Protect Our Environment

When it comes to protecting and preserving our precious environment, Pacific Corporate Solutions' position is crystal clear. We're committed to making a huge impact by helping to reduce the amount of e-waste sent to landfills.

The phrase "e-waste" makes it sound like your favorite electronics can do a lot of damage if disposed of improperly. What exactly is so toxic about these devices that they account for 70 percent of the overall toxic waste that you currently find in landfills? In addition to valuable metals like copper, electronics often contain hazardous materials like mercury. When placed in a landfill, this toxic material, even in small doses can contaminate soil as well as our precious drinking water. Hawaii's drinking water is primarily considered artesian based. A drop of rain on the ground typically takes up to 25 years before reaching the water table. That is why it's so important to control what is being put into our landfills today. In addition to the serious landfill capacity problem, the more compelling issue is what toxic substances could be entering into our water table over the next 25 years. What's in e-waste? According to EPA, approximately up to 20 percent of CRTs (TV's & monitors) are comprised of lead. That's equivalent to between four and eight pounds of lead per unit! It's widely accepted that even the smallest amount of lead can pose serious health issues.

It's estimated there are over 500 million used cell phones ready for disposal worldwide today! Cell phone batteries can contain nickel and cadmium. Cadmium is linked as a human carcinogen that causes lung and liver damage. Here's some of the e-waste currently going into landfills along with the toxic material that may be present:

In 2005 alone, almost two million tons of e-waste ended up in landfills. While toxic materials comprise only a small amount of this volume, it doesn't take much lead or mercury to contaminate an area's soil or water supply. Keep this in mind when you°re figuring out what to do with those old electronic devices. Call Pacific Corporate Solutions and let us assist you in helping our environment.