When people think about recycling, they usually think of paper, glass and cans. However, e-waste — which includes printer cartridges for inkjet, laser, fax, copier and multi-functional peripherals (MFPs or all-in-ones), cell phones, laptops, GPS devices, ipods and MP3 players, digital cameras, game systems, video games and DVDs — is having a larger and larger negative impact on our planet.

Improper disposal of e-waste harms our environment by damaging air, soil and water, and takes up ever-increasing space in our landfills.

Did You Know?

The EPA estimates that 29.9 million desktops and 12 million laptops were discarded in 2007. That’s over 112,000 computers discarded per day! (A)

In 2007, 3.01 million tons of e-waste was made in the US. Only 410,000 tons (just 13.6%!) was actually recycled, according to the EPA. The rest was thrown away into landfills or burned in incinerators. (B)

68% of consumers store used or unwanted computer equipment in their homes (C) and close to 235 million e-waste items were placed in storage because they don't know what to do with unwanted items! (D)

The precious metals in one ton of cell phones can be worth $15,000. (E)

E-waste requires valuable, non-renewable resources to produce. And, for the most part, it takes less energy to make a product from recycled materials than it does to make it from new materials. So, think recycling and help our planet!

Inkjet cartridges, toner cartridges and used cell phones contain substances that are potentially hazardous to humans and animals.

E-waste facts about printer cartridges:

• It takes 2.5 ounces of oil to make one, new inkjet cartridge

• It takes 112 ounces of oil to make one, new laser cartridge

• In North America alone, over 350 million cartridges are discarded in our landfills each year. That number increases at a rate of 12% each year

• Printer cartridges make up over 1.9 billion pounds of non-biodegradable waste in America’s landfills. In weight, that’s equivalent to 40,000 elephants. In volume, it’s equivalent to burying over four million refrigerators!

• It can take up to 450 years for a laser cartridge to decompose in a landfill

E-waste facts about cell phones:

• This year alone, over 100 million cell phones will be discarded resulting in 65,000 tons of waste*

• Between 1999 and 2003, only 2.5 million cell phones were collected for recycling or reuse — that’s less than 1 percent of the millions of phones discarded each year

• Cell phones are used for an average of only 18 months before being disposed of by consumers

• Cell phones contain metals, plastics, chemicals and other potential hazardous substances should always be recycled

• It only takes one cell phone to pollute up to 34.9 gallons (132 liters) of water

Start your own e-waste recycling fundraiser with CC Cash, which stands for Cartridges and Cell Phones for Cash. You can earn money for your organization and help the environment at the same time!

CC Cash is easy and it's FREE!

To learn more about the program, click here. Now you can do something to help
the environment and earn cash at the same time!

SOURCE:
A “Electronic Waste Management in the United States, Approach 1” US Environmental Protection Agency, July 2008. http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/docs/app-1.pdf
B Report: http://www.epa.gov/osw/nonhaz/municipal/pubs/msw07-rpt.pdf
C HP Fact Sheet, Earth Day 2005
D http://www.epa.gov/osw/conserve/materials/ecycling/docs/app-1.pdf
E http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2009/09/090915140919.htm