Happy Earth Day 2026!

As we celebrate the 56th year of Earth Day started by Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin in the spring of 1970, we offer some comments and guidance on electronic waste (e-waste).

This morning NBC had a 4:24 video on e-waste, which is considered to be the fastest growing stream of waste in the world, focusing on one firm ERI which destroys the hard drive of laptops where critical information is housed. After a few steps, the e-waste goes through a gigantic shredder and is then separated into plastic and precious metals for reuse. 

We find the most interesting part of the video to be the method used for destroying computer hard drives, which utilizes a hand operated drill press that the operator pulls down and cranks through the center of a hard drive after it has been extracted from electronic equipment. Click the link below to view the video on NBC’s site. 

https://www.today.com/video/here-s-what-happens-when-you-recycle-old-technology-devices-261872709838