Posted in Silicone Recycling

Rubber Keypad Recycling

With the ever growing use of electronic gadgets in our daily lives, recycling of used electronic goods and their parts has become extremely important to keep our environment safe. When disposed improperly the remains of these electronic gadgets especially plastic and rubber keypads of old mobile phones and remote controls can impose hazards to both environment and human life.

Did you know? In a study conducted by market intelligence firm, ISuppli Corporation in 2007, there were nearly 700 million cell phones (old and used ones) only in America, of which 36.8% were stored in shelves and drawers, 10.2% were being thrown away and only 9.4% mobile phones were actually recycled.

Recycle User Rubber Keypads of Remote Control

It is recommended to recycle all recyclable components of old mobiles phones and remote controls including plastic body, rubber keypads and used batteries once you have stopped using them.

Now-a-days, many of us already know about recycling of used batteries and there are many initiatives to collect and recycle used mobile phones, their body parts as well as remote control batteries. Unfortunately, not many of us know how to recycle rubber keypads of remote controls which is why we do not even bother to dispose them off properly!

Recycling Rubber Keypads of Remote Controls

Rubber keypads are widely used in the “push-button” facilities found in the variety of electronic gadgets we use in our daily lives. These rubber keypads are mainly made of silicone (the main constituent of rubber keypads) and are extensively used in remote controls and mobile phones.
Since silicone is also used in many kitchen utensils, most of us think that it does not pose any potential health hazards. Well, it doesn’t when it comes to its usage but owing to its non-biodegradable nature, silicone rubber keypads have been proven harmful for the environment.

Silicone is basically a synthetic rubber material which contains bonded silicone (Si) and oxygen (O2) and it doesn’t decompose naturally so it has to be recycled properly.

Usually silicone rubber keypads are disposed off to land filling. While there are not many known ways to recycle rubber keypads of remote controls, there are some E-recycling companies that invest heavily in recycling silicone based rubber keypads. Companies like Eco USA are extensively working on collecting rubber keypads of remote controls and recycling them into useful Silicone Oil.

Eco USA is a leader in recycling industrial silicone materials. They opt for eco-friendly and environmental friendly ways to recycle and reuse industrial materials one of which is Silicone. Being experts in silicone recycling, they not only recycle disposed silicone products effectively but also collect the disposed off products from there respective clients.

Eco USA concentrates mainly on recycling most forms of silicone and siloxane. After collecting the materials, they depolymerise it to recover silicone monomers such as D3 and D4, and from that they make silicone oil which is extensively used as a lubricant for industrial machines.

Recycling Is Energy Efficient

Recycling rubber keypads of old mobile phones and remote controls is also energy efficient. If we recycle a single mobile phone, we can save up to 44 hours of power. If 130 million mobile phones are recycled only in America, enough energy can be saved to power more than 24,000 homes for a year.
If you are a company that wants to strike a deal for remote control rubber keypad recycling, you can connect with one of your local recycling companies or contact Eco USA today at to establish a lucrative recycling deal which will be beneficial for both environment and human health.

Happy Recycling!