LAS VEGAS - It's impossible to get through the day without using electronics. While computers, televisions, FAX machines and cell phones are harmless when they work hard for you, the components can become toxic if thrown in the trash.
"Lead is most common. Tube televisions have leaded glass and quite a bit of it," said Arman Sadeghi of All Green Electronics Recycling. "Newer plasma screens or flat panels, LCDs or LEDs have mercury."
Electronic components also contain other heavy metals. As dangerous as it is, e-waste weighs in at tens of millions of pounds a year and growing. It's wasteful, because many devices can be refurbished and reused. The electronic components can also be dismantled and reduced to a valuable commodity and used to make new products.
"Most of the typical things around your house - a coffee maker, an alarm clock - are made of purely recycled plastic and other recycled components as well," Sadeghi said.
He started All Green Electronics Recycling, because he says the need for responsible recycling is exploding along with technology.
"We're catching up and getting people to bring their old stuff from their garage, but at the same time, the technology is not lasting as long," he said. "So, the cycle is becoming a little faster."
"When it comes to electronics, you have to be very careful what you do with your devices. You can't just give them to anyone who is willing to take them, because if electronics are not handled properly, they can be hazardous here and especially abroad," he added.
There's money to be made in illegally selling e-waste overseas to countries like India where cheap labor and unsafe methods are used to recapture valuable components.
Companies like All Green are certified to follow every device they bring in and dismantle - down to the raw materials - to ensure they flow into a clean, reusable market. Sadeghi says the public's participation in the recycling loop is critical.
"People are really embracing electronics recycling in a way I've never seen, especially in the last couple of years. You're seeing people are starting to open up to the idea of, hey maybe it's not as easy as dumping these devices into the trashcan," he said. "It's the right thing to do, and people are really stepping up and coming forward and doing the right thing."
You can unload your unwanted electronics Saturday, January 26 at the Super Saturday Recycling Event Two at the Thomas and Mack Center.
