This month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will offer a number of electronics recycling, or eCycling, collection events for residents and especially local, state, and federal government employees who live and work in the Philadelphia and Washington, DC, metropolitan areas.
Electronics recycling keeps dangerous materials such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and chromium from possibly harming the environment and saves precious landfill space, the EPA says. All electronics will be refurbished or recycled.
Government and industry will share the cost to collect, transport, and process the equipment collected during these eCycling events. Electronics manufacturers Panasonic, Sharp, and Sony will pay to recycle their respective brands of electronics that are collected during these events.
The eCycling events will take place in Bucks County, Pennsylvania; Camden County, New Jersey; Montgomery County, Maryland; and Arlington County, Virginia, and will be open to all residents of these counties. These events will not accept electronics from government agencies, organizations, or businesses.
The first event will be held in Lindenwold, N.J. on March 22 from 10 am until 3 pm.
"I want to encourage residents, and especially government employees, to recycle their outdated personal computers and electronic equipment. This eCycling collection event in Lindenwold is a the perfect opportunity to start a new life for the electronics that have been collecting dust in your basement or garage," said Donald Welsh, EPA mid-Atlantic regional administrator.
The eCycling program is the nation's first of its kind collaboration among the U.S. EPA, state environmental agencies, and the electronics industry to collect, reuse and recycle old computer equipment, televisions, and other electronics.
Since October 2001, eCycling has collected more than 2,700 tons of electronics from residents in the mid-Atlantic states and has prevented more than 22,000 cathode ray tubes from going into landfills and incinerators.