Nowadays, the disposal of computers and office equipment is an urgent and necessary procedure, because the parts from which they are made are not as harmless to the environment as it might seem at first glance. For example, used cartridges alone can be a hassle. The fact is that such consumables for printers and multifunctional devices are made of fairly good plastic, which does not burn very well, but at the same time smokes terribly and melts well. In addition, it has excellent resistance to chemical compounds and moisture – in general, this part of printing office equipment is durable.
It should also be added that the hazard class of chemicals included in its composition is 3-4. The fact is that polystyrene acts as the basis of the plastic mass of the cartridge body. It is necessary to dispose of this type of consumable that has expired without any delay. For this today, there are many small and large firms that provide services for the disposal of office equipment.
The fact is that inside the container of the cartridge there are residues of the dye, which is toner or ink. The first is especially dangerous for human health, because it consists of carbon black and / or magnetite, vinyl acetate, copolymers of ethylene, alumina, titanium dioxide, and magnetic additives Fe2O3. Products such as gasoline, nitric acid and silica gel can be put on a par with toner in terms of harm to the environment and human health.
Of course, as long as the cartridge remains intact, this laser powder will not harm the environment or people. But it is worth the container in which it is stored to lose its tightness, as microscopic particles of toner seep into the air, where it will gradually accumulate. So toner recycling is a real necessity.
In general, any office equipment, including printers and computers, that ends up in a landfill immediately becomes large poisonous boxes that pose a serious danger to both people and the ecological situation of the area. Therefore, even recycling of cartridges for printers and copiers is a necessary procedure, especially for organizations that use a large number of office equipment. In addition, thanks to recycling, companies that produce consumables for a particular technique are able to reuse them (for example, used cartridges), simply by replacing all worn out parts. This, in turn, reduces the cost of the final product.
About recycling
To begin with, it is worth emphasizing that the disposal of office equipment and equipment for legal entities is not voluntary, but a mandatory procedure. The fact is that a legal entity cannot simply take and write off office equipment that has failed, because it is necessarily taken into account in the company’s balance sheet. Therefore, for this process, the organization must provide the appropriate documentation and state certificates.
In addition, office equipment contains a certain amount of rare earth and precious metals. Their cancellation must be accompanied by the relevant documents. Well, in view of the fact that office equipment contains various toxic substances, a company for violating the rules for the disposal of office equipment will have to pay an administrative fine for violations such as illegal performance of operations with precious metals and environmental pollution. As for the entire disposal procedure itself, it consists of the following stages:
- First of all, the customer must choose a recycling company and leave a corresponding application on its official website or contact it directly, i.e. by phone.
- At the next stage, the representative of the selected company establishes contact with the client and discusses with them all the details of the upcoming work, and also clarifies the final cost of his services. In addition, her consultants can advise a legal entity about all the nuances associated with writing off equipment from the balance of the organization and at the same time provide their own expert assessment.
- At the third stage, after discussing all the details and nuances, the recycling company and the customer conclude an agreement with each other. In this case, the first invoices, and the second must pay it.
- Next, office equipment is assessed. For this, a company representative goes to the address indicated by the client and proceeds to inspect the equipment that must be disposed of. At the end, he draws up an act, which indicates an assessment of the current technical condition of each piece of equipment.
- At the next stage, all equipment that is to be sent for recycling is written off. It is the act of assessing the technical condition that serves as a justification for writing off office equipment from the client’s balance.
- After the write-off, the company recycling office equipment signs all the necessary acts and takes all the decommissioned equipment. The rest of the actions fall entirely on her shoulders.
Disposal methods
The most common method is to recycle office equipment and then use it to manufacture new products. This task is usually entrusted to subsidiaries, where they clean, repair, and also replace all worn out parts of printers, MFPs and other equipment.
Another method involves decomposition of decommissioned office equipment. It consists of two components: mechanical and thermal. To begin with, all used devices are disassembled into components, which are further sorted and disposed of in parts. Modern technologies make it possible to solve this problem with minimal damage to the environment and with high efficiency. For example, toner residues are destroyed by 1000 degrees of heat.