Why you should be recycling your electronics

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Electronics are a popular gift during the holiday season. You may be wondering what to do with your outdated tech devices.  

It’s true folks are out with the old and in with the new. The environmentally friendly way to do so… would be through recycling. 

Joe Suleyman is New Hanover County’s Recycling and Solid Waste Director.  

He said to take your electronics to your local ‘Household Hazardous Waste Facility’ and let them handle the rest.  

“We’re not saying go out of your way for 3 or 4 hours of your day to bring us a handful of batteries. Store them in something like a milk jug, or something like that,” Suleyman said. “When it’s full, bring it here and you can know it’s going to be recycled.”  

He encouraged folks to not just toss them in the trash because doing so can create a fire hazard and they can release toxic substances.  

These gadgets also often contain valuable material like copper, silver, gold, and more. All of which can be repurposed for another use.  

“That’s why we’d rather have it come here where we can identify it very quickly, segregate it very easily, and ship it accordingly,” Suleyman said. 

Suleyman said that if you do get in the habit of recycling things like batteries and tape the ends to prevent accidental sparks, use scotch tape rather than duct tape so he and his team can still easily go through their process.  

He said if you’re curious what electronics they’ll accept a simple rule of thumb to follow is if it runs off a power cord or battery, they’ll take it.  

Also, there’s one more item you may be tossing that needs to be recycled as well.  

“For example, smoke detectors because they have a very very small amount of radioactive material in them,” Suleyman said. 

He said every recycled electronic makes a difference and he encourages you to join in on the effort to make your homes and landfills safe. 

New Hanover County’s ‘Household Hazardous Waste Facility’ is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.. It is free of charge to drop off electronics.