Posted on: Wednesday, 10 January 2007, 15:00 CST

CHICAGO, Jan. 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Chances are you bought or received some new, high-tech electronic equipment over the past year or during the holidays. Even newer, higher-tech gear is being introduced this week at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

What happens when changes in technology render your gadget obsolete? It becomes “e-scrap,” one of the planet’s fastest growing environmental concerns. E-scrap contains heavy metals and other toxins that can be hazardous to human health and the environment. For example, monitors and TVs can contain between two and eight pounds of lead and smaller amounts of other contaminants like cadmium and mercury.

As much as 4 percent of the municipal solid waste is e-scrap. Americans discarded more than 154 million computers in 2005, not counting the latest generation of game systems, cell phones, PDA’s and MP3 players that will soon enough lose their glow and be replaced with some shiny new device.

To keep hazardous materials out of landfills, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency encourages Americans to recycle or reuse old electronic equipment.

“Recycling electronic equipment isn’t quite as easy as leaving it in a bin in your front yard, as we’ve learned to do with paper and plastics, but health and environmental benefits of recycling e-scrap are tremendous,” said EPA Region 5 Administrator Mary A. Gade. “Also, we know that half of the devices thrown away still work. They can be donated to non-profit organizations, which keep the device out of the landfill, but with the added benefit of a charitable contribution.”

Gade pointed out that some manufacturers have established recycling programs for their electronic products, and that many communities in Michigan have drop-off points where people can take e-scrap for proper disposal.

For more useful information on recycling electronic equipment, visit http://www.epa.gov/ecycling . A great national reuse and recycling resource is http://www.earth911.org/ . Michigan residents should check http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3585_4130-12387–,00.html and http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3585_4130_18096—,00.html .

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5

CONTACT: Karen Thompson of U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyRegion 5, +1-312-353-8547, thompson.karen@epa.gov

Web site: http://www.epa.gov/http://www.epa.gov/ecyclinghttp://www.earth911.org/

Source: PRNewswire-USNewswire

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Link: http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/796538/epa_offers_tips_for_electronic_waste_reuse_recycling_in_michigan/index.html

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May 12, 2009

MONTREAL, May 12 /CNW Telbec/ – GEEP Ecosys Inc. joins forces with the Réseau québécois des Centres de formation en entreprise et récupération (CFER) in order to motivate young students to persevere within the educational frame while contributing to the protection of the environment.

The CFER are schools with integrated companies which target young Quebecers aged between 15 and 18 years old, who are challenged with learning difficulties in school. While receiving training with respect to the recovery and recycling of obsolete technology equipment, those students are enrolled in an educational program combining traditional teaching methods with a professional integration curriculum. This program gives them access to a certificate.

GEEP Ecosys Inc. plays a major role in this initiative developed by le Réseau québécois des CFER. GEEP provides them with viable, ecological and commercial options for their end-of-life products. In doing so, the company enables these non-profit organizations to maximize their revenues. As part of their training, the students will participate in the sorting out and disassembly of equipment. GEEP Ecosys Inc. will, in its turn, complete the process by managing efficiently and ecologically the end-of-life technology.

Additionally, GEEP Ecosys Inc. will provide certain CFER students at the end of their training, with the possibility of experiencing a supervised industrial internship designed to receive hands-on experience and put classroom theory into practice. This will facilitate their introduction to the job market and enhance their knowledge with regards to sustainable development.

“These students represent our promising youth and it is our responsibility to provide them with the necessary tools so they can become both professional autonomous and engaged citizens who are conscious that their quality-life also depends on their environment,” confirms Bruce Hartley, Vice President of GEEP Ecosys Inc.

Such a partnership enables GEEP Ecosys Inc. to significantly expand its network of e-colleX point of collection for technology equipment in Quebec in light of an upcoming provincial regulation on this matter.

About GEEP Ecosys Inc.

GEEP Ecosys Inc. (www.geepecosys.com), associated to the GEEP Group, is a company specialized in the end of life cycle management of technology related assets, which on one hand provides reverse logistics, detailed audit reporting, data security and refurbishing and on the other hand provides environmentally friendly recycling solutions. GEEP has partners in the industrial, institutional, commercial and domestic sectors in order to provide a sound commercial and green management for the end-of-life phase of technological assets. A leader in the industry, GEEP already owns more than 24 e-colleX e-waste collection sites, as well as six service centers in Canada of which two are e-waste recycling plants – one in Barrie, Ontario and the other in Edmonton, Alberta. These plants follow the effective and environmentally friendly end-of-life solution developed by GEEP.

GEEP has developed a global presence in order to service both international and local clients. GEEP focuses on sustainable development while ensuring the health and safety of its workers.

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Recycle Computers and Electronics Recycling, Michigan and Ohio

Macomb County, Oakland County, Wayne County

GLR Recycling Solutions, Roseville, Mich., and Canada-based GEEP (Global Electric Electronic Processing) have agreed to co-manage an electronics recycling facility that will operate as GEEP Michigan.

The companies have hired Jack Iwema to serve as general manger of GEEP Michigan. Iwema and colleagues from GLR (formerly Great Lakes Recycling) and GEEP are currently studying prospective sites in the Detroit area to serve as the location of the facility. 

GLR, which has an 80-year history as a recycler of paper, metals and other commodities in the Detroit area, will bring its knowledge of private and public sector collection sources to the partnership.

“When fully operational, we expect to hire 50 to 75 employees to properly recycle e-waste in Michigan and surrounding areas,” writes GLR chief operating officer John Hawthorne in a recent company newsletter.

GEEP, based in Barrie, Ontario, positions itself as an “industry leader for investment recovery in North America [with] state-of-the-art recycling facilities and innovative equipment for electronics processing.”

In addition to its original Ontario location and the new Michigan one, GEEP also has plants in Durham, N.C.; Grand Prairie, Texas; and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

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