The Fresno State Office of Environmental Health and Safety is giving both the community and students an opportunity to recycle their old electronics, and make a responsible contribution to the environment.
Tomorrow, Feb. 9 at 7:30 a.m., collectors will be on hand in the Bulldog Stadium parking lot to take all used electronics. The event ends at 3:30 p.m.
“It’s a really easy way to dispose of [old electronics],â€Â said Lisa Kao, the Fresno State environmental quality manager. “It doesn’t cost any money. It’s just a matter of getting it in your car and bringing it to our event.â€Â
Used electronics such as broken TVs, computers, PDAs, cell phones and microwaves will be disposed of completely free of charge. With prior notification, large appliances will be accepted as well.
The only items that require a fee at the event are batteries, which will be $1.50 per pound, and fluorescent light tubes and bulbs, which will be $4.25 per pound.
“In the bigger picture you want to keep these items out of the landfills,â€Â Kao said. “Laws have been put in place to make sure people do not put them in the landfills.â€Â
The Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003 makes it illegal to dump most types of electronics. Most of these electronics contain lead and mercury, substances that can be very dangerous if absorbed into the soil.
“If you have higher mercury or lead levels, there are known health effects associated,â€Â said Madhusudan Katti, an assistant professor in biology.
Katti said that mercury and lead are just the start of the problem. Electronics also use a number of different chemicals and minerals that could have a number of effects on the environment.
“There are other newer chemicals with potentially unknown effects in many of the electronics,â€Â Katti said. “With cell phones, they are using new minerals and new elements.â€Â
The potential of environmental damage becomes more real in the international setting. Katti said that some recyclers send their waste overseas.
“People here are essentially shipping our U.S. problem overseas,â€Â Katti said.
He added that most of it is shipped because it̢۪s economically cheaper, with lower labor costs and looser regulation of waste.
“It might end up in groundwater more easily in places where there isn’t enough of a regulation or monitoring,â€Â Katti said.
When the items are collected at this Saturday’s event, they will not leave the country – they won’t even leave the city.
Kao said all of the waste is then taken to Electronic Recyclers International, a facility in Fresno, and destroyed. All of the waste is separated by material and eventually reused. The only thing that ends up in the landfill is the wooden frames and fixtures from electronics.
Fresno, along with every other city in California collected 129 million pounds of electronic waste in 2006, said Beatriz Sandoval, the public information officer of the California Waste Management board. It is estimated that 149 million pounds have been collected in 2007.
“By starting this program for the community, we’ve given them an option,â€Â Kao said. “It won’t be sent to a developing country where the safety requirements are much less stringent.â€Â
This Saturday̢۪s event gives students and community members a chance to improve the environment. By offering hazardous waste to the collectors, the event allows participants to get rid of old electronics legally and responsibly.