According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than four million tons of electronics wind up in U.S. landfills each year. The EPA along with other federal agencies and private businesses, including Waste Management, has created programs to make recycling electronics easier.

“Used electronics have many valuable parts that can be recycled for use in building new electronics, which creates less strain on our natural resources,” said Ken Ryan, District Manager of Coast Waste Management in Carlsbad and Waste Management of North County in Oceanside. “Also, some components in electronic devices, when left to lie dormant in a landfill, can break down and potentially cause contamination of the soil and groundwater – so it’s best to handle these in a safe manner and have them recycled.”

Waste Management is the nation’s only coast-to-coast electronics recycler. Waste Management Recycle America has the largest network of drop-off locations and regional processing centers in the U.S. and Canada, making it more convenient for people to safely recycle their used electronics.

Locally, residents can recycle their used electronics by taking them to:

• The Waste Management Household Hazardous Waste Facility at 2880 Industry Street in Oceanside.
• Waste Management’s Recycle Center at 5960 El Camino Real in Carlsbad.
• (Both centers will accept e-waste during normal business hours, Tuesday – Saturday, 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM. Monitors, televisions and laptop computers can be dropped off at no charge – all other electronic waste is charged at 50 cents per pound at the time it is dropped off.)
• Residents of unincorporated areas of San Diego County can call the toll-free County Recycling and Hazardous Waste Hotline at (877) 713-2784 for additional information and other options for disposal sites.
• The State of California and partners also operate a Web site at www.erecycle.org with information about e-waste and recycling, including e-waste drop-off locations

The need to recycle electronics has coined two new words: e-waste and e-cycling. E-waste is any refuse created by discarded electronic devices and components. E-cycling is the practice of re-using, or distributing for reuse, electronic equipment and components rather than throwing them away.

According to Gartner Group research, more than four million computers will be replaced worldwide between 2004 and 2006. The EPA says that electronics disposal is a growing problem because electronic equipment frequently contains hazardous substances. In a personal computer, for example, lead can be found in the cathode ray tube (CRT) that displays the images on the monitor, as well as soldering compound, mercury in switches and housing, and cobalt in steel components. That’s why many states are drafting legislation to outlaw e-waste. So far, California and Massachusetts are the only two states to completely ban CRTs from landfills.

Waste Management Recycle America’s vast network is ahead of this legislation with recycling facilities and service partners in both California and Massachusetts plus in Colorado, Minnesota, Texas, Arizona, Florida, Virginia and Washington.

“We strive to make it easy for you to access e-cycling services that are customized, cost-effective and, most importantly, safe and friendly to the environment,” Ryan said.

Waste Management Recycle America has taken a leadership role in developing and signing an “environmental stewardship pledge,” assuring consumers that the collected materials are handled responsibly and in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner.

For those with electronics that still have some use left in them but that they no longer want, another option for responsible reuse and recycling is Freecycle.org. Waste Management serves as the sponsor of Freecycle, a grassroots community movement and non-profit organization based on the web and hosted by Yahoo. It is made up of individual city groups that promote waste reuse among the membership.

“Members can give and get great things for free, in an effort to keep unnecessary waste out of landfills,” Ryan said. “If you’re buying a new home computer and no longer want your old one – but it still works fine – you can offer it up for free to another person or nonprofit. The same thing happens with furniture, toys or other household items. It’s so simple: just post a description or respond to a member’s offer. After that, it’s up to the giver to decide who receives the gift and to arrange a pickup time for passing on the treasure.”

Freecycle is a free online community. To learn more about Freecycle, visit www.freecycle.org.

Waste Management, Inc. is the leading provider of comprehensive waste and environmental services in North America. For more information about recycling, log onto www.wm.com.

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