EPA Launches Campaign to Improve Electronics Recycling

The Environmental Protection Agency has kicked off a campaign called Plug-In Recycling to encourage Americans to reuse or recycle used electronics.

In addition to the EPA, other groups involved in the partnership include Best Buy, AT&T Wireless, Sony, Panasonic, Dell, Sharp, Recycle America, Envirocycle Inc., and Nxtcycle. The goal of the program is to heighten the awareness of the value of reusing and recycling electronics, and to provide increased opportunities to reuse and recycling the materials throughout the country.

The program was announced Jan. 11.

"In the past decade, electronics have spurred economic growth and improved our lives in countless ways, but our growing reliance on electronics has given rise to a new environmental challenge: safe and thoughtful management of electronic waste," said Marianne Lamont Horinko, EPA Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "Reusing and recycling electronics is something Americans can do in their everyday lives to protect the environment, and this campaign will show them how.

"Many local governments, electronics manufacturers, retailers, recyclers, and non-profit organizations have established reuse and recycling programs for electronics," Horinko added. "We want to get the word out about these opportunities and build momentum for even more reuse and recycling programs."

The campaign is one of several new EPA efforts under the Agency's Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC), which seeks to increase the national recycling rate from 30 to 35 percent and cut the generation of 30 harmful chemicals by 2005.

Under the RCC, EPA is working with electronics manufacturers, retailers, recyclers, and government agencies to reduce the environmental impacts of electronic products during their production, use, and disposal. The Agency will also establish partnerships and alliances with industry, states and environmental groups; provide training, tools and technology assistance for businesses, governments and citizen groups and get the word out through outreach and assistance to the general population, especially to youth and minority groups.

RCC efforts also include: EPA's ENERGY STAR program, which encourages the manufacture and use of more energy efficient products; and the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive's Federal Electronics Stewardship Challenge. This latter program will use the substantial buying power of the federal government to promote, among other things, the purchase of environmentally preferable electronic products.