Expo Neighbors Environmental Group

Recycle Old Electronics

Plug Into Recycling

Is it time to get a new computer, cell phone, or hey, even a new TV? Well, if you are thinking of getting a new one, you should pay some thought to what you are going to do with the old one. This site will tell you where and how you can recycle electronics.

Did you know that mobile phones will be discarded at a rate of 130 million per year by 2005, resulting in 65,000 tons of waste? Or that TVs and computers can contain an average of 4 pounds of lead (depending on their size, make, and vintage) as well as other potential toxins like chromium, cadmium, mercury, beryllium, nickel, zinc, and brominated flame retardants? These materials need to be handled carefully.

More than 3.2 million tons of electronic waste is laid to rest in landfills each year. That sounds like a lot to me.

Discards

With Plug Into Recycling you can find companies near you that recycle these items. I know that in our city the Humane Society is collecting them for recycling, and Alltel is collecting them to make emergency phones for battered women.

Recucle

So, don't let your old electronics go to waste. Find out where to recycle them. You could be helping out by donating your old electronics rather than using them for paperweights, or worse, taking up landfill space.