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International E-Waste Day 2022

“We want to remind people of the importance of every single piece of electronics or electrical product that is forgotten in household drawers.”

- The WEEE Forum
Collage of various electronic devices with the text Recycle it all no matter how small in the center.

International E-Waste Day is back! This year’s focus is on that stash of small electronics most households often store away in drawers, or dispose of in trash bins.
  
About 40% (or 25 million tons) of the 63 million tons of total annual e-waste is from small electronics, including phones, e-readers, digital clocks, mice & keyboards, tablets, electric toothbrushes, and even kid’s toys. With the rise of online shopping and specialized devices, more small electronics than ever are being integrated into our daily lives.

Since 2018, the number of people with 6 or more small devices has increased 56%. That’s about 11-16 pounds of e-waste per person. And less than 18% is actually reclaimed.

Aside from potentially being an environmental disaster, why is this trend so important?

By keeping these small devices stored away, millions of pounds of valuable materials are prevented from being recycled and reused.

Unrecycled E-Waste is a Wasted Opportunity 

Earth’s richest deposits of resources aren't hidden in a mine somewhere, waiting to be extracted. It’s sitting in landfills and households across the world. Recent forecasts show e-waste is worth $62.5 billion annually. More than the GDP of most countries!

A broken smartphone or smartwatch may feel like trash, but it’s filled with precious materials such as gold, silver, copper, and lithium. For example, there’s 100 times more gold in a ton of smartphones than in a ton of gold ore.

Graphic showing a motherboard with listed elements: Copper, Antimony, Bismuth, Palladium, Silver, Aluminum, Gold, Tin. Icons indicate applications like coins, solar panels, plumbing, jewelry, cans, and more. Text reads DYK your motherboard is a mother lode.
 
Shortages of these materials are also leading to price fluctuations. It’s already happening, making recovery more critical each day. A circular economy focused on reclamation, repair, refurbishment, and reuse could ultimately reduce costs for consumers by 7% over the next decade.

When you properly dispose of your tech through a certified e-waste recycling facility, the devices are disassembled, cleaned and useful materials are safely extracted. Materials recovered from your old tech can be remade into new goods, or other equipment such as wind turbines, electric car batteries or solar panels - all crucial for the green transition to low-carbon societies.

E-waste is a job creator, too! All over the world, entrepreneurs are expanding recycling operations and experimenting with new and inclusive business models for managing e-waste effectively. If these approaches are dramatically scaled up, demand for more employees will flourish in the circular economy.

Remember, by recycling it all no matter how small, you’re not only protecting the environment and lowering prices of products, but helping generate millions of new jobs while preserving tons of valuable resources!

 

Map of the United States with text More than 1500 locations nationwide, logos for Nimble and Victra, and Authorized Verizon Retailer.
 

Nimble is Making E-Waste Recycling Easier Than Ever

In 2018, we launched the One-for-One Tech Recovery Project. With every Nimble product purchased, customers receive a mailer bag marked “Clean Out Your Junk Drawer,” along with a free shipping label to send up to a pound of old tech to our certified recycling partners at Homeboy Electronics Recycling. Last year, we expanded this program to include free recycling (no purchase necessary) at over 900 drop-off locations.

Today, we’re proud to announce our Drop-Off Recycling Program is now available at over 1500 locations nationwide!

Recycling your small electronics is now easier than ever. If you haven’t already, start emptying out that drawer, or box in the garage taking up space.

This International E-Waste Day is the perfect time to do it.

 

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