Retailers, Government Encourage E-Waste Recycling

Kwame Payne is eagerly preparing the store in Golden Ring for the holiday shopping season.

The big box electronics store will be full of the latest TVs, computers, smart phones and other electronics when customers pour in when its doors open at midnight after Thanksgiving for “Black Friday.”

But, go in the back of the store, and you could find VCRs, tape decks, bulky TVs and dot matrix printers.

All of those older electronic items have been dropped off as part of the store’s “e-waste” recycling program. Nationwide, Best Buy recycled—free of charge—more than 75 million pounds of e-waste in 2010. Since it pledged in 2009 to recycle 1 billion pounds of e-waste by 2014, Best Buy has recycled 300 million pounds.

“As people get new TVs, computers and cell phones, they need a place to get rid of their old stuff, which typically can’t be thrown away with the regular trash,” said Payne, operations manager at the Rosedale Best Buy. “We offer a convenient way of doing that while also taking care of the environment.”

Payne said Best Buy will accept just about any type of electronic item, including monitors, keyboards and cables, regardless of whether it was purchased at Best Buy. He expects more people to turn in older electronics following the holidays.

The push by Best Buy to encourage e-waste recycling comes as Baltimore County officials are trying to get more people to recycle in general as part of “America Recycles Day,” which is celebrated every Nov. 15.

The nationally recognized day is meant to encourage more Americans to recycle as well as purchase goods made from recycled materials.

Baltimore County recycling and waste prevention manager Charlie Reighart said that county residents recycled 47,182 tons in 2010, up around 30 percent from the 36,167 tons recycled in 2009.

Much of that recycled material, Reighart said, is e-waste.  It has been illegal to throw those items out as regular trash in the county since 2009.

He added that between September 2006 and September 2011, the county has recycled more than 11 million pounds of e-waste. This type of recycling, Reighart said, has not only added years to the life of local landfills, but has also been a financial benefit to the county, which earns about $90,000 a year from the recycling.

“We have gone from having a few days a year of being able to recycle e-waste to residents being able to drop it off at multiple facilities all year long,” Reighart said. “People get new electronics so much more often now and we give them a safe and easy way of turning in their old items. It’s a win-win for everybody and the environment.”

Baltimore County offers e-waste recycling at the following facilities: