On Saturday, November 22, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wake County Solid Waste Management will kick off a permanent program for residents to recycle all electronics made by JVC, Lexmark, Panasonic, Sharp or Sony at the County's North Wake Multi Material Recycling Facility, off Durant Road in North Raleigh. This is in addition to the County's computer recycling program that began in 2000, and coincides with America Recycles Day (ARD) celebrations across the nation.
America Recycles Day is a national recycling awareness day that takes place annually on November 15. This day and the events surrounding it serve to raise public awareness and promote the social, environmental and economic benefits of buying recycled and recycling. The purpose of ARD is to encourage the purchase of recycled-content products and the practice of recycling throughout America.
The five manufacturers listed above of radios, telephones, microwave ovens, televisions, etc., are practicing "product stewardship" by taking responsibility for impacts to health and the environment that result from the production, use and disposal of these items (in this case by helping to make recycling more economical and accessible to Wake County residents).
"It is important to recognize these manufacturers as leaders because they are not mandated to help local governments recycle their material," said Solid Waste Director Jim Reynolds. "We see product stewardship of electronics as the major element of the long-term solution to the e-waste issue."
Product stewardship is beginning to gain ground as an idea. According to Scott Mouw of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), who oversees North Carolina's recycling program and is on the steering council of the Product Stewardship Institute, more and more industries are actively working to take care of their discarded products, including carpet, rechargeable batteries, thermostats and lead-acid batteries.
"We really need to applaud the electronics manufacturers involved in the Wake County program," Mouw said. "They give other manufacturers a great example of what we think all of them should be doing."
The product stewardship recycling program is partially funded through a grant from DENR's Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance. To learn more about these and other Wake County waste reduction and recycling programs, please click here or call 856-5277. For more on America Recycles Day, visit americarecyclesday.org.