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E-Scrap Events Net Nine Tons of Used Electronics

Release Date: 05/08/2013
Contact Information: Kris Lancaster, 913-551-7557, [email protected]

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Lenexa, Kan., May 8, 2013) - More than nine tons of used electronics will be recycled instead of going to landfills, EPA and partners announced today. Employees of EPA, other federal agencies in the Kansas City metro area and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan., donated old and unwanted computers, laptops, monitors, cell phones, keyboards, VCRs, telephones and other electronics.

“Employees of EPA and our partners helped to reduce electronics going to landfills,” said Karl Brooks, EPA regional administrator. “These E-Scrap events allow employees of these organizations to responsibly recycle their personal electronic waste.”

The electronics will be recycled by UNICOR, the federal government’s self-sustaining prison industries corporation and certified recycler. Certified recyclers help protect human health and the environment, minimize worker exposure to chemicals and maximize reuse and recovery. The electronics recycling industry is increasingly embracing these certification programs.

Every year, Americans generate almost 2.5 million tons of used electronics, which are made from valuable resources such as precious metals, plastic and glass. Electronics recycling conserves valuable resources, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps to create jobs through reuse.

Reusing and recycling puts these valuable resources such as copper, silver and rare earth metals back to productive use, and slows climate change. Electronic waste from old cell phones, computers and other devices often contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals.