4 Easy Ways to Recycle Your Old Keyboard

Why do we need to recycle our keyboards?

Last month we took part in Plastic Free July, it’s an initiative to work towards seeing a world free of plastic waste. Did you know that less than 10% of plastic is actually recycled and turned into a new product! The rest ends up in landfill or polluting our oceans with at least 100,000 marine mammals dying each year.

At Keyboard Specialists we do try our utmost to reduce waste, however there is always more that can be done.  By joining this initiative, we learnt new ways of reducing waste and it was great to hear about what others are doing.  We all took it upon us to really limit our single use plastic, both at work and home and we noticed a huge difference. 

Recent data shows that the global keyboard market is expected to grow from $100 billion to $132 billion by 2025. That means more keyboard sales (which is good for us) but does mean there will be more of ‘out with the old’.  We therefore need a more sustainable way to dispose of keyboards without them ending up in landfill and further polluting our planet.   So here are four ideas from Keyboard Specialists on ways to recycle your old keyboards.

1) Sell it!

Selling keyboards is a great way to make a bit of extra money, and is a brilliant way to prevent extra plastic from entering landfill. Most of this plastic will take 500 years to decompose and can leach toxins into groundwater supplies killing lots of biodiversity in the process.

2) Donate your old equipment.

if your old keyboard works you can always donate it to a local charity shop. Most charity shops will accept old electronics and refurbish them if needed. This means you can not only help the environment but also help your charity of choice and make the world a better place.

3)There are so many fun ways to upcycle a keyboard.

You can make message boards or jewellery with old keys. Or the keyboard can be disassembled to make models and statues. This is the perfect way to entertain your children during the summer holidays.   A quick internet search on upcycling old keyboards can give you lots of ideas too.

4)  Go online to find the nearest recycling centre.

This the best way to discard your keyboard, because they are electronic waste. This kind of waste can often be extremely dangerous when not disposed of correctly. Old electronic keyboards and mice can release toxic materials and leach into the environment killing countless species of wildlife.

We hope this article has inspired you to try and find an eco-friendly way to dispose of your old keyboard!