Recycling Electronics - Today & For The Future

It seems as technology progresses, so does the amount of "junk" we accumulate. As of right now, I have many, many pieces of electronics that I need to recycle. Doing some research online I found a great resource, the NCER is a non-profit organization started in 2005 to give information to the public on where to recycle their old TV's, computer monitors, computer equipment, electronics, inkjet cartridges, office machines, toner cartridges, cell phones...the list literally goes on and on.

As of this posting, electronic waste accounts for 70% of the overall toxic waste in our landfills. With the new FCC ruling requiring all tv's to go digital by 2009, we are looking at a lot of old CRT tv's headed for our landfills. The problem lies in the fact that these tv's are full of lead, which in turn seeps into our soil and ultimately into our daily lives via drinking water and irrigation.

Many of todays electronics are also filled with other harmful metals, such as Mercury. But, with the bad, comes the good. Quite a few computer components use small amounts of gold and copper, these elements can be recycled and reused by donating to the proper Electronic Recovery programs which in turn sell them back to the manufacturers at a lower cost. Recycling electronics is going to play a huge role in our landfills in the coming years. Following Gordon E. Moore's theory on processing power and how it doubles every 18 months is a clear sign that we are in trouble. With the advances of technology, we also see more waste, and until this problem becomes apparent either through media organizations or blogs like this, then we will have to take small steps by enlightening others around us.

This list below should get you started on your way to donating or recycling your old electronic equipment:

To find a location near you:
NCER

By Manufacturer:
Acer

Apple

Dell

Epson

Gateway

Hewlett-Packard

IBM/Lenova

LG Electronics

Motorolla

Panasonic

Samsung

Sharp

Sony

Toshiba


Retailer Programs:
Best Buy

Circuit City

EPA-Plug In Partner (lists manufacturers, retailers and service providers that offer recycling of e-waste)

Office Depot

Staples


Donations:
EPA

Techsoup

Goodwill


Cell Phone Recycling/Donations:
AT&T

Call To Protect

Call To Recycle

Motorola

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence

Nokia

Sprint Wireless

T-Mobile Wireless

Verizon Wireless