Faster, more advanced computers, cell phones and electronics offer endless possibilities for enrichment, learning and entertainment. But as consumers and businesses keep pace with the introduction of exciting new products, we are faced with a mounting challenge: what to do with the products we’re upgrading from.

It’s no small issue. Hundreds of millions of retired computers, cell phones and electronics sit idle or are discarded by consumers and businesses every year. We need to make smart choices about what we do with these products to help ensure a clean environment for future generations.

Why should your organization recycle?

• To keep the following hazardous material out of our landfills
• Each monitor contains 2-4 pounds of lead
• Every computer has Chromium, Beryllium, Mercury, Cadmium, Nickel, Zinc, and Lead
• These are all very dangerous to our health and environment, if they are not disposed of safely
• Recycling creates jobs
• Recycling can help put computers into the schools and homes of people who cannot afford new

Where can I drop off electronics to recycle?

Vintage Tech Recyclers
Electronics recycling based in Plainfield, IL.
Phone 815-609-7013
Fax 815-609-7015
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Oswego Electronics Recycling Program
The Village has received a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to start a new permanent electronics recycling program in Oswego.

Starting on Saturday, August 11th and continuing on the 2nd and

4th Saturdays of each month, Vintage Tech Recylcers will be available from 8 to 11 a.m. at the Oswego Public Works Facility at 100 Theodore Drive to accept electronics to be reused, recycled, and prevented from being tossed into landfills.

Computers, monitors, memory sticks, printers, printer cartridges, laptops and accessories, hard drives, power cables, hubs, routers, servers, switches, fax machines, photocopiers, and cell phones will be accepted.

All data will be wiped from the hard drives, and verifying certicates can be provided by Vintage Tech at a later date. For more information on this recycling program, call Lisa Dicke at 554-3622.

Staples First Major Retailer to Accept E-waste

Staples, Inc., the world’s largest office products company, today announced that it now makes it easy to recycle used computers and other office technology at any Staples store nationwide, becoming the first national retailer to offer computer recycling in stores every day.

Staples makes it easy for customers to recycle e-waste by simply bringing their used computers, monitors, laptops, printers, faxes and all-in-ones to any U.S. Staples store, where the equipment will be recycled in accordance with environmental laws. All brands will be accepted, regardless of whether or not the equipment was purchased at Staples, for a fee of $10 per large item. Staples is working with Amandi Services, one of the country’s most experienced and innovative electronics recyclers, to handle recycling of the equipment, following standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

“It’s not always easy being green. However, through the leadership of Staples, Americans will see that preventing pollution by recycling unwanted electronics is as easy as it gets,” said Stephen L. Johnson, Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “EPA and our Plug-In To eCycling partners are helping make sure yesterday’s high-tech gadgets do not go to waste.”

“An estimated 133,000 computers are discarded every day in the U.S.,” said Mark Buckley, vice president of environmental affairs at Staples, Inc. “We know that small businesses and consumers want to recycle their used office technology but are often frustrated by the lack of convenient options available. By making it easy to recycle, Staples helps customers take action in handling e-waste in an environmentally responsible way.”

How the Recycling Program Works

• Customers drop off their old equipment at the customer service desk at any Staples store, 7 days a week during regular store hours; (TV’s and large, floor-model copiers are not accepted).
• Staples will recycle any manufacturers’ products, regardless of whether or not it was purchased from Staples, and there’s no limit on the quantity of equipment that can be recycled.
• A recycling fee of $10 per piece of large equipment is charged to cover handling, transport, product disassembly and recycling. Smaller computer peripherals, such as keyboards and mice, will be recycled for free.
• Staples Easy Tech^sm service is on site in all stores to transfer data from an old computer to a new one for a fee.
• Equipment is bagged and sealed when customers drop them off at the Staples customer service desk. The equipment is then picked up and delivered to Amandi Services, who disassembles the equipment into its component parts and uses industry-leading standards for data destruction. Amandi then recycles the raw materials, such as the plastics, metals, printed circuit boards and Cathode Ray Tubes (CRT). The CRTs, which are the most hazardous part of electronics waste, are recycled utilizing Amandi’s proprietary technology into a raw material that is used to manufacture new televisions.
  
  

Staples is a U.S. EPA Plug-In to eCycling partner and has offered computer recycling in its Seattle area stores for the past two years. In addition to computer and office technology recycling, Staples provides customers with easy, everyday, in-store recycling for ink and toner cartridges, cell phones, PDAs and rechargeable batteries. In 2006, the company recycled more than 17 million ink and toner cartridges and 3,500 tons of electronic waste.