E-Cycle Washington saves money & the environment

You know that big old TV taking up space in the garage, and that ancient computer sitting next to the desk -- those pesky relics that you just don’t know what do with them? You’re tired of tripping over them and you’d like to get rid of them, but you know you shouldn’t just throw them in the landfill. Right? So, what are you going to do?

Well, if you live in Washington, you’re in luck! Here, you can E-Cycle them! And even better, you can E-Cycle them for FREE!!! In its first year, more than 38.5 million pounds of TVs, computers, and monitors were recycled through the E-Cycle Washington program. State residents and businesses proved once again that Washington really is the ever-“green” state.

When E-Cycle Washington began on January 1, 2009, it was one of the first in the nation to collect unwanted TVs, computers and monitors for free recycling. The program is paid for by the manufacturers of these electronic products and regulated by the Department of Ecology. E-Cycle Washington has safely and responsibly recycled:
• 22.3 million pounds of televisions
• 12. 3 million pounds of monitors
• 3.9 million pounds of computers

This total of 38.5 million pounds far surpassed initial hopes and estimates of 26 million pounds. And these numbers don’t include the thousands of working units that went to reuse through sales or donations by charities such as Goodwill, the Salvation Army, and St. Vincent DePaul.

Electronic products contain heavy metals and chemicals at hazardous levels making them difficult to dispose of safely. For example, depending on its size, a TV's cathode ray tube contains an estimated four to eight pounds of lead. Recycling electronic products keeps toxic metals such as lead and mercury out of landfills and the environment.

Across the state, households, schools, small businesses and charities took advantage of this free-of-charge program. More than 230 collection sites and services in Washington were busy from the first day of operations. The heavily populated areas of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties were responsible for more than 64 percent of the total pounds collected.

And the energy savings from recycling rather than land-filling the computers alone (10 percent of the total volume) is equivalent to more than 690,000 gallons of gasoline.

It’s easy, convenient, and affordable to E-Cycle. Find a collection site near you, or call 1-800-RECYCLE.

See the news release, First year of Washington's electronics recycling program collects over 38 million pounds.

---