Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), otherwise known as electronic waste or e-waste, is currently considered to be one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the EU with some 40 million tons of e-waste being generated every year, worldwide (source: The World Counts).
E-waste is a global environmental problem. It can be composed of heavy metals, rare earth metals and other potentially hazardous material. As they break up over time and get released into the air, water and land, it’s not good for human health or the planet. Pollution aside, there’s another reason why it doesn’t make sense to trash e-waste like desktop computers, printed circuit boards and cables. They contain precious metals that are difficult to source, leading to higher prices as well as increasing the demand on primary sources and the energy needed to produce them.
To improve the environmental management of WEEE and enhance resource efficiency, responsible telecom recycling and treatment of electronics at the end of their life is essential. Businesses are also subject to a number of legal requirements regarding how to deal with e-waste responsibly; you can learn more by reading our article on WEEE recycling regulations for businesses.
Our WEEE recycling service tackles e-waste, shrinking your carbon footprint, enhancing value, and lessening the need for mining precious metals
The telecom recycling services we provide
Sustainability has been part of our company’s vision since the very beginning. When the time comes for your organisation to purchase upgraded telecom network equipment or streamline its inventory, we recommend trading in what you have via our asset recovery solutions. This service has a focus on reuse and resale, allowing other companies to make use of your old equipment — which can almost always be refurbished — and become a vital part of how to reduce the electronic waste problem.
Where equipment has no further market value, or cannot be refurbished for return to service, we offer a comprehensive WEEE recycling service. This service is supported with a transparent audit trail and certificates of destruction or formatting, assuring customers of our secure and appropriate disposal methods.
We make the whole process simple for our customers
Through TXO’s “take-all” asset recovery model, customers don’t need to separate items for resale vs. recycling before collection. Upon receipt of your materials, we use a sophisticated software programme called i-JUDGE to guide decisions about what happens with your equipment. It works by leveraging our full sales data history and aggregating this with global stock levels to identify equipment for immediate recycling when there’s no resale demand.
When repair and refurbishment are not viable, i-JUDGE guides the equipment toward WEEE recycling
We maximise efficiencies of scale on our recycling projects
As Europe’s leading recycler of telecoms equipment, processing over 100 tonnes per month, we are able to extract maximum residual value for component parts broken down in our processing facilities for WEEE recycling.
One of our primary objectives is to reduce all waste going to landfills. We currently process more than 1,200 tonnes per year, recycling 94% of all materials recovered. The size and scale of our telecoms asset recovery operations mean we are able to command exceptional pricing from our WEEE recycling partners which translates into the highest possible recycling yields for the customer. For more details, please contact us to discuss your WEEE recycling requirements.
The types of IT & telecom network equipment we recycle
We specialise in WEEE category 3: IT and telecommunications equipment and can handle waste recycling and disposal for all types of telecoms and data equipment. This includes mainframes, networking, telecoms, digital and analogue broadcasting, mobile communication infrastructures, cabinets, base stations (BTS), desktop computers, peripherals, circuit boards, cables and components including storage media and hard disk drive destruction.
Non-hazardous materials are separated before processing. Cardboard, aluminium, steel and other metals are recycled and returned to productive use. Printed circuit boards, back panels, motherboards, connectors and IC chips are refined to recover precious metals including gold (Au), silver (Ag), palladium (Pd) and copper (Cu). CRT, LCD and plasma display monitors contain at least trace amounts of lead and other heavy metals which must be processed and refined, not landfilled. Any hazardous material is removed for safe recovery.
TXO processes materials across 5 continents, minimising CO2e emissions by cutting transport distances and promoting local recycling efforts
Recycle your telecoms & data equipment safe in the knowledge that:
You’ll know exactly what your project is worth – we provide transparent pricing and issue a detailed Certificate of Destruction (CoD)
Payments are quick – in fact we’re among the fastest in the industry for telecoms and corporate WEEE recycling
Any data left on a device will be securely wiped without a trace – our secure data wiping and destruction service provides Blancco certified data erasure & hard drive shredding options
All items are disposed of safely and responsibly with minimum impact on the environment – we hold high environmental standards and maintain industry best practices for safe and responsible WEEE recycling, with all activities carried out in line with regulatory legislation
WEEE recycling benefits
Realise the value of your end-of-life telecoms assets and increase profitability
Reduce toxic waste disposal, divert useful resources from landfill and achieve huge carbon savings
Fulfil your WEEE obligations and comply with increasingly stringent environmental legislation
Identify new business recycling opportunities and achieve your environmental targets
Best practice approach minimises legal liabilities and risk from penalties and affords brand protection
Our customer portal, i-TRAC, provides detailed reporting on your recycled telecoms assets
Peace of mind – we have all the relevant certifications and permits for the recovery, processing and transportation of electronics waste
Work with an EcoVadis corporate social responsibility (CSR) rated supplier
