After the success of the Screen to Green recycling initiative, I get frequent calls to ask about local television recycling in Denver.  I wish I could tell you that there are several more sponsored events to choose from to responsibly recycle your television set, but I’d be lying.  Free events are usually a “get what you pay for” type of event, meaning that if they are not sponsored by a large business interest then the recycling processes are almost certainly not up to acceptable standards (as televisions in particular have toxic materials that require special processes, and expenses, to properly recycle so that those toxins are not spread).

A pile of recycled "screens"

GRX (my favorite local e-cycler) charges a flat fee of $5 or less for small electronics, TVs and monitors are between $10 and $20 based on size and consumers can take their televisions straight to their facility — they do local events around town, but the schedule is a bit sporadic.  Luminous Recycling also accepts television set for de-manufacturing and responsible recycling for a minimal fee (again, usually between $5 and $20), and their Denver facility is located at:

Luminous Electronic Recycling
11809 E. 51st St.
Denver, CO 80239

Additionally, there are several “take back” programs that are out there – if you have a Sony, LG, Panasonic or (soon) a Sharp television, there are several national partnerships in place whereby the manufacturer pays for the recycling.  Sony is the largest participant in this program to date, and they work with Waste Management – you can call 1-877-439-2795 to reach Sony’s take-back program information, and the nearest WM Recycle America eCycling center for Denver is at:

3730 East 48^th Street
Denver, CO 80216. 

Their phone number is 303-355-2609, if you want to call and check on the fee required if your television is not a Sony (or to get updates on the latest national manufacturers that they will accept free of charge).

Office Supply Stores (i.e. Staples, etc.) also have recycling programs, though they’re a bit spotty as to their level of responsibility.  Staples accepts “monitors”, but it doesn’t stipulate if that includes television sets or not – and my bet is “not”, as the cathode ray tube (CRT) is what makes TVs so tough to responsibly handle.

There are additional Denver rallies being talked about for the near future, but there are no large events scheduled at the moment.  The next big “green” timeframe for events is around Earth Day in April (though I’m hoping that we’ll see activity around the digital transition scheduled for February, but many of the media companies are avoiding this timeframe).  If I hear events or alternatives, I’ll be sure to post it here.  

Each day there are more local e-waste collection events that pop up to try and handle the growing waste concern that improperly disposing of electronics creates. 

• Oak Lawn, IL outside of Chicago is having an e-waste collection day on January 10th — taking “anything with a plug”, but no news of how all of this is being disposed of.  Just be cautious.
• Aiken, SC had it’s annual Recycle Day, creating a more successful event than they’ve had in the past
  

  Recycling TVs in Aiken, SC

  3 years.  They’re now talking about doing an event every 6 months, with the next one slated for August or September and possibly including recycling household chemicals.  These guys have a solid demanufacturing process in place, ensuring the responsible disposal of the e-waste collected.

• Davenport, IA has a public demanufacturing facility that accepted 1.4 million pounds of e-waste in 2008 alone.  Anyone in the metro Quad-Cities, including those in Illinois, can drop off e-waste at the demanufacturing facility for free through Feb. 27. Or they can wait until spring when the Waste Commission schedules public dropoffs throughout the community.
• Alvin, TX is hosting its third annual “E-waste Event” on Saturday — with the expectation of doubling its 2-truck collection record from last year, based on holiday gifts replacing older technologies and the upcoming Digital Transition.
• Macon, GA – You can recycle computer e-waste and televisions (cost = $10) as The City of Macon sponsors an electronics recycling event held on January 10th at the front of Central City Park.
• Nova Scotia had a jump on many other Canadian jurisdictions with the introduction last February of an electronics recycling program that banned televisions, computers and printers from landfills.  They have 33 sites around the province for continual collections.
• Hillsborough County Florida has 4 collection opportunities this month, trying to keep the old electronics that Holiday gifts have replaced from heading to local landfills. 
  

All in all there are 18 states with new e-waste recycling laws coming into effect, as local authorities are becoming more aware of and concerned about the impact that electronics have in landfills.  Keep your eyes open for events in your area, make sure they’re responsible in their process, and join the recycling fun!

