EnvironmentRecycling and Conservation |
What are some environmental advantages to recycling electronics? |
- Recycling one million desktop computers prevents the release of greenhouse gases equivalent to the annual emissions of 16,000 passenger cars.
- Recycling one million laptop computers saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 U.S. homes in one year.
- Recycling the 414,000 tons of electronics that were collected in the United States in 2007 prevented the release of greenhouse gases equivalent to the annual emissions of more than 178,000 cars.
- One metric ton of circuit boards can contain 40 to 800 times the concentration of gold ore mined in the United States.
- One metric tron of circuit boards can contain 30 to 40 times the concentration of copper ore mined in the United States.
- Recycling one million cell phones could recover 7,500 pounds (3,402 kilograms) of gold which could be used in new products rather than having to mine more gold.