October 13, 2018 marks the first ever International E-Waste Day. E-waste includes discarded TVs, computers, peripherals (including printers, scanners, fax machines), mice, keyboards, batteries, and cell phones. E-waste represents 2% of America’s trash in landfills, but it equals 70% of overall toxic waste. 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste are disposed worldwide every year.
A large amount of what is labeled as “e-waste” is actually not waste at all, but rather whole electronic equipment or parts that are readily marketable for reuse or can be recycled for materials recovery. In the US, only 12.5% of e-waste is currently recycled, Recycling 1 million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 U.S. homes in a year. Cell phones and other electronic items contain high amounts of precious metals like gold or silver. Americans dump phones containing over $60 million in gold/silver every year.
E-waste is still the fastest growing municipal waste stream in America, according to the EPA. It takes 530 lbs. of fossil fuel, 48 lbs. of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water to manufacture one computer and monitor. Electronic items that are considered to be hazardous include, but are not limited to: Televisions and computer monitors that contain cathode ray tubes, LCD desktop monitors, LCD televisions, Plasma televisions, Portable DVD players with LCD screens.
Teton County, Idaho Transfer Station accepts your e-waste for FREE up to 350 lbs. It is then collected by R.O.M. in Idaho Falls for proper recycling at no additional cost to the county. Certain items like tube TVs are not recyclable.
RAD Curbside also accepts e-waste by appointment for regular recycling customers. Call (209) 220-7721
Silver Star Communications accepts your old cell phones for recycling free of charge at all of their offices.
Other regional recycling centers charge for e-waste, so we are lucky that our county and local businesses support proper recycling of e-waste. Please don’t dump these toxic but valuable items into the trash!
Celebrate International E-Waste Day by bringing your defunct electronics to the Transfer Station from 8am-1pm on Saturday for FREE disposal (or on any other day they are open!)
THANK YOU FOR RECYCLING YOUR E-WASTE!!!
