At HSU, a group of Environmental Science seniors is teaming up with the Waste Reduction and Resource Awareness Program (WRRAP), Plant Operations and Environmental Health and Safety to launch e-waste collection drives on campus, the first taking place Dec. 4. They hope to increase awareness of and access to proper personal e-waste disposal within the campus community.
According to Kylee Singh, a representative for WRRAP, “E-waste legislation in the United States is currently stalled at the state level in over half the jurisdictions. So far, just 24 states have passed or proposed take-back laws.” However, the European Union (EU) banned e-waste from landfills in the 1990s, and current EU laws hold manufacturers responsible for e-waste disposal. “This means that more environmentally minded countries have realized the need for proper e-waste disposal”, says Singh.
Diverting e-waste from the landfill is just one benefit of proper recycling and reuse. It is energy efficient to rebuild old computers, but only about 2 percent of PCs ever find their way to a second user. And fewer than 20 percent of cell phones are recycled each year, even though recycling just one million cell phones could reduce greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking 1,368 cars off the road for a year.
Large amounts of e-waste have also been sent to countries such as China, India and Kenya, where lower environmental standards and working conditions make processing e-waste more profitable. Around 80 percent of the e-waste in the U.S. is exported to Asia.
The first, free e-waste drive will be held on Saturday Dec. 4, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the Gist Hall parking lot. The event is open to HSU students, staff and faculty and an HSU ID will be required for drop off.
Organizers ask that those contributing e-waste do not bring any hazardous waste items, paint, batteries or items that would normally go through the campus operations collection process (i.e., items with HSU property ID tags). Examples of acceptable e-waste include MP3 player, TV’s, alarm clocks, cell phones, keyboards, laptops and calculators.
Look for more e-waste recycling events to take place in the spring.