These days it seems like every company is trying to go green, and we’ll be the first to back those efforts up. To prove how supportive we are, we decided to bring back our “Green Office Tip of the Week” segment this week to offer up our thoughts on how your company can improve its recycling efforts.

In order to do so, we’ve compiled a list of 19 things that your office can, and should, recycle. Recycling is the easiest way to go green. There are businesses around the country that will take pretty much any material from you, and some of them will even pay you for certain items. If you need help finding a place to recycle any of these materials, check out Earth911.com.

• Light Bulbs
• Batteries
• Computers
• Monitors
• Printers
• Televisions
• Cell Phones
• Newspaper
• Printer Paper
• Cardboard
• Aluminum Cans                                      
• Plastic Bottles
• Glass
• Wood, Bricks & Other Building Materials
• Metal Scrap
• Shipping Styrofoam
• Ink Cartridges
• Tires
• Furniture

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Contractors responsible for recycling government computers and other electronic equipment aren’t held accountable to certification standards and environmental regulations, according to the leader of a House oversight committee.

In letters last week to Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and General Services Administration chief Martha Johnson, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., expressed concern that the two agencies aren’t doing enough to ensure the safe disposal of old computers and other equipment used by the government.

“I am concerned that the [GSA Federal Supply Schedule] does not adequately direct agencies toward companies with the highest e-waste recycling standards,” Towns wrote. “I am also concerned that there may be a lack of direct oversight of e-waste recycling to ensure proper waste handling.”

According to the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, computer hardware has an average lifespan of seven years, but federal equipment typically is recycled after just three years. The government disposes of an estimated 500,000 computers annually. A 2008 Government Accountability Office audit found, despite EPA regulations, the companies responsible for e-waste often export electronics to developing countries, which dispose of them in unsafe conditions.

EPA has developed a responsible recycling, or R2, certification process for the safe disposal of e-waste. But only two of the 60 waste recycling contractors on GSA’s Schedule 899-5 meet the R2 criteria, according to Towns.

Full Article: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20100510_8749.php

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November 4, 2010

With the speed of of a melting glacier, Australia’s recycling industry is grinding towards its long-promised national scheme for recycling old computers, televisions and mobile phones, as well as bottles and cans.

There were pledges of future legislation and further studies, but few tangible results to report so far, at a meeting of state and federal environment ministers in Sydney yesterday.

The quick action on a national “cash for cans” recycling scheme, flagged by former Environment Minister Peter Garrett as last year’s meeting, will have to wait until next year while a review into its impact on industry is completed.

Legislation to underpin a scheme for recycling electronic waste will not be in place until July next year. The ongoing delays mean up to 200 million electronic items will now go into landfill over the next seven months instead of being recycled.

A scheme for recycling old tyes will be in place by November next year, while legislation for recycling packaging and limiting plastic bag use is now set down for March 2012.

The NSW Environment Minister, Frank Sartor, called for faster action.

“The TV and e-waste strategy is going far too slowly – there is a timetable that’s been proposed but it’s got to be expedited,” Mr Sartor said. “The wheels of COAG move very slowly and they need some WD40.”

Full Article: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/conservation/recycling-industry-heading-for-change-20101104-17fzx.html

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By Heather Clancy | June 11, 2010, 12:10pm PDT

If you live in New York state and have neglected your spring cleaning, you may want to hold onto your old electronics doo-dads a bit longer: Your state just passed what some are calling the “most progressive” electronics waste recycling law in the country.

There are a couple of things that make this law unique (New York obviously learned from other progressive states on this matter, including Washington and Minnesota:

• Technology manufacturers will be required to reuse a certain amount of electronic waste each year. The amount that they have to reuse will be based on market share.
• Manufacturers that collect more stuff than they have to, will get recycling “credits” for doing so. If a manufacturer doesn’t reach its quota, it faces fines.
• Consumers have five years to get used to this idea: After Jan. 15, 2015, they will be prohibited from dumping computers, printers, televisions, DVD players, MP3 players and such into landfills. Big appliances such as refrigerators or microwaves, however, are exempt.

Link to Article:

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/green/almost-halfway-there-new-york-becomes-23rd-state-to-adopt-e-waste-recycling-law/12365?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zdnet%2Fgreen+%28ZDNet+GreenTech%29

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Finally, a place for unwanted microwaves to end their lives with dignity

Got an old microwave that you want to toss? Chucking it with the rest of the trash will result in a slow death in a landfill. And don’t think of putting it out with the recycling – no such program exists in Canada. (Consumers have to pay to have their old microwaves recycled.) What’s an environmentalist to do?

Source: nationalpost.com

http://www.geepecosys.com/en/about-us/news-2009.aspx

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