Recycle America Alliance to Host Electronics Recycling Events

Waste Management Inc., Houston, has announced that its subsidiary Recycle America Alliance (RAA), will host electronics recycling events in select cities during the first two weekends in October.

Events will be held Oct. 2 in Seattle, Los Angeles and Minneapolis and Oct. 9 in Atlanta, Austin, Miami and Indianapolis. RAA will join with Simon Property Group and Keep America Beautiful to coordinate the events.

Computers, printers, scanners and other consumer electronics will be accepted for free, while televisions will be accepted for a small fee. No household appliances, such as microwaves, will be accepted. All electronic waste collected will go to RAA facilities for processing, which includes de-manufacturing and recycling of certain byproducts.

Waste Management is participating in the events to celebrate receiving the 2004 Keep America Beautiful "Vision for America" award. Keep America Beautiful Inc. is a national non-profit public education organization. Since 1953, the organization has engaged individuals to take great responsibility for improving their local community environments. The "Vision for America" award is given annually to companies who demonstrate a commitment to environmental stewardship and community service.

Waste Management Chairman of the Board A. Maurice Myers will accept the award at a dinner event to be held in New York Oct. 19.

"We work hard every day to demonstrate our commitment to the environment," Myers says. "I can't think of a better way to celebrate the 'Vision for America' award than by sharing our commitment with the residents in these cities and providing a valuable service to them."

"Waste Management has an impressive and long-standing record on environmental stewardship," Keep America Beautiful President G. Raymond Empson says. "Keep America Beautiful knows that Waste Management's corporate environmental philosophy is based on a deeply rooted commitment to support the environment and conserve natural resources."

"Simon Malls play a major role in many communities across the country. Our relationship with Waste Management enables us to strengthen our commitment to keeping the environment in and around our shopping centers clean," Dennis Cavangh, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Simon Business Network/Simon Management Group, says. "We are pleased to join with Waste Management to host this e-Cycling program at select Simon Malls, as it is a great way to create public awareness about the safe disposal of unwanted electronics," he adds.

Waste Management's Recycle America Alliance has been conducting e-Cycling events for over 5 years. Year-to-date, 1.3 million pounds of e-waste has been collected from various events. By year's end, that number is expected to grow to nearly 1.5 million pounds collected.

Through a network of material recovery facilities, Recycle America Alliance provides recycling services throughout the United States and in Canada.

For more information on Keep America Beautiful and the 2004 "Vision for America" Award, visit www.kab.org.