CEA releases study on electronics recycling

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), a technology trade association headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, has released a study showing that electronics recycling continues to receive significant support from consumers. The report, titled "Recycling and Reuse Study, 2014 Edition," shows that 82 percent of U.S. adults say that recycling obsolete electronics is important. The survey also finds that 30 percent of consumers surveyed have recycled electronic products over the past year.

“We’re pleased to see continued consumer support for electronics recycling, especially as the power of innovation brings new and better products to market faster than ever,” says Gary Shapiro, CEA president and CEO. “Our industry has more than doubled the amount of consumer electronics recycling over the past three years. And this study makes it clear that our ongoing consumer engagement and recycling education programs are more important than ever.”

The CEA says the recycling survey, conducted every two years, is part of its efforts to guide the industry’s recycling initiatives and support sensible electronics recycling policy. Among the other survey results:
 

• Fifty-nine percent of U.S. adults know where they can recycle electronics, a slight decline from 2012 (63 percent) but on par with 2010 results (58 percent).
• Almost all consumers surveyed (98 percent) say they would travel some distance to recycle their unwanted electronics, and more than one-third (36 percent) would travel more than 10 miles to do so.
• While a solid 82 percent of consumers say recycling their old electronics is important or very important to them, that total is 4 percent lower than in 2012 (86 percent). 
• The percentage of consumer recycling is up, but so is the percentage of those who discard—18 percent of consumers say they discarded electronics devices in the trash during the last year, a 6 percentage point increase from 2012.
   

“Whether it’s through our electronics recycler locator, public service announcements, educational partnerships or the thousands of electronics collection locations our industry sponsors, CEA is committed to empowering consumers to recycle their used electronics,” says Walter Alcorn, CEA vice president, environmental affairs and industry sustainability. “Our industry has now picked up the recycling tab for billions of pounds of old devices—a truly unprecedented effort led by manufacturers of televisions, computers and similar consumer electronics devices.”