First university E-waste program in California comes to Fresno State beginning next year
By Rebecca Martin
The Collegian
Fresno State is set to become the first university campus in California with a drop spot for E-waste.
E-waste is a recycling option for electronic devices such as computer monitors, televisions, cell phones and PDAs.
Beginning Feb. 8, it will be illegal to dispose of these types of electronic materials in general trash bins. E-recycling, as disposing of electronic equipment is known, is advertised as a way to not only help the environment, but to create new jobs in California.
The first drop-off date for electronic devices is set for Jan. 20 and 21 at a time still to be announced. The drop-off date will be every month for the beginning part of the program and then change depending on public interest. The first drop-off will be in Parking Lot V, which is at the northwest corner of Shaw and Woodrow Avenues.
Along with Fresno State, Electronic Recyclers of America will run the collection site. The company, formerly called the Computer Recyclers of America and commonly called the ERA, is based near San Diego.
The drop-off point at Fresno State will not be the first one in Fresno. The ERA recently opened a recycling facility in southwest Fresno.
The cost of dropping off electronic materials depends on what the device is. Some of the more common materials, such as computer monitors, visual display devices and televisions, will be free to drop off. Other materials will be $0.20 per pound. Devices that will cost money to be dropped off include computer towers, cell phones, VCRs and printers.
Electronic devices being recycled are protected during the process by destroying the hard drives and other data storage devices. It is a popular misconception that information is permanently erased from the hard drive by reformatting or erasing computer files. By destroying the hard drive, the E-waste program eliminates any possibility of obtaining banking information, phone numbers and private databases from the computer.
The ERA president is Fresno businessman John S. Shegarian. He is the co-founder of financialaid.com, a leading higher education finance firm. ERA is already offering recycling solutions to Fortune 500 companies as well as to mid- and small-sized businesses, healthcare companies and areas in the entertainment industries.
Fresno State’s E-waste is set to process up to five million tons of electronic waste each month. Recycling electronic devices consists of de-manufacturing, recycling and crushing cathode ray tubes in the devices.
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