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Collectively, state and local government purchase more than $35 billion worth of technology equipment annually*, and has the opportunity to provide leadership in the environmentally sound and cost effective management of electronic assets. The State Electronics Challenge (SEC) is a voluntary program that encourages state, regional, and local governments, including schools and other public entities, to: Purchase greener electronic products. Reduce the impacts of electronic products during use. Manage obsolete electronics in an environmentally safe way.

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

Free recycling of televisions, laptop and desktop computers and monitors will be available in Clallam and Jefferson counties starting Friday, thanks to the new E-Cycle Washington program. That means no one needs to throw away such gear and add to already-stuffed landfills, said John Friederick of the Washington Materials Management & Financing Authority, organizer of E-Cycle Washington. Households, businesses, school districts, government agencies and nonprofit groups can take advantage of the free program. The state Electronic Product Recycling Act requires electronics makers to pay for E-Cycle Washington, and the companies collecting equipment must adhere to state Department of Ecology standards for responsible recycling. For information visit Ecology's Web site, www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/swfa/eproduct recycle.

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."

If you got a brand new TV this holiday season, you might wonder what to do with your old one. Putting old electronics out with the trash can be bad for the environment, says Enterprise Sanitation owner Mark Deprospero. The batteries and tubing in the equipment can contaminate the ground, he says.

The program is operated by the Washington Materials Management and Financing Authority, a quasi-governmental agency created by the legislation to work with the 200 or so manufacturers that sell computers and televisions in Washington state. In addition, the state Department of Ecology has certified four electronic waste processing firms - two in this state, one in Oregon and one in California - to disassemble the electronic equipment into separate materials for reuse or safe disposal, including glass, plastic, metal and toxic chemicals. The program is designed in part to stem the flow of electronic waste to Third World countries, where it is often dismantled crudely, threatening the environment, public health and the health of workers.

A tool for recycling, reuse, networking, disposal and management of electronics waste How can ecyclingtools.com help my business? Extending the life of your electronics or donating equipment can save you money and conserve valuable resources. Properly recycling outdated electronics assures safe management of the hazardous components that are in many devices and permits the recovery and reuse of valuable materials to reduce the need for the extraction of new raw materials from the earth.

ODATE, JP -- Many small pieces can add up to a big whole, and one small city in the north of Japan is finding there's money in the process as well. Odate, a city of about 80,000 people in Akita Prefecture, on the northern end of Honshu, the big island of Japan, has begun diverting small electronics from landfills and using the town's mining history to salvage precious metals from the waste. By putting collection bins outside supermarkets and community centers, the city gathering about 17 tons of e-waste in 11 months, from April 2007 to February 2008, according to a report from Harufumi Mori in Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper. The gadgets collected range from broken appliances to hair dryers to cell phones -- all too small to fall under the scope of recycling laws in Japan. Although they're small, they're far from worthless, the city is finding. After looking through just over one-third of the waste, Mori reports that the city might find as much as half a kilogram of tantalum, one kilogram of gold, and as much as 4 kilograms of silver and palladium. All from less than one year of collections in one city among a gadget-crazy country with over 127 million residents. As a former mining town, Odate is well equipped to harvest precious metals from e-waste.

Consumer electronics-including TVs, computers, peripherals, audio equipment, and phones-make up almost 2 percent of the municipal solid waste stream, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) . This percentage may seem small and inconsequential, but the quantity of electronic waste is steadily rising. In fact, the EPA estimates that the number of obsolete consumer electronics sold between 1980 and 2007 is 235 million; a total weight of 2.25 million tons. Where are these 235 million units now? Eighteen percent of these products were collected for recycling; the rest are, unfortunately, sitting in landfills. Toxins (lead, mercury, flame retardants, and the like) from these electronics can seep into the soil and ground water, posing serious health and environmental risks.

Attorneys for Levin Furniture gave EarthEcycle until Saturday to remove 2 million pounds of used electronic equipment from Levin's Monroeville warehouse, or the retailer will dispose of it.

