Organizations Partner to Provide Free Electronics Recycling

The South Robertson Neighborhood Council (SORONC) of Los Angeles and its Green Team have partnered with Goodwill of Southern California to provide free electronics recycling at neighborhood drop-off centers.

The official launch will be Sunday, Dec. 18, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Goodwill's donation center at 2502 S. Robertson Blvd. in Los Angeles and will include local officials. People dropping off electronics and passersby will learn about local recycling resources while enjoying entertainment and food. Visitors will also have a chance to win one of the two computer systems. Additionally, visitors who bring in a computer, a TV or a monitor for recycling will receive two free tickets to the Laugh Factory. Businesses also are welcome.

The centers will accept desktops, laptops, monitors, scanners, printers, fax machines, mice, keyboards, TVs and VCRs and other items that include either a plug or a battery.

"About 98 percent of a computer can be recycled or reused; 100 percent can be saved from ending up in the garbage heap," Noah Bleich, SORONC's Green Team chair says in a press release. "Recycling computer components keeps hazardous materials out of our landfill which seeps into ground and water and saves the cost of treating both."

Computers and technology donations expand job opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged people through Goodwill's Computer Recycling Services.

"We already divert about 10 tons of electronic waste from landfills monthly, employing 14 people,” Douglas Barr, Goodwill's president and CEO, says. “We have the capacity to do 40 tons a month to keep that much more in toxic materials from inappropriate dumping and add 42 more jobs.”