Increased e-cycling engagement in the USA

United States – More than 620 million pounds of e-scrap was arranged for recycling by the US consumer electronics industry last year, according to the nationwide eCycling Leadership Initiative. ‘That is an increase of 35 million pounds over 2012, and more than double the amount recycled in 2010,’ it adds in its latest report.

By the end of 2013, up to 99.9% of the e-scrap recycling managed by eCycling Leadership Initiative participants was conducted in third party-certified recycling facilities. ′When manufacturers and retailers have the freedom to choose their recyclers, they do so with great care,′ the report points out.

There are more than 8000 locations available to consumers in the USA – including retail stores that recycle electronics such as Best Buy and Staples, as well as local government and charity sites, the initiative adds. This number does not include collection locations for mobile devices in retail stores and through carriers like Sprint.

Meanwhile, 54% of US homes no longer have any CRT devices – ′suggesting that we are more than halfway through the current CRT recycling bubble′. This finding supports the view of many recyclers that the overall weight of computers in the recycling stream has dropped.

The report hails Dell, Apple, Best Buy and Direct TV as ′initiative leaders′ because they are said to be achieving more than 125% of the consumer hardware recycling goals set by the Consumer Electronics Association for 2013.

For more information, visit: www.ce.org