Two Items From Your Home That You Should Consider Recycling

It's very easy to remember to recycle things like plastic milk cartons and cardboard packaging. However, there are certain items that you may not have thought about recycling. Here are two such items.

Your unusable vehicle

If your vehicle was severely damaged in an accident or developed a major, irreparable fault that rendered it unusable, then you should consider having it recycled.

Even if a car is no longer roadworthy, it will still contain things that could be useful. For example, the panels that make up your vehicle's body can be used by scrap metal recycling facilities to create sheet metal, which can then be used to make other vehicles or sold on to metal fabrication businesses.

Cars usually need to be dismantled before their metal panels can be used by scrap metal recycling facilities. If you are relatively skilled when it comes to auto mechanics, you might be able to handle this task yourself. If not, you can inquire at your local recycling centre about whether they can do this for you or if they can recommend a vehicle dismantling service.

Whilst this may be somewhat time-consuming, your choice to recycle will have a hugely positive impact on the environment. Cars take up a lot of space inside a landfill and therefore contribute to the growth of existing landfills and the creation of new ones.

Your unwanted electronic gadgets

Many people replace their gadgets, such as laptops, smartphones and e-tablets, with great regularity, largely because they prefer to have the latest version of each of these devices. The problem with this is that their old, unwanted gadgets often end up in landfills.

This can be hugely problematic, as the electronic components found in these devices (such as semiconductors, circuit boards and cathode ray tubes) usually contain harmful substances such as cadmium, selenium, lead and arsenic. When electronic devices are left in landfills, these toxic substances can seep into the bodies of water and soil near the refuse sites. This can then lead to plants, fish and wildlife being poisoned. It can also result in these toxins entering the food chain and affecting human health.

As such, it is crucial to recycle your electronic goods. If they are still functional, consider donating them to a charity. If they are broken beyond repair, you should get in touch with the manufacturer, as most companies who make these types of gadgets run their own recycling programmes.