Growing up, we had a drawer in my kitchen that we affectionately called the “trash drawer” and it was where we would stuff anything and everything that didn’t have a concrete home. Take-out sauce packets? Trash drawer. Those three loose and leftover screws from the IKEA desk we’d just built? Trash drawer. The charger to Dad’s old laptop that no longer booted up? You guessed it; straight to the trash drawer.  

The problem became that not only did my family have a drawer like this, but my roommates’ did as well. Which means I’m sure those of you reading this also know about the trash drawer. Consider this—if every household in the US has a drawer, or a box, or a bin stuffed with old wires and trash, what do we do with it?  

Wires and Waste 

In 2023, humans produced a whopping 62 million metric tons of e-waste globally. That's like 7,000 Eiffel Towers’ worth of discarded gadgets and gizmos. Unfortunately, this number is only going to keep growing, as each year, we develop newer versions of modern tech that render the older ones essentially useless to many. A big chunk of e-waste comes from the manufacturing sector, churning out batteries and cables for every electrical item we create. Projections indicate that this figure could rise to 82 million tons by 2030.   

The kicker? When we empty out the trash drawer, we’re tossing away those cables and wires as if they’re useless junk. However, they're packed with valuable materials like copper, aluminum, and other precious metals that could still prove to be useful. 

Unfortunately, in 2022, only 22.3% of e-waste was properly collected and recycled, while the remaining materials, estimated to be worth almost $62 billion, were discarded in landfills. Although efforts to improve e-waste recycling are on the rise, the process remains labor-intensive. On top of that, a significant portion of e-waste is shipped off to developing countries where cheap labor makes it easier to promote dangerous recycling practices involving hazardous chemicals. By properly recycling this waste, we're not just keeping more stuff out of landfills; we're also reducing the need for mining new materials. It's a win-win for the planet (and our wallets). 

The Best Ways to Recycle Electrical Wiring 

Microwaves 

Researchers in Japan and Italy have cooked up (pun intended) a super cool way to recycle electrical wiring using microwaves. They call it "microwave-induced pyrolysis," which is a fancy way of saying they zap the wires with microwaves to separate the metal from the plastic insulation. 

This isn’t something you can try at home though, so before you toss your old cables into the microwave like yesterday's leftovers, let me explain. Scientists place wiring into a glass reactor and expose them to microwave radiation of 100, 200, and 300 W. The method carbonizes the PVC insulation and exposes the copper wire without damaging it, allowing for easy recovery without generating highly toxic byproducts. 

“VVF cables are commonly used as power cables in houses and buildings and have a high-reuse value among e-waste. Our method is suitable for recycling and recovering e-waste containing metals and requires no pre-treatment to separate the plastics from the metals,” says Professor Satoshi Horikoshi from Sophia University, one of the lead authors of the study. 

The hope is to implement this practice on a global scale, but it could take some time before we see it used in our everyday lives.  

Sorting, Stripping, and Shredding 

For those of us without a fancy microwave recycling machine, there's still hope. The traditional method of recycling wires is easy to do on your own (though admittedly less cool) and involves three main steps. 

• Sorting: First, you need to separate different types of wires. I won’t be able to detail that too much in this blog without adding another thousand or so words, but you can read more about it here.  
• Stripping: This is where we remove the outer insulation to get to the good stuff inside. It can be done manually for small amounts, but larger operations use machines to strip the wires. 
• Shredding: Once the wires are stripped, they're chopped up into tiny pieces. This makes it easier to separate the different materials and melt them down for reuse. 

These freshly prepped pieces can now be shipped to or brought directly to your local electrical waste recycling plant. This is typically different from your standard recycling center so be sure to check your city/township website for information. 

Why This Matters 

At the end of the day, something as small as recycling your wires can seem innocuous and unimportant, but that is far from the reality. In fact, something as simple as untangling the wires in your trash drawer and recycling them can do a whole lot: 

For the Industry: 

• Cost Savings: Recycling wires means companies can recover valuable metals without the expense of mining. 
• Job Creation: The recycling industry is creating new jobs left and right. In fact, for every 1,000 tons of recycled material, we're looking at 1.57 new jobs.  
• Innovation Boost: As companies look for better ways to recycle, we're seeing cool new technologies pop up.  

For the Environment: 

• Resource Conservation: E-waste recycling prioritizes environmental protection. It includes proper handling, processing, and managing of electronic waste. 
• Energy Savings: It takes way less energy to recycle metals than to extract new ones. We're talking about saving enough electricity to power thousands of homes. 
• Landfill Reduction: Less e-waste in landfills means less toxic stuff leaching into our soil and water. 

Wrapping Up 

I know that the wires and gadgets in your trash drawer might not be the most glamorous topic, but it's one that's becoming more important every day as our world becomes more and more wired. 

Remember, every little bit helps. Whether you're a big manufacturing company looking to overhaul your recycling processes or just someone trying to figure out what to do with that drawer full of old chargers, you're able to be part of the solution. 

By embracing these recycling methods, we're not just clearing out our junk drawers; we're paving the way for a more sustainable, resource-efficient future. And who knows? Maybe one day, thanks to all our recycling efforts, we'll be able to power all of our homes with the energy saved from recycling all those tangled cables.