Everlights

We want to start this blog post out with a quick poll. You can choose not to participate, but we’d love it if you did!

If you answered “throw it away,” you could be in big trouble come January 1.

Businesses (and homeowners) in Illinois will be prohibited from sending old electronic equipment to landfills. While there is currently a law in effect that requires some of that electronic material to be recycled, the new regulation adds more equipment to the list, and creates bigger penalties for businesses that do not comply.

How big are these penalties? Currently the fine for violating the Illinois e-waste recycling law is $1,000 per incident. Once January rolls around, however, the fines will be increased to $7,000 for each violation. You may be thinking to yourself, “$7,000 isn’t much money in the grand scheme of things.” While that may be true, it seems pointless to accept a penalty when it’s so simple to safely and lawfully dispose of your material.

Because these laws require manufacturers to recycle a certain percentage of the equipment they sell, most will have a program in place for you to return used equipment. Since businesses and buildings go through electronic equipment more often, and in greater numbers than a homeowner does, these programs aren’t always ideal for them. Luckily, there are recycling companies (like EverLights) that make recycling e-waste safe and easy for businesses.

Our e-waste recycling process guarantees all of your information is safely disposed of. Before materials are shredded, all the information is wiped from your hard drives, ensuring nobody will ever get their hands on it. Once your information is removed, the materials go through a shredding and smelting process to break them down into their original forms. The “new” material is then sent off to manufacturers who use it to create new equipment, including electronics. Once the process is complete, we’ll send you a certificate of recycling, proving that your materials were recycled following all regulations.

If you’re not recycling electronic equipment at your office or building, you should be. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it’s also required by law. Plus it’s really easy.

We’re more than happy to answer any questions you might have about this topic. Feel free to give us a call any time at (877) 934-9873 or send an email to info@everlights.com and we’ll help you out.