How to Recycle Old Computers and Laptops to Reduce E-waste

Home & Lifestyle Blog | MATE, Feature Blog Posts | MATE | 27 March 2024

Computer Recycling: How to Recycle an Old Computer and Reduce E-waste

The average lifespan of a laptop or computer is relatively short. These days, you can expect your computer to last about five years before it’s time for an upgrade. And even if you do manage to squeeze a few more years out of your computer, it’s still not a very long shelf life.

So, when it comes time to upgrade your old laptop, how can you responsibly dispose of it and ensure that you’re not contributing to the dangerously rising tide of e-waste?

What is computer recycling, and why does it matter?

Computer recycling is an electronic waste (e-waste) recycling process that can help people responsibly dispose of their old electronic equipment at the end of its useful lifespan. Responsibly recycling your computer and other electronic devices is incredibly important in today’s fast-paced world, where the average lifespan of technology is getting increasingly shorter.

3 reasons why we need to urgently reduce e-waste in Australia

Reducing e-waste is a serious concern for many countries around the world, including Australia. There are a few reasons why end-of-life recycling is so important:

Prevents e-waste from ending up in landfill: E-waste contains hazardous substances like lead, mercury, and cadmium, which can leach into the soil and groundwater if disposed of in landfills. This contamination can harm wildlife, disrupt ecosystems, and pose serious health risks to humans through the contamination of food and water supplies.
Reduces pressure on the environment: The production of electronic devices requires a massive amount of non-renewable resources, including precious metals like gold, silver, and rare earth elements found in the construction of circuit boards. Mining these materials is energy-intensive, contributes to deforestation, and leads to habitat destruction and pollution. Recycling e-waste helps recover these valuable materials, decreasing the need for new raw materials and reducing the environmental footprint associated with their extraction and processing.
Conserves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions: Recycling e-waste uses considerably less energy than mining and processing new materials. This reduction in energy consumption translates to lower greenhouse gas emissions, combating climate change.

4 Signs it’s time to upgrade your computer

Even if you’ve done your absolute best to look after your computer, most electronic devices these days have a pretty short lifespan. Here are five signs that suggest it’s time for you to upgrade your computer:

Slow performance: If your computer takes forever to start up, or if applications and games take a long time to load, it might be struggling to keep up with current software demands.
Incompatibility with new software: When your computer can no longer run the latest software or operating system updates, it’s a clear signal that an upgrade is due.
Frequent crashes and errors: Regular system crashes or an increasing number of error messages indicate underlying hardware issues.
Overheating and loud noises: If you notice that your computer is heating up a lot when running simple tasks, or is making loud noises, then this could be an indication that the hardware is failing.

Some of these issues could potentially be solved by having a qualified computer tech look at your old laptop or computer. You may simply be able to upgrade some of the hardware instead of needing to buy a whole new computer. Make sure you weigh your options and find the right solution for you before you decide whether or not to recycle your old computer.

How to recycle your old computer

How To Recycle Old Computers And Laptops To Reduce E Waste

Recycling your computer is a relatively straightforward process that helps to prevent more e-waste from ending up in landfill, where it can have serious, long-lasting impacts on our environment.

Finding recycling services and drop-off points near you

First things first: you need to find an e-waste recycling service or drop-off point nearby where you can take your old computer. Start by looking up where you can recycle your computer for free. Depending on where you live, you may have a few different options, including:

Permanent collection sites.
Retail outlets.
One-off recycling collection services, run by your local Council.

What is the National Television and Recycling Scheme?

The National Television and Recycling Scheme (NTRS) is a government initiative that allows people to recycle their e-waste for free. Despite its name, this initiative isn’t just about recycling TVs—it’s also a computer recycling scheme. Instead of paying a fee to recycle any old electronic devices and appliances, you can look up a nearby e-waste recycling service or drop-off centre that will allow you to recycle your e-waste for free.

If you’re not sure whether the service in your area is covered by the NRTS, and therefore free of charge, then get in touch with the provider or your local Council to find out more information.

What to do before you recycle your computer

Before you take your computer to an e-waste recycling facility or drop-off point, make sure you’ve performed a backup of all your data and then perform a data wipe.

First, use an external hard drive, cloud storage, or another computer to save your files on, so that you don’t lose anything important. Once your files are safely secured on another device, you can perform a data wipe. Data wipes help to protect your personal information by ensuring that everything is removed from your computer’s hard drive. This includes personal and sensitive information you might have been storing on your computer previously. There are a number of ways you can do this, depending on what brand of computer you have. Generally, there should be a process you can follow that will completely reset your computer and wipe all information from your hard drive.

Recycling mobile phones and other electronics

If you have other electronic devices and appliances you want to recycle in addition to your old computer, then you’ll be happy to know that the process is similar to computer recycling.

For electronic devices such as televisions, printers and other computer accessories and computer equipment, you can follow the same steps you would if you were recycling your computer. This is because these devices are all covered under the NRTS.

When it comes to mobile phones, many retailers now act as mobile phone waste drop-off points. You can discover a nearby drop-off point in your area that recycles mobile phones by visiting the Mobile Muster website.

For other electronic devices and appliances, such as kitchen appliances or batteries, check out the Planet Ark website for their list of dedicated recycling services.

Responsibly recycling e-waste for a greener future

While many Australians are aware of the significant damage e-waste has on our environment, there is still a long way for us to go. By actively recycling your old electronic devices, you’re taking a step towards a greener, more sustainable future for our environment and the next generation. Every little bit counts!