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Plug-In Update: 2005 Activities
Partner Accomplishments
In 2005, Plug-In To eCycling partners continued to sponsor collec -
tion events, helping to raise consumer awareness about electron-
ics reuse and recycling and increase the number of electronic
devices collected and safely reuse and recycled in the United
States. The following includes notable partner accomplishments
during the past year:
•	By sponsoring 20 events, Best Buy collected over 1,060,000
pounds, representing a 30-percent increase in the amount of
consumer electronics collected in previous years.
•	Cingular collected over 220,000 pounds of mobile phones,
batteries, and accessories for reuse, resale, and recycling
through its collection programs.
•	Dell recycled 298,000 pounds of electronic products at U.S.
collection events. Dell also worked with EPA to sponsor a
free electronics collection event in New Orleans on De-
cember 3, 2005 to increase collection and safe recycling of
computers and other electronic equipment in areas affected
by Hurricane Katrina (see below).
•	eBay's Rethink estimates that, in its first year, it has edu -
cated over 430,000 consumer ori the importance of electron-
ics reuse and recycling.
•	Through free collection events and reuse programs, HP
collected almost 60 million pounds of electronic products
domestically and about 140 million pounds globally. HP also
collected more than 2.5m units- approximately 50 million
pounds for reuse programs, such as trade -in, leasing, asset
management and donations.
•	Intel helped collect over 1.27 million pounds of electronics
by hosting and cosponsoring 16 events attended by over
11,000 citizens in 65 locations.
•	JVC helped sponsor 130 collection events in 2005 that
recycled over 48,000 pounds of -JVC-branded products
•	Lexmark collected and recycled 4- million pounds of elec-
tronics through its ongoing collection efforts. It also collected
4,500 pounds of material during its annual Earth Day event
for its employees.
•	NEC recycled 3.6 million pounds domestically and a total
of 33 million pounds of electronics products globally. NEC
Display Solutions' Trade In program, which targets corpora-
tions, took in 2.5 million pounds for reuse.
•	Panasonic co-sponsored 130 events, collecting more than
3.2 million pounds of electronics.
•	Philips and Samsung, along with partners JVC, Panason-
ic, Sharp, and Sony are providing financial resources and
staff support for an industry-led third party organization to
help manage electronics recycling in the Pacific Northwest.
•	Sharp co-sponsored more than 64 collection events, collect-
ing more than 760,000 pounds of electronic products.
•	Sony collected 67,000 pounds of Sony-branded electronic
products through partnership events.
•	Staples is now offering fee-based takeback in its stores
iri the Pacific NW on an ongoing basis, due to its experi-
ence with hosting a Plug-In pilot project in 2004 that tested
retailer-based electronics collection. In 3 months, Staples has
collected 4,417 computer monitors; 2,333 laptops and CPUs;
and 3821 peripherals, including cell phones.
Staples Joins the "Take It Back Network"
Staples makes it easy for consumers to recycle used computers,
monitors, and other computer peripherals by allowing in stoie
collection through its partnership in the Pacific Northwests Take
it Back Network. Currently, Staples is the only national retailerto
offer this type of ongoing collection.
Consumers in King and Snohomish Counties in Washington State
have the opportunity to bring unwanted equipment to 14 Staples
stores in the area. The company is charging a small recycling fee
to cover product handling and recycling costs.
"With ongoing advancements in technology, appropriate disposal
of obsolete and used electronics will be a growing issue. E-cycling
is the right thing to do to help protect the environment and it
makes good business sense," Mark Buckley, Staples Vice Presi-
dent of Environmental Affairs said.

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This partnership comes on the heels of Staples' success during
the 2004 Plug-In To eCycling pilot program, where the company
tested out retail electronic collection. Customer feedback from
the pilot projects was extremely supportive and made the case
that offering computer recycling services to customers pays off for
retailers.
The Take It Back Network is a group of electronics retailers, repair
and resale vendors, recyclers, and nonprofit groups in the Pacific
Northwest that reuse or properly recycle electronic equipment.
The partnership provides a way for consumers, government, and
businesses to share responsibility for minimizing the environmen-
tal impact of a product throughout its life cycle.
Dell Katrina Event
In the wake of cleanup efforts from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,
EPA and Dell Inc. teamed up to increase collection and safe
recycling of computers and electronic equipment destroyed by the
effects of the storms. This free collection event was held on De-
cember 3 and was open to residents of the greater New Orleans
region who had the opportunity to drop off any brand of old or
unwanted computer equipment, televisions, VCRs, DVD players,
radios, and similar electronics to be recycled.
According to EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, the Agency
"is helping to make sure yesterdays high-tech gadgets are not
becoming tomorrows contaminated garbage. By working with
communities to collect and properly dispose of electronic wastes,
we are working to protect the health of current and future genera-
tions of Gulf Coast residents."
The public-private partnership also included the Louisiana Depart-
ment of Environment Quality (LDEQ), the National Recycling
Coalition (NRC), Jefferson Parish, the town of Kenner, and the
Pontchartrain Center.
EPA and its partners are planning to evaluate the results of this
event and determine whether electronics collection can be an
effective part of the region-wide clean up efforts.
Reuse Campaign
At EPA's National Electronics Meeting in March 2005, stakehold-
ers came together to form a new working group to eliminate
barriers to reusing electronics. Projects include:
• Promoting donation. The working group has created two
fact sheets providing tips for businesses and the general
public about donating electronics for reuse. The tip sheets
explain how to clear data and provide suggestions for identi-
fying donation recipients or refurbishment channels.
•	Reducing obstacles to international reuse. Along with
the United Nations University's Solving the E-Waste Problem
(StEP) initiative, the working group is seeking to reduce barri-
ers to the export of electronics to be reused across the globe.
•	Promoting additional avenues for reuse of unwanted
computers from the federal sector. The working group is
aiming to revise language in an existing executive order to
allow additional organizations to refurbish unwanted federal
computers for donation.
Participation in the working group is open to all interested
organizations. Current members include Computer Recycling
Center/Computers in Education, Computer Recycling For Educa-
tion, Computers for Schools, Consumer Reports, General Electric,
General Motors, Goodwill, Hargadon Computer, Intel, National
Cristina Foundation, Rethink, San Francisco Dept. of Environment,
Students Recycling Used Technology (StRUT) Silicon Valley, Tech
Soup (Compumentor), Time Dollar Tutoring, Truecycle, and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency's Plug-In To eCycling program.
Recycler Certification:
EPA is working with states, electronics recyclers, manufacturers
and others to help create a credible and widely adopted electron-
ics certification program. The goal of this program is to raise the
bar for safe recycling of electronics. A first meeting on this topic
was held this past October at the E-Scrap Conference in Orlando.
Stakeholders plan to convene again in early 2006 to decide on a
collaborative process that will move certification forward.
Efforts to Develop Electronics Recycling
Infrastructure
EPA is working with states, local governments, manufactur-
ers, retailers and others to help research and pilot industry-led
organizations that can manage electronics recycling activities
in multi-state, regional or even national contexts. One initial
project is exploring development of a third-party organization in
the Pacific Northwest under the guidance of 8 major electron-
ics manufacturers. Another project is the National Electronics
Recycling Infrastructure Clearinghouse, an information resource
on electronics recycling systems being established by the
National Center for Electronics Recycling with support from the
CEA and U.S. EPA grant funding. For more information, go to
.
Data Collection
Finally, EPA is supporting efforts to populate a national database
that can better inform the public on how many electronics are
being recycled domestically as part of its larger effort to update
current domestic baseline information. For more information, go to
.

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