e-Waste Recycle Event

Simply Mac's first e-Waste Recycle event was held on April 29 & 30, 2011. Thank you to all who participated for making it a huge success!

We are no longer accepting e-Waste for disposal, but you can visit the Recycling Coalition of Utah for more information on where you can recycle your e-Waste.

The Simply Mac e-Waste Recycle Event was a free event held at four different locations: the Maverik Center, the University of Utah, Thanksgiving Point, and Provo Towne Centre.

The event ran Friday and Saturday, April 29 & 30, 2011, from 9am-3pm and was free and open to all businesses, institutions, and the general public. April 29 was dedicated to all institutions, including businesses, schools, and military. April 30 was open to the general public.

 

With the help of Salt Lake and Utah counties, we were able to make our first e-Waste Recycle Event a huge succes!

  • Collected 500,000 pounds of e-Waste over 2 days at 4 locations.
  • Processed e-Waste from 2,620 members of the general public
  • Processed e-Waste from 250 businesses

Check out the video and see what collecting 500,000 pounds of e-Waste is all about!

 

Electronic waste, or e-Waste, is all of the obsolete technology piling up in our landfills:

  • Computers
  • TVs
  • Monitors
  • Laptops
  • Cell phones
  • VCRs & DVD players
  • Copiers & Fax machines

You get the idea. There's tons of it out there, and a huge part of it is going into landfills, releasing all kinds of harmful toxins into the environment.

Acceptable Items
Computer Systems & Accessories
  • All-in-Ones
  • CPUs
  • CRT Monitors
  • Hard Drives
  • Hubs
  • Keyboards & Mice
  • Laptops
  • LCD Displays
  • Optical Drives
  • Servers
  • Speakers
  • Switches
  • UPS Switches
  • Wires & Cables
 Handhelds
  • Cell Phones
  • Pagers
  • PDAs

Office Equipment

  • Adding Machines
  • Fax Machines
  • Photo Copiers
  • Printers
  • Scanners
  • Surge Protectors
  • Telephones
  • Typewriters
 Audio & Video Equipment
  • Camcorders
  • Cameras
  • DVDs
  • Game Systems
  • LCD Projectors
  • Overhead Projectors
  • Radios
  • Stereos
  • Televisions
  • VCRs

Non-Acceptable Items
  • Batteries not integral to computer system
  • Cardboard
  • Contaminated equipment of any type
  • Cracked or broken CRT monitors
  • Hairdryer
  • Styrofoam
  • Hazardous materials of any type
  • Refrigerators
  • Washers & Dryers
  • Microwaves
  • Paper
  • Smoke detectors

 

Do I have to pay to properly recycle my old equipment?

No. The recycling event is free to all participants.

Is there a limit on the number of items I can bring to the recycling event?

There is no limit to the number of items you can bring to the event.

What happens to my equipment?

All equipment is destroyed and recycled in an environmentally sound manner by a fully permitted recycling facility. Equipment is manually and mechanically disassembled, shredded in to small pieces of metals, plastics and glass and separated in to the reusable commodity streams to be used as feedstock in new materials manufacturing processes.

I am concerned about my data. Is it safe?

All storage devices are 100% destroyed by means of mechanical shredding. NO equipment is reused in any manner. We strongly recommend you back up and erase all existing data on any equipment as once it has been collected at the event it will be destroyed and can not returned.

Is my equipment shipped overseas?

NO. All equipment is processed in North America by a fully permitted facility in full compliance with all local, state and federal guidelines, regulations and laws pertaining to the proper and environmentally sound recycling of electronics equipment.

  • Americans dump 300-400 million electronic items per year. Less than 20% of that e-Waste is recycled.
  • While e-Waste accounts for 5% of our trash volume, it equals 70% of overall toxic waste.
  • About 50 million cell phones are replaced worldwide a month and only 10% are recycled. If we were to recycle just a million of said cell phones, we would reduce greenhouse emissions equal to taking 1,368 cars off the road for a year.
  • About 25 million TVs are taken out of service annually.
  • Cathode ray tubes in older TVs and computers usually contain 4 pounds of lead--sometimes as much as 7 pounds.

*Stats via the EWC and DoSomething.org

It might seem like you can't do much, but just by recycling your e-Waste, you're making a huge impact on the environment.

Use this e-Waste Carbon Footprint Calculator to find out how huge your impact really can be!

 

If you have If you have more questions about the e-Waste Recycle Event, feel free to contact us at 801.308.1358 or email us at recycle@simplymac.com.