The New Wave
 in Electronics:
*
             Electronics

     530F04020
' I I

 www.plugintoecycling.org

-------
        OUR "PLUGGED IN" WORLD relies on
        an ever-growing and constantly
        changing supply of electronic
products. With newer, more hi-tech
electronics continuously becoming avail-
able to fit our lifestyles, we are replac-
ing older models at rapid rates with no
signs of slowing down.  As a result, elec-
tronics are becoming one the fastest
growing portions of America's  trash.

What You Can Do
eCycle!—Keep electronics out of the trash!

$$  Refurbish, fix,  or upgrade your equip-
    ment so you can continue to use it
@  Use some of the parts  of an old system
    to build a new system
4§)  Donate your old electronics to  a local
    charity or school for reuse or refurbishing
@>  Drop off your old electronics to a local
    recycling program,  such as a municipal
    or community program or a retail collec-
    tion program
Where to  eCycle
For Information on donation or recycling
programs  in your area contact your city or
county recycling coordinator or visit:
•   The Electronic Industries Alliance
    www.eiae.org
•   Earth  911
    www.earth911 .org
•   TechSoup
    www.techsoup.org
Some national computer companies offer
opportunities to safely recycle electronics
through the mail and  certain retailers have
ongoing or occasional drop-off locations.
Check to see if they provide these
opportunities.
 EPA's Concern
 More than 2 million tons of used electronics are dis-
       each year. Based on current disposal rates,
        i will have also discarded up to 154 million
 computers by 2005.

-------
tfft
  Benefits  of  eCycling
  Recycling or reusing old electronics, or "eCycling/'
  can:
     Conserve Natural Resources
     eCycling recovers valuable material from old
     electronics which can be used to make new
     products. Cutting down on the need to mine
     the earth for new raw materials, recycling and
     reusing electronics saves resources.
  Did You Know?
  Manufacturing one desktop computer requires fossil
  fuels and chemicals that amount to at least 9 times the
  weight of the computer!
     Protect the Environment
     Safely recycling and reusing electronics helps
     keep substances like lead and mercury from
     harming people or the environment.
Help Others
Donating your old electronics lets someone
else access technology he or she might not
be able to afford otherwise.

Strengthen the Local Economy
Recycling and reusing electronics creates
jobs for professional recyclers and refur-
bishers and creates new markets for the
valuable components that are dismantled.

-------
 What Can Be eCycled
*Jj  Hard drives
 ::   Monitors
«$>  Keyboards
    Printers
    DVD players
    VCRs
    Software
Pagers
Digital equipment
Scanners
and much, much more..
EPA's  Plug-In To eCycling
Program
Plug-In To eCycling aims to give Americans
more opportunities to safely, conveniently,
and affordably recycle their old electronics.
Plug-In is one of many new efforts under EPA's
Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC). The
RCC challenges all Americans—makers, sellers,
and buyers of goods—to embrace a new
resource conservation ethic. It encourages the
design of greener products, wiser product pur-
chasing, and reuse and recovery of products.
EPA recognizes the following Plug-In To eCycling
partners for their contribution to safe electronics
recycling.
                                                            ART
                                                           Wireless
                                                           DOLL
                                                                          Intel.
                                                           LEXM,VRK
                                            Panasonic     Ao/ieer    PHILIPS

                                             SHXVRP.    SONY    ^fl^P*

-------

-------