Have you heard of our annual electronics recycling program, E-Scrap for Camp, that raises funds to support Camp Good Days and Special Times Inc.? Hear participants in the following video as they share their experiences! Collecting has been going great this year so let's keep it up to send more kids to camp! Visit escrapforcamp.com for a list of sites still open to the public.
Don't Forget These Spring Cleaning To-do Items!
Can be cleaned with good ol' H20.
Use damp paper towel for smudges from pesky fingers or a dry cloth to get that dirt off its shoulder.
WARNING: DO NOT use any products with ammonia in them. Even some ammonia free products say "do not use for screens". Double check because harsh chemicals will eat up your screens!
Sunnking uses the glass cleaner in the image below as well as water.
Talk about your e-dust collector! Air compressors are great to blast away the dust bunnies and dirt from hard-to-reach areas.
Dust bunny build up can cause a fire or static electricity can fry the board.
Are there unwanted marker marks on your device? Make them magically disappear with a magic eraser!
Have unwanted sticky adhesive from some sort of sticker on your device? We've found that the orange air freshener pictured above does the trick!
Say goodbye to the days of following a cable from plug to device to figure out what it's for and say hello to cable labels!
Search online and a plethora of options are at your fingertips.
Use labeled storage drawers for different types of cables, or even different kinds of batteries.
Velcro strips or twist ties are great for keeping cables wrapped up.
Make a charging station that hides cables and electronics.
Repurpose shoe boxes to store cables.
Tack wires under your table or use wire mold to hide them.
Searching online will provide options for different organizational products available to purchase or DIY projects.
Pinterest is your best friend for ideas!
Pick a certified e-recycler that's saving the planet by visiting sustainableelectronics.org/recyclers.
Can be used for all other electronics too.
CRTs have leaded glass among other toxic waste. The process to extract the lead is expensive so you may have to pay a small fee to recycle these.
*Note: Always choose a certified recycler. You'll be a hero because certifications indicate the recycler has safe methods to protect their employees, the environment, and data security. Toxic waste in electronics will seep into the ground when they are put into a landfill, which can damage the environment and cause terrible health problems for residents.
We all got 'em and all the toxic waste that comes with 'em!
These can be brought to a battery recycler. Search online for options in your area.
Around the Rochester, NY, area (where Sunnking is headquartered) there is Batteries Plus in Henrietta.
The site batterysolutions.com/store can be used to get rid of your batteries too!
Can have radioactive material and batteries in them.
The best bet is to ship yours back to the manufacturer.
There may be a hazardous waste drop-off site in your area that accepts smoke detectors. You can find out by doing a quick search online.
Spring cleaning lists can have a lot of to-do items so don't overlook your gadgets! Whether you need to get rid of unwanted electronics or clean current ones, these options may provide some solutions for the win! Sunnking has residential electronic collection events in the upstate N.Y. area throughout the year. You can view the schedule by clicking below! Have more e-recycling questions? Feel free to give us a ring anytime at 585-637-8365!
Some Sunnking employees attended the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI) Empire Chapter meeting last night. Our Quality, Environmental, Health and Safety Manager, Matt Plummer (second from left),was voted onto the Board of Directors!
We're living in a dynamic digital world. The global demand for electronics and the speed at which devices are replaced are rapidly increasing. In turn, electronic waste is the fastest growing waste stream. There will be an estimated 49.8 million tons of global e-waste in 2018, with an average annual growth rate of 4-5%. The United States is the largest producing e-waste culprit. What's in the streams is always changing and shifting since there are new innovations and more categories of electronic items than ever before. Electronic recyclers confront shifting streams with strategies that maximize revenue and meet sustainable certification standards. One strategy is to refurbish and reuse any salvageable tech.
At Sunnking, all material from consumers and businesses is inspected for reuse and that has helped us maintain a competitive edge. Some industry leaders predict resale prices will decrease year over year because of reductions in prices for new equipment and increases in volume on the market. This creates a notion that refurbish and reuse strategies may not have as much value in the future as they do today. The price of purchasing a new LED TV for example, has decreased substantially over the past five years. Some may argue that there are new items that continue to be expensive like the latest iPhone, but brand names play a key role in those examples. There haven't been any earth-shattering innovations with cellphones as of late and they will eventually be replaced by a more desirable innovation we've yet to see. I agree with these predictions to an extent, but Sunnking has not seen a decrease in prices for our refurbished goods thus far. I don't believe it will be as great of an issue as many suggest due to new types of electronics we'll see in the future.
Another concern seen in the electronics processing industry is the weight of processed items to determine return revenue from recycled metals. Some experts have worried that smaller and lighter gadgets will cause this number to take a hit. However, families in the 80s and 90s families had one computer shared among them. This was typical for many other types of large consumer electronics at the time. Today, I personally have about ten to fifteen devices all on my own. There is continuously a wider variety of items for sale. So, while new tech weighs less, each person has more devices and that helps offset the lower weight of these devices.
It's becoming increasingly important that recyclers recognize early in the process which devices are worth the time and monetary investment to refurbish to maximize revenue. In 2017, Sunnking sold around 81,000 assets We were able to increase our revenue generated from sales by becoming a value-added reseller, selling items that we've put more features into, resulting in a greater return on investment. We're also taking advantage of new products entering the waste stream that have retained value. For example, we've had great success with refurbishing flat panel TVs and selling them online thanks to an investment in a spray foam packaging machine. Flat panel TVs are relatively new, and their presence marks a shift in e-waste streams. It would have been a huge opportunity we missed if we hadn't decided to refurbish and resell them.
Sunnking was initially formed in 2000 as a reseller of electronic equipment. The combination of scrap metal experience with high tech sales channels created the model that we still use today. Ultimately the United States being a leader in technology will certainly produce more material with more resale value, and we look forward to new refurbishing and reuse opportunities to tap into regardless of the challenges shifting streams present.