A puff of smoke pops out of your computer in the middle of your work day, your smart phone suddenly winks out in the middle of a call. For one reason or another, your trusty electronics have failed you and you are resigned to the fact that it is now junk. You may salvage some pieces here and there, or you may just toss the whole kit and kaboodle out, but one way or the other something is going to end up in the landfill.

Unfortunately this is a bad decision to make, for a number of reasons that we will get into. The overall summary is that they have a negative impact on the environment that most people don’t realize. Understanding is of course the first step towards fixing the problem, and hopefully after this you will understand more.

Why Electronics Are Bad For Landfills

Hazardous Materials

Electronics have a number of different materials in them, heavy metals specifically pose an issue here. A heavy metal refers to a metal that is high density and toxic/poisonous. If these metals are left out to break down in a landfill, these toxins will leak out. They’ll work their way into the soil, the water, and the air. From there they find their way into the plants, animals, and even the people of the region. As you can probably guess, slowly being poisoned isn’t a particularly great thing for the environment, or your good self.

Taking Up Space

Another issue is the fact that electronics take up alot of space, and since they don’t really break down like other trash, they hold onto that space for some time. As the landfill gets pilled up with more and more junk, it fills up faster then it would if everything was decomposable. This results in more landfills needing to be opened up across the land, which in turn fill up with more items that should never have been in them to begin with.

What Should You Do

Instead of throwing old or broken electronics away to rot in the landfill, you should seek out a service that specializes in the proper disposal of e-waste. For example, we can easily handle the proper destruction of your old hard drives, and other services have a full complement of e-waste recycling. By doing so you will be keeping toxic materials from breaking down in the environment, and help sustainability efforts by letting recyclable materials be used in new products.

Whatever you decide, just remember this one thing: keep electronics out of the landfills.