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Time to buy new electronics? Don't just leave your old electronics stashed in the back of your closet or garage. Waiting and storing them for a long time would depreciate their value. So, the best and safest way is to resell them to an authentic recycling center. This action would not only help save the environment from pollution and hazardous chemicals from e-waste but can also put some extra money in your pocket. To be sure you are getting a good deal, it is better to follow some smart solutions listed here. A little know how can fund your next smart upgrade!

E-waste poses a serious challenge to public health and has put the environment at risk. To deal with this growing problem, it needs immediate attention at the corporate level. But what are the incentives for doing so, and why should businesses exert time into recycling their e-waste? To find out, Veracity World has listed out a few reasons why e-waste management should be a significant concern for the businesses and ways they can benefit from it.

SEATTLE - Hong Kong intercepted and returned 41 ship containers to U.S. ports this year because they carried tons of illegal electronics waste from the U.S., according to the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department. By turning the containers away, Hong Kong thwarted attempts by U.S. companies to dump 1.4 million pounds of broken TVs or computer monitors overseas and an estimated 82,000 pounds of lead, a known toxin, in the devices. But thousands of other shipments probably slipped through, says Jim Puckett, head of the Basel Action Network, or BAN, a three-employee environmental non-profit that over eight years has become a respected watchdog over the rapidly growing electronics recycling industry.

Since May 2007, Yahoo! Green has been the hub of their eco-friendly services . As a computer-based Internet business, issues of energy efficiency and e-waste are their central environmental concerns.

CEH report, Oct. 2006. In the past few years, the storm of complaints about UNICOR's recycling program from prisoners, prison guards, and others has brought these hidden sweatshops into public view. Since 1994, UNICOR has built a lucrative business that employs prisoners to recycle electronic waste (e-waste). A massive array of ewaste is largely hidden from view, as are the workers who handle the waste. Over 100,000 computers become obsolete in the U.S. every day. E-waste includes computers, personal digital assistants, TVs, and other electronic devices. E-waste is a doubleedged sword: it is rich in precious materials that can be recycled, but it also contains a cocktail of hazardous chemicals such as lead, mercury, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and cadmium. This report examines the e-waste recycling programs run by Federal Prison Industries (FPI), a government-owned corporation that does business under the trade name UNICOR.

7/18/09 article from The Times [of London] on the problem of illegal e-waste trade and unsafe e-waste processing in Ghana. Article contains the following statistics: "Even in the European Union, which has some of the most stringent controls, an estimated 75 per cent of e-waste is unaccounted for. Most of this, an estimated 8.5 million tonnes a year, is believed to be finding its way to unofficial dumps in West Africa."

Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) web site that helps consumers locate electronics recyclers in their area (search by address or ZIP code). Also provides tips for reducing e-waste production and energy consumption, including an "Energy Consumption Calculator" that estimates electricity used by electronic devices and the associated cost by minute, day, month and year. Information on corporate recycling programs, electronics recycling FAQs, resources for electronics reuse, and environmentally preferable purchasing tips are also provided. A form is available for electronics recyclers to submit their company information for inclusion in the recycler database.

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Published December 1998

"According to the Consumer Electronics Association, digital television sales are up over 30 percent compared to this time last year.TV sales are getting a big boost from the mandatory switch to digital TV signals.And while an estimated 76,000 households in Chicago still aren't prepared for the change, come tomorrow, TV's going digital anyway. So what happens to all those old TVs being kicked to the curb? Melville Nickerson is a staff attorney with the Environmental Law and Policy Center explains what to do with them." Chicago Public Radio, Eight Forty-Eight, 6/11/09. Podcast.

Basel Action Network (BAN) Toxic Trade News, 6/10/09. "The Environmental Protection Agency filed a legal Complaint and Compliance Order late last week against EarthEcycle, the electronic waste handler for several charity e-waste collection events held in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in recent days. Basel Action Network (BAN) tracked 7 sea-going containers of the collected toxic e-waste to Hong Kong and South Africa after assurances were made by EarthEcycle owner, Mr. Jeffrey Nixon, that the wastes would be recycled locally. The EPA complaint cites 7 violation counts for illegal management and exportation of 'Cathode Ray Tubes' - the picture tube of old computer monitors and TVs. The counts include 'unauthorized export of hazardous waste' and 'failure to prepare a hazardous waste manifest.'" Article also reports on the decision of certain charities to continue their fundraising relationships with EarthECycle despite allegations of illegal exportation of waste.

Article by June Ng, 6/12/09 edition of HK Magazine. "Every year Hong Kong produces more and more harmful electronic waste, but we only have a voluntary e-waste recycling scheme." Discusses e-waste problem from Hong Kong's perspective; includes some statistics specific for Hong Kong on electronic device use, as well as e-waste generation, recycling and fate.

Waste & Recycling News, 6/10/09 edition. "LGE MobileComm USA, a unit of LG Electronics Inc., is teaming up with San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit to provide mobile phone recycling. LG began outfitting six BART stations in San Francisco with cell phone collection receptacles to encourage commuters to recycle their phones, chargers and accessories. The sites will accept any manufacturer's devices through July 6. Only 10% of the mobile phones sold in the United States are recycled, according to the company."

With all the hoopla surrounding Apple's announcements about the iPhone 3G S and its subsequent release on June 19th, many might have forgotten about another key date coming up just as fast.

From 6/9/09 edition of Waste & Recycling News. More press coverage of EarthECycle own Jeff Nixon's response to the recent expose by BAN and ETBC. According to this article, Nixon further challenges "e-Steward companies, as well as all other U.S. electronics recyclers, to a national fundraiser to use the proceeds to clean up all electronic waste sites."

Book and book chapters added to Refworks database.

GLRPPR is a professional organization dedicated to promoting information exchange and networking to pollution prevention (P2) professionals in the Great Lakes regions of the United States and Canada.