e-Waste recycling event collected 125 tons of electronic equipment from Richmond area; success left organizers temporarily short of trucks
October 16, 2007
The three-day e-Waste recycling project run by volunteers at the University of Richmond Oct. 11-13 proved so successful that organizers easily surpassed their goal of 100 tons of obsolete electronic equipment.
Schools, non-profits, small businesses and individuals dropped off an estimated 250,000 pounds, leaving the project temporarily short of trucks to haul the material away. Three trucks were called in from another location, for a total of nine loads collected at the campus.
Wendy Burchard of UR's information services division, who helped lead the project locally, estimated that 60 organizations joined 1,559 individuals turning in unwanted, obsolete computers, monitors, printers, keyboards, cell phones and television sets that otherwise would have gone into Virginia landfills, with toxic parts intact.
At one point Saturday, when area individuals were invited to participate, the line of cars waiting to drop off items tailed back more than half a mile from UR's Modlin Center for the Arts to River Rd. Organizations made drop-offs last Thursday and Friday.
"We had some interesting items turn up—a couple of Wang computers dated 1987, a 60-inch television and even a couple of 1950s wooden console TV sets," Burchard said.
She said a couple of people complained about having to wait in line to drop off old equipment. But "all other comments were 'Thank you!' and 'I bet you didn't think you would have this kind of response,'" Burchard said.
Lead, mercury, bromine and chlorine commonly used in manufacturing electronics can leach into the environment through landfills or waste incinerators if discarded with normal trash. The old electronics were transported from the campuses to a facility equipped to recycle all the plastics, usable metals and glass and safely dispose of all toxic components.
Caitlin Sasser, administrative coordinator in UR's information services, assisted with arranging and staffing the project.
"Everyone I spoke with was just thrilled with the event, even after having to wait in line," Sasser said. "I talked to lots of people who had been storing their equipment for years and were grateful for the opportunity to safely dispose of it. Richmond City Schools brought four box trucks. We also had drop-offs from the school districts of Henrico, Chesterfield and Petersburg. S&K brought a box truck of the most neatly organized and shrink-wrapped equipment we saw all weekend."