Recycling Technology
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CDs | Computers | Cell Phones | Ink Cartridges updated July 5, 2011 CD’s are plastic, so they can be placed in your curbside recycle bin for plastics. Indian River County contracts with Treasure Coast Refuse for recycling at all of their convenience centers and the landfill off Oslo Road. This means that you can take recyclables all year round – including electronics – during the center’s normal hours of operation. See www.ircwaste.com for locations and hours of operation. They will take computers, TVs, VCRs, etc. It also includes accessories such as keyboards, printers, mice, etc. In the past we had to wait for KIRB (www.kirb.org) to have an annual drop-off for electronics. No longer. We can drop them off any time throughout the year in Indian River County.
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Also some of the computer manufacturing companies now accept computer hardware items for recycling. To find out more information on how to do this, check out the following websites:
Florida DEP “End-of-Life” electronics recovery
Electronics TakeBack Coalition – Recycle it Right
Hewlett-Packard’s Product Recycling
Dell Recycling – Dell’s recycling program, and more Dell information and offers.
IBM Product Recycling Programs
Tech Corps Computer Recycling Resources
Recycles.org – Nonprofit Recycling Network
Share the Technology Computer Recycling Project
“Recycling E-Waste”
By Matthew D. Sarrel
PC Magazine, Nov. 29, 2006
“These days, responsible computing means more than not spreading viruses and not hacking into someone else’s system. The waste that results from disposing of electronics such as computers and mobile phones, called e-waste, can be highly toxic. The United Nations Environmental Program estimates that, each year, 20 million to 50 million tons of e-waste is dumped into landfills around the world. That works out to about 4,000 tons per hour.”
“Almost every component is built with some kind of toxin. Computer circuit boards hold lead and cadmium. Monitors’ cathode-ray tubes have lead, cadmium, phosphorus, and barium. In fact, a large CRT may contain as much as 4 to 8 pounds of lead. Even cables are bad for the environment, as they are sprayed with brominated flame retardants. Such chemicals can leach into the soil and groundwater.”
Click here to read the full story.
You can also find out more information about the issues and problems of not recycling our throw-away electronic equipment, in the following article from a recent issue of the “Audubon” magazine – “Garbage In, Garbage Out – We are drowning in digital detritus“.
Here’s another article from “The Green Guide” that explains more about the problems:
“Each time we purchase a new computer in the rush to keep up with software changes, increasing speed and memory, we also create new garbage in the form of our often still useful old machines. According to the EPA, 250 million computers will become obsolete by 2005. Yet, less than ten percent of outdated computer products are refurbished or recycled. Throwing away this “e-waste” (or electronic waste, which includes computers, monitors, printers and televisions) results in toxins sinking into landfills or blown into the air via incinerators. For example, a typical cathode ray tube monitor contains five to seven pounds of lead, a neurotoxin. But we can shape the consumer landscape through our informed choices about whether to buy, what to buy, and how to dispose of e-waste.”
Click here to read the full article and access other resources.
You can reward point credits for dropping off most ink cartridge Staples.
It was projected that in 2004 there were 19 million people with unwanted cell phones. A growing environmental concern is how to keep those phones from reaching landfills.
The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is encouraging Floridians to recycle old or unwanted cell phones. Recycling electronics helps protect the environment from heavy metals, such as lead and cadmium, which can impact groundwater – the source of 90 percent of Florida’s drinking water.
There is a relatively new recycling program for cell phones in Indian River County. There are three locations where they can be dropped off. On the Mainland there is a recycling container at the “Guest Relations” at the Indian River Mall. On the barrier island, phones can be dropped off at Sandpiper Valet drycleaners on Cardinal Drive. And in Wabasso, the Environmental Learning Center is accepting phones too. You can find more information on the ELC website at: www.elcweb.org.
Also all Best Buy stores in the US are supposed to have a cell phone drop-off recycling bin in every store. Look for it the next time you are in their store!