What are the environmental benefits of reusing and recycling e-waste?

Electronic products are made from valuable resources and highly engineered materials, including metals, plastics, and glass, all of which require energy to mine and manufacture them. Reusing and recycling consumer electronics conserves our natural resources and avoids air and water pollution, as well as greenhouse gas emissions that are caused by manufacturing virgin materials.

The plastics recovered from cell phones are recycled into plastic components for new electronic devices or other plastic products such as garden furniture, license plate frames, non-food containers, and replacement automotive parts.

Why should I recycle my old electronics?

According to the E.P.A., electronic waste contributes 70% of the toxins found in landfills, while only contributing 1% of the volume of materials in landfills.  Electronic waste contains many toxic materials including lead, mercury, cadmium, phosphors and flame-retardants. Recycling your electronics waste decreases energy and water use, reduces pollution, and keeps hazardous chemicals out of our air and water

How much e-waste is in the waste stream?

In 2009, discarded TVs, computers, peripherals (including printers, scanners, fax machines) mice, keyboards, and cell phones totaled about 2.37 million short tons.

How much e-waste is recycled?

A great deal of what is labeled as “e-waste” is actually not waste at all; rather, it is whole electronic equipment or parts that are readily marketable for reuse or can be recycled for materials recovery. In 2010, approximately 25 percent of TVs, computer products, and cell phones that were ready for end-of-life management were collected for recycling. Cell phones were recycled at a rate of approximately 8 percent.

What is the environmental impact of disposing electronics into the environment without any precaution?

Electronics are complex devices which are made of a wide variety of material constituents. Some of the constituents, such as lead, nickel, cadmium, and mercury, could pose risks to human health or the environment if mismanaged at their end-of-life. EPA is very concerned about ensuring the proper management of used electronics and has undertaken important work to increase the collection and responsible recycling of used electronics.

How do I recycle my cell phone, batteries and accessories?

Drop them off or mail them in. Cell phones and their accessories can be recycled easily and conveniently. Cell phone recycling programs can be accessed from every state in the United States, as well as Puerto Rico and Guam. Many cell phone retailers, manufacturers, and service providers have ongoing programs where you can drop off, or mail in your used wireless phones, regardless of the age or model. Some charitable organizations and state or municipal solid waste programs also offer cell phone recycling. In almost all cases the recycling service is provided for free.

What happens to a cell phone after it is collected?

Once a cell phone is dropped off at a participating retail store, or mailed in, the device will likely be packaged and shipped to a recycling facility for evaluation. The used phone is typically inspected for:

Reuse: If wireless devices and accessories are in good working condition they can be cleaned up and returned to service. In other cases, the phone is disassembled and the parts are reused;
Refurbishment: Many wireless devices may be reconditioned or repaired and returned to service; or
Recycling: When wireless devices reach their end-of-life, they are sent to processing facilities that recover and recycle the reusable materials.

In 2009, approximately 38 percent of mobile devices collected for end-of-life management were reused or refurbished, and 62 percent were recycled for material recovery.

Is my personal information on my computer safe? Do I have to delete the hard drive?

Our recycler, WeRecycle! protects the data and personal information on electronics from the point of collection, through transport and processing.  WeRecycle! adheres to the most up-to-date security standards and practices and is certified to Department of Defense standards.

If you would like to do your own data removal go to Kill Disk or Darik's Boot and Nuke , both programs are free.

What can I bring?

We accept the following working and non-working equipment:

•    Computers (laptops & desktops, servers, mainframes)
•    Monitors
•    Printers, scanners, fax-machines, copiers
•    Network devices (routers, hubs, modems, etc.)

•    Peripherals (keyboards, mice, cables, cords, chargers, etc.)

•    Tablets and E-readers

•    Components (hard drives, CD-ROMs, circuit boards, power supplies, etc.)
•    TVs, VCRs, DVRs, & DVD Players
•    Digital Converter Boxes, Cable/Satellite Receivers

•    Portable music players

•    Audio-visual equipment

•    Video-games
•    Cell phones, pagers, PDAs
•    Telecommunication (phones, answering machines, etc.)

What is the benefits of reusing and recycling products over extracting virgin materials for use in manufacturing

Using recycled products instead of virgin materials during manufacturing, dramatically reduces pollution and carbon emissions, reduces energy and water consumption, and frees up much needed space for necessary landfill.

Here are examples of some of the savings made on carbon emissions by using recycled materials :

• By using a tonne of recycled steel rather than primary iron ore, carbon emissions are reduced by 2.1 tonnes
• When one tonne of aluminium is recycled, carbon emissions are reduced by a staggering 7.9 tonnes
• For every tonne of computers recycled, carbon emissions are reduced by approximately 4.0 tonnes

The IMRA (Indian Metals Recycling Association) advises that energy savings from re-using major non ferrous commodities are:

• Aluminium 95%
• Copper 85%
• Lead 65%
• Zinc 60%