Electronic and Electrical Products Recovered

These include specialist refrigerator recycling to capture Ozone Depleting Substances, Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) separation and processing to capture lead and phosphors, IT & telecommunications asset recovery and precious metals refining facilities to maximise the realisation of value. Products which are selected for recycling are collected or sent to the nearest Sims Recycling Solutions centre, where ferrous metal, non ferrous metal and much of the plastic and glass contained within them is recovered for smelting and re-use in manufacturing.

In most developed nations, manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers, operators of compliance schemes, individual and organisational users, and government organisations have Corporate Social Responsibility drivers and/or environmentally based legal obligations for the production, distribution and disposal of electrical and electronic waste.

Waste electrical and electronic equipment can be divided into ten major categories:

• Large domestic appliances including refrigerators, washing machines, electric cookers, microwave ovens, dish washing machines, electric fans, electric radiators
• Small domestic appliances including toasters, irons, vacuum cleaners and hairdryers
• IT and telecommunications equipment including computers, servers, photocopiers, phones, printers, visual display units (VDUs), facsimile machines
• Consumer equipment including televisions, DVD players, hi-fi equipment, electric guitars, amplifiers, radios, video cameras
• Lighting equipment including fluorescent lamps, high intensity discharge lamps, low intensity sodium lamps
• Electrical and electronic tools including drills, electric saws, sewing machines, lawnmowers, sanders, nail guns
• Toys, leisure and sports equipment including video game consoles, electronic fitness equipment electric trains and car racing systems, coin slot machines
• Medical devices including analysers, imaging and radio therapy equipment
• Monitoring control instruments including smoke detectors and thermostats
• Automatic dispensers including cold drinks and snacks dispensers

Within these categories, hazardous substances can exist and legislation prescribing what is hazardous does vary by country but typical examples include:

• Ozone Depleting Substances such as CFCs or HCFCs found in refrigerators or insulating panels
• Lead found in Cathode Ray Tubes and certain batteries
• Phosphors found in Cathode Ray Tubes and Fluorescent Lamps
• Cadmium found in Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) Batteries
• Certain flame retardants found in plastics
• Radioactive materials found in anything from medical equipment to smoke detectors