Recycling is everyone’s responsibility, everyone knows that you need to recycle household waste like plastics, paper, cardboard and much more. However, many are not familiar with how to responsibly dispose of their unwanted or broken electronics.

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is becoming a growing problem for landfill sites as most consumers will go through at least one phone every couple of years. That’s a lot of cell phones building up in landfill sites alone. There are also laptops, tablets, TVs and much more. If this is not a compelling enough reason to recycle your e-waste, then read on for 6 reasons you need to be responsible with your electronics recycling:

1. E-Waste is an increasingly big problem

The sheer number of electronic goods that are produced each year is on the rise. With new models and brands competing in the marketplace for personal electronic goods than ever before devices are becoming obsolete at a faster pace than ever.

2. A lot of the components work just fine

Even though the device may appear to be broken, there is a lot of internal electronic components that can be reused or recycled. For example, many electronic components contain small amounts of gold. Not enough for you to make money from on your own, but it really starts to add up when hundreds of thousands of electronic devices are disposed of in landfill over time.

3. Protect your privacy

Electronic devices have records of them of the websites you visit including banking website, social media activities and even your GPS data. If you simply discard this into the trash, there is a real potential for identity theft or worse. This is true for most electronics including storage devices that should be disposed of properly if you have sensitive data on them.

4. Someone could be in need of your old electronics

Provided that you have wiped all of your personal data off the device, there are many people who are in desperate need of cell phones and electronics. These include underfunded educational programs and women’s shelters are always in need of cell phones.

5. It may be against the law

Depending on where you live, you may find that disposing of old electronics in the trash is illegal, or it soon will be. For no other reason than self preservation, you should make sure that you follow all of the laws regarding the disposal of all of your household waste.

6. Think about re-using them instead

As long as the device is still functional, there are a lot of things that you can repurpose an old model of tablet or cell phone. Many people choose to turn a tablet into a universal remote for the tv, which is quite easy if you download the right app. Others choose to use them as an additional TV screen. With cable providers now offering services to watch all of your channels through their app, you can now have an old tablet dedicated to watching TV in the kitchen. You can even turn an old smartphone into a smart thermostat with the purchase of some additional equipment at a fraction of the cost of buying a brand name.

Whatever your motivations for choosing to recycle your old electronics, you should make sure that you take every opportunity to help by doing your bit for the local community. Also, spread the word to your neighbours and friends that they too should recycle their old electronics. Many people are unaware of the significant environmental impact simply throwing their old phones, laptops and tablets into the trash can have.