Electronics Recycling Association Expands Electronics Collection Depots

The Electronics Recycling Association (ERA), Alberta, Canada, is opening a large 20,000-square-foot facility in downtown Vancouver that will act as the main collection and sorting depot for computers and electronics collected from the 50 or so collection points across British Columbia.

ERA has been operating a pilot project in British Columbia for the past year. The organization has successfully contracted nearly 20 collection depots in the lower mainland and up to 30 more across British Columbia to accept donations of used computers.

Collected computers and electronics are sorted by volunteers and the staff of ERA, which operates similar depots in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta; Toronto and Montreal as well as in other cities across Canada. ERA says that the collected computers and electronics are donated to local charitable and non-profit organizations or sold to various local computer wholesalers and retailers. All end-of-life equipment is handled by certified recyclers, according to ERA.

ERA will make the complete list of drop-off locations public through its Web sites at www.era.ca and www.electronicrecyclingassociation.com.

Large corporations, government departments and small businesses can choose to deal with ERA directly by arranging to have their equipment picked up via van, truck, trailer, or even train thanks to a partnership with CP Rail.

Electronic Recycling Association is a private, nonprofit corporation established to manage the collection and sorting of used computers and electronics discarded in British Columbia. ERA also provides donations of thousands of computers to various charities and non profit groups across Canada. ERA contracts equipment wholesalers and retailers to manage usable computers, as well as certified recyclers to manage the end-of-life product for commodity recycling in Alberta and British Columbia.