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Your actions can make a difference. By taking some simple steps, you can help alleviate the problems associated with electronic waste.
1. Tell a friend. Publicize electronic waste recycling and reuse options to friends and neighbors, and send them a link to the GreenerChoices.org Electronics Reuse & Recycling Center.
2. Find out if the companies you buy products from have a “take back” recycling program. If not, request that they start one. Companies that “take back” their equipment for recycling and reuse are following what’s known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). This is considered among the most effective means to address electronic waste and is a concept supported by Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports. | |
• To learn which computer companies have take-back recycling programs, visit the Computer Take Back Campaign’s list of company recycling programs (PDF).
• For cell phone take-back recycling programs, contact the service provider to ask if it has a recycling program and, if so, how the program works. You can also visit Earthwork’s Cell Phone Recycling Report Card, (PDF) which evaluates the wireless industry’s recycling efforts, and has found them unsatisfactory.
• For other electronic products, contact the manufacturer. |
For more information on Consumers Union’s efforts to promote responsible electronics recycling, you can read a summary (PDF) or the complete white paper (PDF)entitled "Electronic Waste: Finding Sustainable Solutions that Work Better for Consumers."
3. Get involved in campaigns to reduce electronic waste and promote more effective recycling.| |
• Consumers Union is calling on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to prohibit the practice of forcing consumers to switch to a new cell phone when they change carriers. Keeping the same cell phone can save money and protect the environment by reducing the number of discarded phones. Click here to learn how you can help.
• The “Computer Take Back Campaign” aims to protect the health and well-being of electronics users, workers, and the communities where electronics are produced and discarded by requiring manufacturers and brand owners to take responsibility for the life cycle of their products. Click here to learn how you can help.
• The Earthworks “Recycle My Cell Phone Campaign” is a grassroots effort to educate consumers and build awareness about recycling and the environmental impacts of cell phone waste, and in turn, significantly increase the number of cell phones recycled. Click here to learn how you can help. |
4. Find out if your community has a recycling program for electronic products. If not, encourage local officials to start one. To learn whether there’s a program in your community, contact your local waste management agency, or consult the searchable map on the Electronic Industry Alliance Web site. | |
• If a program is not in place, you can refer your local officials to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Plug into E-cycling resources for state and local governments.
• If a program is in place, you can find out whether it follows responsible guidelines by asking the questions below:
These questions and acceptable sample answers were adapted from the Basel Action Network (BAN), an environmental advocacy group.
Q1. Which state or local electronics disposal laws do you comply with? [Acceptable answer would be that they comply with state and local electronics disposal regulations; to find out about E-waste legislation in your area, visit the US Environmental Protection Agency's e-cycling map (scroll down to see state listings)].
Q2. Do you send any electronic waste overseas? If so, where? [Acceptable answer would be that if they do send it overseas, they send it to developed countries including those in the European Union, and to facilities with environmental management systems in place.]
Q3. Where do you send your hazardous waste? [Acceptable answer would be that they send it to a facility that specializes in hazardous waste.]
-More specifically, where do you send your high value circuit boards (those that contain precious metals)? [Acceptable answer would be that circuit boards are sent to a facility that recovers metals or repairs
boards.]
-Where do you send your low-value circuit boards (those that contain little or no precious metals, as found in monitors and TVs)? [Acceptable answer would be that these circuit boards are sent to a facility that repairs boards or disposes of them in an environmentally responsible way.] |
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