Montgomery County, Maryland’s Department of Environmental Protection recently held a live webinar discussing how businesses should recycle electronics and other items. The webinar began with a recycling exercise on sorting a variety of materials. Some materials end up in a comingled dumpster, others in a secure electronics recycling bin, and some in a trashcan.

Montgomery County, MD services more than 1.5 million residents and employees. The County is committed to providing education and resources geared toward reducing waste and recycling more. The following video contains comprehensive recycling information.

Securis’ own Dan Mattock, EVP of Sales and Marketing, speaks to electronic waste recycling (timestamp 36:44).

Montgomery County DEP Webinar: Recycle Right at Your Business from Montage Marketing on Vimeo.

How Businesses Should Recycle Electronics

Mr. Mattock discusses the best practices for recycling electronics, beginning with the definition of e-waste. The simple definition of e-waste is electronics that have reached the end of their life. Corporate e-waste typically includes computers, servers, monitors, cell phones, mice and keyboards, memory sticks, hard drives, solid-state drives, and more.

Residential e-waste recycling needs aren’t much different as households have multiple devices that they replace as new models and technology is introduced. He continues to discuss the dangers of electronic devices ending up in landfills. They may contain lead, arsenic, and mercury which is harmful to the environment.

Mattock also explains what environmental responsibility means, and how it helps companies’ bottom lines and the environment. He continues by discussing the challenges of data security, environmental risk, and disposal costs. These are an issue for government and private sector companies alike. It’s important to remember that old electronics still contain sensitive data, and if you’ve upgraded your electronics, the data that remains on them must be destroyed using a trusted electronic recycling program.

After Mattock’s presentation, there’s an informative section on the best practices for recycling scrap metal. Next is a section on recycling plastic bags and like materials. Be sure to watch the webinar recording through the end for the Q&A section. Questions about how businesses should recycle electronics and other items are likely answered here.

As always, if you have questions on how businesses should recycle electronics, please contact Securis.