electronic waste mountain, J and G has set up an e-waste handling programme.
J and G said it has installed the technology to handle the waste at its Blandford site to strip down and recycle most e-waste including computers, circuit boards, photocopiers, fax machines and telecommunications equipment.
It believes the best route is re-use, with companies donating unwanted computers to charities, schools and local organisations, but it acknowledges there might be security and confidentiality concerns about data on hard drives.
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J and G's customer services manager Richard Spreadbury: commented: "There's tens of millions of pounds worth of this equipment out there just waiting to be recycled.
Electronic waste, such as used computers, is now one of the world's fastest-growing waste streams.
Indeed it's a larger waste stream by weight than used beverage cans, yet these have been recycled for years." And he added: "The huge jump in enquiries about how to deal with it reflects the industry's growing awareness of its environmental responsibilities and the knowledge that strict new regulations are on the way." Spreadbury explained: "The waste needs expert attention.
Computer scrap, for instance, contains toxic materials, such as lead, chromium, mercury, phosphorus and PVCs, which are hazardous to human health.
Dismantling and handling unwanted computers containing these substances is a highly skilled and dangerous operation." He continued: "We understand this and have data destruction and recovery facilities available.
But however a company plans to dispose of its electronic waste in the future, it will eventually have to comply with a raft of legislation if it wants to meet its moral and legal obligations.
We advice businesses to start thinking about it right now." Introduction of the new European Union Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, originally planned for June, was postponed and will now probably be implemented next year.
Eventually the directive will demand that the majority of electronic waste, much of it classed as hazardous, is recycled or recovered rather than go to landfill.
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