Recycling is one of the services that comprise IT asset management or IT asset disposition (ITAD). Electronics can be recycled to recover a wide variety of materials including iron and steel, precious and rare earth metals, copper, and other metals; plastics; glass; and other commodities. As new technology and electronic devices continue coming on the market, recyclers are constantly innovating to ensure their processes keep pace with the changes.

Recycling 1 million cellphones will produce 33 lbs. of palladium, 75 lbs. of gold, 772 lbs. of silver, and 35,274 lbs. of copper.

The electronics recycling industry’s total annual economic impact in the U.S. is $5.45 billion.

The electronics recycling industry directly and indirectly supports nearly 45,000 jobs in the United States.

More than 90 percent of used electronics collected in the United States remains in the United States.

U.S. recyclers process more than 5 million tons of electronic products a year.

• Steel, copper, aluminum, plastics, glass, and even gold and silver can all be found in electronics and recovered.
• Recyclers inspect used equipment to see if it can be repaired. If it can, it is refurbished and resold to someone who needs it.
• One metric ton of electronic recyclables from personal computers contains more gold than recovered from 17 tons of gold ore.