The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) Pollution Prevention Program works to leverage the buying power of large institutions in order to expand the market for "greener" electronic products that encourages the development of a sustainable, socially responsible production system in the electronics sector. Currently the Pollution Prevention Program is focused on the health care sector, partnering with the Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) campaign, to encourage SF Bay Area hospitals and national health care organizations to adopt more environmentally preferable purchasing, management and disposal practices for their electronic equipment. CEH also provides purchasing assistance to institutions from other sectors such as government and private industry, partnering with other coalitions such as the Electronics TakeBack Coalition (ETBC). CEH integrates the resources and expertise of ETBC in electronics with the experience and knowledge of HCWH in procurement in order to influence the purchasing decisions of large institutions in healthcare, government and academia towards more environmentally responsible electronics. Contact Sue Chiang, Pollution Prevention Program Director, 510.655.3900 x311, sue[at]cehca.org or Judy Levin, Pollution Prevention Program Coordinator, 510.655.3900 x316, judy[at]cehca.org with any questions.

Text of e-waste legislation signed by mayor of New York City 4/1/08. New York City is the first municipality to pass an e-waste recycling bill; the law requires manufacturers of certain electronic equipment to create a collection program for any person in the City who wants to properly discard of their electronics. The bill also bans e-waste from disposal into the City's solid waste stream. Devices covered include: CPUs, computer monitors, computer accessories including keyboards and mice, laptop computers, TVs, printers, and portable music players.

Illinois e-waste legislation that requires manufacturers to establish facilities to accept e-waste from consumers. The law is on a rolling basis and over the next few years the recycling requirements will kick in and by 2012, disposal of certain e-waste in municipal waste and sanitary landfills and at incinerators will be prohibited. The E-Waste Act only applies to electronic equipment taken out of use from residences, but it affects many of the businesses involved in the stream of electronic commerce. There is a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each day of violation. Devices covered in the legislation include computers, cell phones, televisions, PDAs, printers, fax machines, game consoles, VCRs, DVD players, iPods and others (calculators and typewriters are NOT included).

Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., have introduced legislation that would promote research and development of programs to improve the recycling of electronic equipment. The Electronic Device Recycling Research and Development Act would provide research grants to find ways to deal with electronic waste, much of which contains hazardous materials including lead and cadmium.

Beijing Review article by Ding Wenlei, 7/9/09. "In the eight years after Guiyu became a collection point for electronic waste, Greenpeace China and other green organizations have not stopped urging major waste exporters to cease shipping their detritus to China. At the same time, they have been lobbying the Chinese Government to crack down more effectively on illegal electronic waste recycling. China finally has its own regulation on waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)-the Regulation on the Administration of the Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products. Announced on February 25, the regulation will hold producers liable for the costs of managing their products at the end of their lifecycles as of January 1, 2011. According to the regulation, China will license large qualified recycling plants and develop a recycling economy to better safeguard the environment and human health. Yet, for environmental organizations, the Chinese Government and licensed recycling plants, it remains an uphill battle to smash the business chain of the illegal recycling of electronic waste."

This study, the first to investigate workplace contamination in areas in Ghana where e-waste recycling and disposal is carried out, focussed on the main centre for this type of work, at the Agbogbloshie scrap market in Ghana's capital, Accra. One of the numerous similar, though far smaller, operations that take place throughout Ghana was also investigated, at the location of a scrap dealer in Korforidua, a smaller city to the north of Accra. At these workshops, e-waste is recycled in a crude way, primarily involving manual disassembly and open burning to isolate copper from plastics. Much of the work is carried out by children, commonly using only rudimentary tools and with no protective equipment.

Even though holiday sales were down at least 2% from 2007, millions of Americans awoke Christmas morning to new computers, TVs and iPhones. (I didn't, but thanks for the pens, Mom.) Many of those gifts were replacements or upgrades, which prompts the question, What should you do with your old cell phone and other electronic equipment?

How--and why--we should make sure our old cell phones, TVs and PCs get dismantled properly; Time magazine article by Bryan Walsh, 1/8/09. Includes a good series of photos of China's "e-waste village."