Almost certainly, you are familiar with the term “planned obsolescence.” The electrical devices that surround us have a shelf life.
At some point, and maybe sooner than you think, they will stop working and be added to the pile of broken electronics around the world.
The global amount of e-waste is unquantifiable, but one thing is certain: it contributes to climate change and is dangerous to humans.
Electronic waste clogs landfills, and its harmful metals and polymers can leach into soil and water or damage the atmosphere when burned.
Getting rid of them, whether because they no longer bring you joy or because they have physically started to catch fire, is a task that requires care.
While recycling is not the only answer to the problem of what to do with e-waste, it is frequently the best alternative we have available.
So, we’ve put together this list of places that will take your old or broken devices and either fix them up for someone else or safely throw them away.
Best Buy, a national electronics company, has possibly the best recycling program available. On its website, each category has a drop-down menu that lists the items that are accepted in your state.
Each day, you may bring in up to three items. The majority of it can be recycled for free. Some things may make you eligible for a discount or a trade-in offer on another item.
Best Buy also offers a $29.99 haul-away service for major appliances and televisions that are being replaced.
Is Your Data Vulnerable During Recycling?
Before you sell, give away, or throw away your Virgin Box, you should reset it to the factory settings. This must be done if you want to keep your data safe from the next person who uses the device.
It’s easy to think of your box as just a way to get online, but it’s also a computer you use every day and a bottleneck for all the internet-connected devices in your home.
In contrast to computers and web browsers, these devices do not monitor user activity. But they do contain important information, especially if you have set up monitoring tools like a child lock to keep an eye on network traffic.
You should stick to the manufacturer’s instructions for how to decommission a new box.
Zero Waste
In May, Virgin Media announced that it had reached zero waste to landfill for the first time, but your letter indicates that the company still has work to do in this area.
Multiple set-top boxes and routers are accumulating in people’s houses. Concerningly, the corporation did not appear to want the brand-new, unused box back.
It informed me that you provided incorrect information, apologized, and had since collected the items.
Virgin Media has committed to carbon-neutral and waste-free operations by the end of 2025. “We reconditioned and reused 1.3 million products in 2020, including set-top boxes.”
“Customers can return equipment via our website’s pre-paid service, and we will reuse products whenever possible,” it states.
“We encourage customers to recycle things that cannot be reused by using local facilities.”
What Is WEEE?
If your equipment bears the WEEE sign, it is classified as electrical or electronic equipment and must be recycled at the end of its useful life.
WEEE Ireland is authorized by the Department of the Environment to collect and recycle electrical trash as part of its approval. At Virgin Media, we accept WEEE equipment for free on a one-for-one basis.
WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) is collected free of charge on a one-for-one basis. Used batteries, including rechargeable ones, are collected at no cost.
You are not required to purchase anything when returning used batteries. Also, each local government must have recycling centers where WEEE and small batteries can be dropped off for free.
Batteries and EEE must be recycled and should not be placed in any of your household’s wheeled rubbish containers. Ensure that you constantly recycle your old electronics and batteries.
Is Equipment Recycling Important?
Because improper disposal is harmful to the environment and to people’s health, electrical equipment should not be discarded with other garbage.
Additionally, some items are still usable, so discarding them wastes precious resources we may use again.
By hand-collecting old electrical and electronic devices, we can make sure they get to a place where experts can look at them to see if they can be used again or recycled, as required by environmental laws.
Make sure they are thrown away in a way that doesn’t hurt the environment. If a virgin box or its contents should not be disposed of, a bin with its lid crossed out will be placed on the box.
This implies that it must be returned for reuse or recycled along the route.
Alternatives
Even if you don’t have a bag with postage paid on it, you can still dispose of outdated devices, but you’ll have to pay for the expense of transporting them.
The best thing to do is to bring your old cellphone and any other old electronics to a local recycling center.
Recycle Your Electricals has made a website where you can find the closest WEEE center. In addition, there is the possibility of reusing outmoded technologies.
