Recycled energy, as we at E-Recon Recycling call it, is the energy saved or converted into usable products by simply handling the E-waste in the right manner. Every unused electrical item contains valuable resources and energy that you are unthinkingly throwing away.
Despite its common classification as a waste, disposed off electronics are a considerable category of secondary resource due to their significant suitability for direct reuse ( for example, many fully functional computers and components are discarded during upgrades), refurbishing, and material recycling of its constituent raw materials.
E-waste processing systems have matured in the recent years following increased regulatory, public and commercial scrutiny. Part of this evolution has involved a greater diversion of e-waste from energy intensive, down-cycling processes (eg. conventional recycling) where equipment is reverted to a raw material form. This diversion is achieved through reuse and refurbishing. The environmental and social benefits of reuse are several: diminished demand for new products and their commensurate requirement for virgin raw materials (with their own environmental externalities not factored into the cost of the raw materials) and larger quantities of pure water and electricity for associated manufacturing, less packaging per unit, availability of technology to wider swaths of society due to greater affordability of products, and diminished use of landfills.
In a time of growing oil prices and climate change concerns, recyclable energy sources are an adequate solution and a compelling opportunity. All the energy saved helps reduce our CO2 emissions and strengthen a crumbling environment.