Inside the Afterlife of GW’s Electronics: What Staff from the GW Office of Sustainability Learned on an E-Waste Site Tour

When we toss out an old laptop or printer, it’s easy to assume it will end up in a recycling stream and live a new life. The reality is far more complex and interesting than you might expect. This February, a group from GW’s Office of Sustainability got a behind-the-scenes look at what happens to electronic waste during a site tour of eAsset Solutions, GW’s local e-waste recycling company. 

At its core, eAsset Solutions is a sorting and triage hub that has saved 18 million pounds of e-waste from entering landfills in their two decades of operations. About 85–90% of incoming material is broken down and sent to downstream recyclers, where plastics, metals, and glass are processed further. The remaining 10–15% is refurbished and resold, and that’s where the majority of the company’s profit comes from. Without resale, the economics of e-waste recycling would not be feasible for eAsset Solutions. For example, recycling TVs costs about $1 per inch, meaning a 55-inch screen costs $55 to process. This needs to be sold with a small profit margin to make up for the labor, warehouse, and other costs. Unfortunately, not everything can be reused or resold. Items like refrigerators have no second-hand market and must be fully de-manufacturered for parts, especially if they still contain hazardous refrigerants.  

Students also got a glimpse into the safety challenges behind the scenes. Lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries are a major fire risk, igniting quickly if still charged. To prevent disasters (several e-waste facilities have burned down because of these batteries being improperly stored), the batteries are kept in sealed, cement enclosures, often outside of the main processing facility. 

An especially surprising takeaway is how much waste is generated by institutional decisions. Students saw entire fleets of large copier/fax machines from a federal office. These machines had recently been discarded because of administrative and budget cuts, even though they were relatively new and in good working condition. 

Students were also able to see what e-waste could be. The facility occasionally receives vintage technology, from computers, to servers and processors, which are reminders that today’s technology could be tomorrow’s collectibles. For most items, if they’re not resold from the facility within 1–2 years, they’re scrapped due to rising storage costs and rapid technological obsolescence.

Practical Takeaways for the GW community

• Think Before You Throw! If your device still works, prioritize donating, reselling, or giving it to someone who will use it. Recycling is a backup plan, not the goal!
• Extend the Life: Try using devices for as long as they work before looking for recycling options. The 1–2 year resale window means rapid upgrades create waste so extending a device’s life by even a year makes a real difference.
• Intentionality: Be intentional about what you buy. Choose durable, repairable tech when possible.
• Safe Battery Disposal: This is a safety concern, not just a sustainability issue. Please do not throw lithium-ion batteries in the trash or leave them loose in bags. If batteries get wet, dangerous chemicals, such as hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and other VOCs, can be harmful to human and environmental health. Use GW’s battery drop-offs (listed below) and keep them dry and protected.
• Take Advantage of GW’s E-Waste Recycling Streams:
  • Batteries, small ink print cartridges, cell phones, and CFL bulbs can be deposited for recycling at several locations on campus:
    • Foggy Bottom
      • University Student Center (Ground Floor next to elevator)
      • Science and Engineering Hall (1st Floor West)
      • Gelman Library (Basement Level 2)
      • Shenkman Hall (1st Floor Elevators)
      • Mitchell Hall (Basement)
      • Strong Hall (Lobby)
      • District House (Level B-1 on H Street side near restrooms)
    • Mount Vernon Campus
      • West Hall @ Mount Vernon Campus (Lower Level 1)
  • Computers (CPUs, laptops, mice, keyboards, printers, and cables), and toner cartridges can be dropped at these locations or via a Fix-It request:
    • Support Building (2025 F St) Rear Loading Dock
    • Academic Center-DIT (801 22nd St)
    • Enterprise Hall (VSTC, 45085 University Drive) Loading Dock. Community members can use this instant drop-off option when needed instead of waiting for occasional drives or tossing items.
• Take advantage of local options beyond GW: Facilities like eAsset Solutions accept public drop-offs at 427 N Maple Ave Falls Church, VA 22046. A brief video of what they do, touching on some of the information from this article, can be found here.
• Keep small items out of the landfill: Cables, chargers, and accessories add up quickly and are easy to recycle through campus streams.

Looking Ahead

E-waste isn’t just a technical issue, it’s behavioral, economic, and deeply tied to how we consume technology. The next time you upgrade your device, it’s worth asking: where will this actually end up? And maybe more importantly, how long should it have lasted?

The author thanks the full-time staff at the Office of Sustainability who made this learning experience possible.