How to Recycle Responsibly

Recycling in a responsible manner is of high priority at Sadoff Iron & Metal Company. This article focuses on electronic waste recycling but can be applied to all commodities that are recyclable.

While more individuals, companies, and organizations consider themselves eco-friendly and green-minded, not many understand what happens to end-of-life electronics. The consequences are too high to trust whomever is taking these electronics. Companies may claim to be “earth friendly” and “environmentally responsible,” and knowing what to look for in a recycler is important.

Business Practices

Is their pricing too good to be true? If a company is offering substantially higher pricing than its competitors, it is possible they are not actually processing the material and just shipping it overseas.

Ask your recycler if they examine the practices of all their downstream partners to make sure they’re using honest, reliable companies and not just dumping material. The environmental and data risks are too great.

One main risk is environmental contamination such as mercury, cadmium, lead, and other harmful substances. Also, with the increase of electronics, there is a higher risk of sensitive data being misused.

Certifications

Does your recycler hold industry certifications? These include: R2:2013, ISO, and OHSAS. The Sustainable Electronics Recycling International organization (SERI) created R2:2013 to ensure quality, transparency, and both environmental and social responsibility. There are 860 certified companies in the world. Nebraska has three companies that are R2 certified.

Ask Questions

We encourage you to get to know your recycler. Ask questions and if possible, tour their facility. Some items to ask about are how they feel about innovation, responsibility, and their downstream due diligence.

Environmental stewardship and data security are vital to today’s successful companies and organizations. Sadoff Iron & Metal Company and Sadoff E-Recycling & Data Destruction allows businesses and consumers to recycle their materials in an environmentally safe way.

We are R2:2013 certified as well as ISO 9001:2015, ISO14001:2021, and OHSAS 18001:2007. If you have any questions regarding e-waste, ferrous, and non-ferrous recycling, I am available to visit and learn about your needs.

(402) 217-2149 | grenemeierd@sadoff.com