Pa. House Committee Holds Hearing on Electronics Recycling

“Pennsylvania is at the forefront of environmentally responsible electronics recycling, collecting more than 1 million pounds of unwanted electronic equipment since 2001,” DiPasquale said. “At least 24 counties in Pennsylvania have held electronics recycling events, and many more events are planned for this year. Most of our collections will take all electronics, including VCRs, tape decks, DVD players and televisions. They are not limited to just computer monitors and peripherals.”

DiPasquale stressed that environmentally responsible recycling of household electronics differs from traditional aluminum can and newspaper recycling in that electronics contain materials that can be hazardous to the environment, including lead, mercury, silver, chromium, zinc and cadmium, and the cost to properly remove and recycle these materials exceeds their value. Electronics also contain mixed-grade plastics that do not have a recyclable value.

It is estimated that Americans will have disposed of more than 500 million obsolete computers by 2007. The sale of Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitors is expected to exceed the sale of Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitors for the first time in 2004.

DiPasquale’s testimony is available on DEP’s Web site at www.dep.state.pa.us, Keyword: “Electronic Discards.” For more information on recycling, use Keyword: “Recycling.”