Texas Chooses Goodwill

Goodwill Industries of Central Texas has been named one of 10 recipients of the Texas Environmental Excellence Award. The non-profit agency has received the award from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) for its computer recycling program.

Representatives from Goodwill will receive the award from at the Texas Environmental Excellence Awards banquet, taking place in Austin on May 10.

Goodwill recycles and rebuilds computers and other electronic equipment donated through its drop-off locations and through the Austin Recycling Project, a joint project with Dell and the City of Austin that offers curbside pickup of computers in the greater Austin area.

Goodwill then resells the refurbished computers in retail outlets called Computer Works, located in Austin and San Antonio. Systems and parts determined unusable are recycled or disposed of in an environmentally responsible way, according to the TCEQ.

Most of the revenue generated by Computer Works stores helps fund Goodwill’s mission of providing jobs and job-related services to people with barriers to employment. Goodwill clients receive training in computer technology, inspection and repair through the organization’s computer recovery center. Some gain full-time employment in the center or at Computer Works stores.

In 2005, Goodwill recycled or resold more than 2,200 tons of computers and peripherals. Reusing 28 percent of this equipment saved more than 30,000 tons of natural resources necessary for manufacture of new products, Goodwill estimates. One of the first Goodwill programs of its kind, Computer Works has served as a national model for other Goodwill partners seeking an environmentally responsible solution to disposing and reusing electronic waste, according to the TCEQ.

The TCEQ presents its awards annually to environmental projects across the state that demonstrate “the highest achievements in resource conservation, waste reduction and pollution prevention.” More information on the program and applications for next year’s awards can be found at www.teea.org.