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E-Cycle Washington, a new program that started on Jan. 1, allows free and convenient recycling of TVs, desktop and laptop computers, and monitors only, according to a Jan. 12 press release. The makers of these products are providing about 200 collection sites around the state. State residents, small businesses, school districts, small government agencies, and charities can bring these electronic items to the sites. The program is

FREE RECYCLING OF television sets, laptop and desktop computers and monitors is available in Jefferson and Clallam counties, thanks to the state's new E-Cycle Washington program. That means no one needs to throw away such gear and add to already stuffed landfills. Households, businesses, school districts, government agencies and nonprofit groups can take advantage of the free program.

Four regional Australian councils have adopted a ban on sending electronic waste to landfill, in the hopes that the move will force the federal government to finalize a national recycling scheme. The four councils -- Mosman, Manly, Warringa and Pittwater, which together cover all of Syndey's northern beaches -- have enacted a no-landfill policy effective in January 2010, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Headlines abound with stories of branded technology being fished out of rivers and landfills in developing nations leaking toxic metals into the water supply. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates roughly 400,000 tons of e-waste goes to recyclers every year, and that up to 80 percent of the materials sorted for recycling end up in operations in China, India, Southeast Asia and West Africa where it is disassembled and burned or dumped. But it doesn't have to be that way, declares Mark Newton, the senior manager of environmental sustainability at Dell Computers, the computer manufacturing giant based in Round Rock, Texas.

The Government has outlined a national framework for e-waste to be developed and set in place for all industry organisations from 2011. In a meeting today [11/5/09], the Environmental Protection Heritage Council (EPHC) confirmed the national e-waste management program will be a consistent national policy regulating the disposal of electronic products in Australia including computers, monitors and TVs.

Today the Fresno Fairgrounds hosted their monthly e-waste disposal where people come by and drop off their unwanted electronics such as television monitors, computers, and copy machines.

Regulations governing disposal of electronic waste can reduce the world's mountains of recycled devices, says Professor Erica Plambeck. She and her coauthor also find that by encouraging manufacturers to slow the rate of new product introductions, consumers are willing to pay more for devices now on the shelves.

For years, human rights advocates and environmentalists have sounded the alarm about the export of old computers and other electronic equipment to recyclers overseas.

Starting Jan. 2, Tacoma Goodwill will be a major participant in the statewide E-Cycle Washington effort. Goodwill will accept all electronic equipment -- including keyboards, printers, other peripherals and cell phones. Donations to the nonprofit agency are also tax deductible. "We offer more than 40 free, convenient drop-off locations across Western and Southcentral Washington," said Eric Hulscher, operations manager overseeing the program. "Participating in the program is in keeping with Goodwill's reduce, reuse and recycle efforts."

The CHOOSE TO RE-USE partnership provides an alternative to the e-Cycle Washington program for reusable or refurbishable laptops and computers. It is available for households, non-profits, school districts, small governments and for-profit organizations with fewer than 50 employees. We urge you to consider submitting your old computers and laptops to the CHOOSE TO RE-USE partnership in order for them to be considered for the best possible form of recycling: Reuse!