Driving through an expanding wind farm in Montana

As we say a joyful farewell to a tumultuous 2008, I wonder if 2009 will be better.  For the purposes of this discussion, I’ll only focus on Green resolutions and hopes for the year to come:

• America’s incoming President has big words about alternative energy pursuits and dedicating resources to greener, more eco-friendly efforts for the country — let’s hope that it’s (a) true, (b) practical, and (c) not funded entirely by working-class tax payers.  We’ll see. . .
•  In the United States, we scrap about 400 million units per year of consumer electronics or e-waste. According to the U.S. EPA, discarded computers, monitors, televisions and other consumer electronics are the fastest growing portion of the waste stream — growing by almost 8 percent from 2004 to 2005, even though the overall municipal waste stream volume is declining.  It’s certain that the e-waste pile in 2009 will be higher than ever, here’s hoping that we find RESPONSIBLE resources to handle the toxins involved, and that we ourselves contribute a little bit to keeping techno-trash in the right, local, eco-efficient hands.
• Oregon E-Cycles, a new statewide program that begins January 1, 2009, provides free recycling of computers, monitors and TVs across the entire state of Oregon. The program is financed by electronics manufacturers and jointly implemented with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).  They are audited and claim to be compliant with the highest standards of e-waste handling, so let’s hope that more states follow Oregon’s lead and make it easier for regular people to do the green thing.  Florida is also supporting recycling of TVs, and though Staten Island and New York City as a whole are “permitted to put electronics out with the trash until July 1, 2010″, local authorities are encouraging consumers to e-cycle whenever possible, though budget cuts mean that nothing is set for 2009 events.  Atlanta, Washington and many other locations are jumping on the e-cycle bandwagon.  There’s room for all!
• Global leaders are also looking at energy consumption — and Australia is requiring electronics manufacturers to produce less energy-consuming products, or have your shelf-space taken away.  With worldwide brands like Panasonic and Sony participating over there, why can’t we make the same stipulations over here?  Hmmmm.. . . .
• I’m hoping that all of us can weather this economic mess and still be able to do a few green things here and there (which I recognize are more expensive than living cavalierly non-green).  I still want to be able to recycle, use less energy, and be less wasteful — but I also want to be able to put food on the table (organic or not), heat my house (no, I don’t have solar panels either), and get around with more than just a bike.  I believe that I can do all these things — but we’ll see what the future may hold.

Following the growing issue of e-waste recycling, this 60 minutes story profiles the problems that intertwine e-waste recycling and how manye-waste processors are not properly handling the waste that they take in (despite what marketing claims might tell you).  It’s unfortunate that they chose a Denver e-cycler to profile, as Denver is the home of GRX, one of the most responsible e-cyclers out there, and they should not be wrongly painted with the same brush.  It’s terribly sad that consumers can’t trust a green message when they hear it, but here’s the main caution — “free” recycling events that take in complex electronics are, in this economic climate, a big red flag.  Recycling televisions in particular is an expensive and time consuming process to get right, as the tube contains multiple harmful toxins including lead, mercury and cadmium.  There’s not an after-market strong enough to make the proper disposal of certain electronics profitable, so consumers are often asked to bear part of the costs involved.  If you want to do it right, and do it green, it often takes more effort and resources than instant-gratification “free” events may provide.  You get what you pay for in most instances.  See this USA Today story for more information on “free” recycling events.

Nickelodeon's BGH gets kids into green.

Nickelodeon’s Big Green Help offers a great and easy-to-understand resource for kids and families looking to be greener in their lives.  In December, they launched a new environmentally-themed online multiplayer game to get kids more interested in green practices.  Using beloved Nickelodeon characters like Avatar’s Aang (my personal favorite), kids have to “green” a metropolis, squaring off against CO2-spewing monsters and the like.  Kids love to help recycle and participate in a greener future, way to get them engaged!

Come Recycle Your TV in Denver -- responsibly!

By February 2009, there will be a surge of interest in tossing out analog TVs and making sure that television-hungry American households are not deprived once the Digital Transition is behind us.  The date with digital destiny is February 17, 2009, but the “transition” has been a confusing ride with consumers feeling like they need to upgrade their televisions when most do not need to do anything.  Some will need a converter box, sure, but many households eye the transition as an opportunity to get that shiny HD set they’ve had their eye on.  Whether you’re in that space or not, the Digital Transition event itself is predicted to create an e-waste surge that will send techno-trash heaps skyward.   In anticipation, some forward-thinking television interests are pulling responsible recycling programs together, to keep the tons of toxic materials found in televisions from becoming part of the everyday waste stream.  A program called “Screen to Green” was kicked off in Denver in 2008, successfully pairing leading media interests with responsible recyclers to get out-moded or end-of-life electronics out of landfills and into a properly handled process.  If you’re going to recycle a television, please find a responsible recycling program in your area that can handle your TV properly, domestically and responsibly.