Electronic Products Recycling Association celebrates five years in Prince Edward Island

The Electronic Products Recycling Association (EPRA) of Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, celebrated its fifth year as a collector and recycler of end-of-life electronic products for the island in 2015.

EPRA is a Canada-based nonprofit, industry-led organization that works with manufacturers, retailers, municipal governments and consumers to ensure end-of-life electronics are diverted from landfills and recycled in an efficient and environmentally responsible manner.

EPRA held a celebration in July at the GreenIsle Waste Watch Drop-off Centre in Charlottetown. Guests included Robert Mitchell, minister of communities, land and environment; Cliff Hacking, president and CEO of EPRA; Gerard MacLellan, executive director of EPRA Atlantic Canada; and Gerry Moore, CEO of Island Waste Management.

“Islanders can and should be proud of what’s been achieved here over the last five years,” said Mitchell at the event. “This level of commitment to responsibly recycling electronics is a true reflection of their belief in being responsible stewards of our beautiful province.”

Mitchell also congratulated EPRA of Prince Edward Island and the more than 300 participating retailers, manufacturers, distributors and suppliers of regulated electronics in the province for facilitating the program.

Since it was launched in July of 2010, the e-stewardship program has collected and recycled more than 3,000 metric tons of unwanted electronics in the province, EPRA says. “That’s approximately 465,000 TVs, computers, printers and a myriad of other electronic devices diverted from landfill and illegal export,” said Hacking. “Not only are these products being recycled responsibly, but they also yield a host of valuable materials such as steel, copper, silver, palladium and glass that is put back into the manufacturing supply chain.”

MacLellan observed that PEI has a 4.5 kilogram (10 pounds) per capita electronics recycling rate and that 80 percent of PEI residents are aware of the program.

“Ninety-nine percent of the population is within 30 kilometers (20 miles) of an EPRA drop-off depot, and that makes a difference," MacLellan said. 

There are six authorized drop-off centers on the island. The program is funded by an Environmental Handling Fee (EHF) charged on the sale of new designated electronic products. Paid at the time of purchase, the fees are used to support the collection, transportation and responsible recycling of end-of-life electronics, the association says.