The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with state environmental agencies in the mid-Atlantic region, announced positive results of eCycling, the nation's first-of-a-kind collaboration between state government agencies and the electronics industry to promote reuse and recycling of electronics equipment.
"We are proud to bring recycling to the electronic age. By safely recycling old computer and electronic equipment, this project is paving the way to sustainable eCycling and helping to save precious landfill space," said Donald S. Welsh, mid-Atlantic regional administrator.
Using funds from the U.S. EPA, mid-Atlantic state environmental agencies, and manufacturers Panasonic, Sharp, Sony and other members of the Electronic Industries Alliance, eCycling collected more than 2,100 tons of electronics from residents in the mid-Atlantic states and prevented more than 21,000 cathode ray tubes from going into regional landfills and incinerators.
eCycling is a year-long pilot project to evaluate different methods of collecting end-of-life electronics from residents and small businesses: to learn the costs, the best processes, and define the roles and responsibilities of government, consumers, and electronics manufacturers, retailers, and recyclers.
Electronic equipment collected during the 45 eCycling drop-off events in 31 counties and cities included televisions, monitors, computers, printers, keyboards, and scanners. Both government and manufacturers shared the cost to transport and process the equipment collected through eCycling. Other electronics manufacturers who contributed financially to eCycling included Canon, Hewlett Packard, JVC, Kodak, Philips Consumer Electronics - North America, and Thomson Multimedia.
Electronics recyclers who helped to transport, recycle, and refurbish three million pounds of eCycling electronics were Envirocycle, Inc. of Hallstead, Pa., Elemental, Inc., of Philadelphia, PA, and Waste Management, Inc. – Recycle America of San Leandro, Ca..
In a meeting held Oct. 9, government and industry partners agreed to continue offering mid-Atlantic residents electronics reuse and recycling opportunities for another year, and to try recruiting additional television and computer manufacturers to join eCycling.
To promote its e-Cycling program, the Maryland Department of the Environment and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, produced a commercial to encourage consumers to look for ways to recycle or reuse old computer equipment.
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