A Look at E-Cycling

CREATED May. 1, 2012

  • Print
  • With ever-evolving technology taking the world by storm, it's no wonder that electronics are the fastest-growing segment of the recycling world. Video by fox47news.com

    video

There are things you may not have thought you could recycle. Learn more about what you shouldn't be throwing away.

We've all heard the three Rs about recycling: reduce, reuse and recycle.

But now there may be a fourth word to that list: E-cycle.

With technology taking the world by storm, it's no wonder the fastest-growing segment of the recycling world is electronics recycling.

John Doyle with Universal Recycling Technologies says there's a lot more that can be recycled than most people realize.

"A lot of people focus on the cans, the plastics, the paper. But a lot of people are not aware of what is involved in electronics recycling," Doyle explains.

And if you think about all the electronic stuff we have these days, you can imagine how much of that stuff is taking up landfills when we replace it... with more stuff. The EPA estimates there's over 3 million tons of e-waste in the U.S. every year. And of that, only about 430,000 tons are recycled.

That means the rest, something like 2.5 million tons of electronics, go to the landfill - and that number goes up every year.

Yet there's very little that can't be recycled.

"The rule of thumb: if it has a plug, we can recycle it. You're talkin computers, monitors, televisions, VCRs, DVD players, alarm clocks, cell phones, iPods, anything pretty much with a battery or cord can be recycled," says Doyle.

Doyle says instead of tossing the old electronic gizmos into the trash, consider throwing it in a recycle bin.

Best Buy has a recycling program at its stores, but you'll want to check their website. Some stores have restrictions on what they can and don't accept.