1. The New Wave
in Electronics:
What Can Be eCycled EPA’s Plug-In To eCycling
Program
Hard drives
Monitors
Keyboards
Plug-In To eCycling aims to give Americans
more opportunities to safely, conveniently,
and affordably recycle their old electronics.
eCy c l in g
Printers Plug-In is one of many new efforts under EPA’s
2 Recycled/Recyclable—Printed with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on 100% Postconsumer, Process Chlorine Free Recycled Paper
Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC). The
Televisions
RCC challenges all Americans—makers, sellers,
DVD players and buyers of goods—to embrace a new
resource conservation ethic. It encourages the
VCRs
design of greener products, wiser product pur-
Software chasing, and reuse and recovery of products.
Cell phones EPA recognizes the following Plug-In To eCycling
partners for their contribution to safe electronics
Pagers recycling.
Digital equipment
Scanners Apple
and much, much more...
e or Re c y c l e O l d E
R eu s l ect ro n ic s
www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/conserve/plugin/index.htm
Environmental Protection Agency
Penalty for Private Use $300
SHARP ®
Washington, DC 20460
be sharp
TM
EPA530-F-04-020
September 2004
Official Business
1EPA
United States
(5305W)
www.plugintoecycling.org

2. O Where to eCycle Benefits of eCycling
UR “PLUGGED IN” WORLD relies on
an ever-growing and constantly
changing supply of electronic For information on donation or recycling
Recycling or reusing old electronics, or “eCycling,”
programs in your area contact your city or
can:
products. With newer, more hi-tech
electronics continuously becoming avail- county recycling coordinator or visit:
• Conserve Natural Resources
able to fit our lifestyles, we are replac- eCycling recovers valuable material from old
• The Electronic Industries Alliance
ing older models at rapid rates with no electronics which can be used to make new
www.eiae.org
signs of slowing down. As a result, elec- products. Cutting down on the need to mine
tronics are becoming one the fastest • Earth 911 the earth for new raw materials, recycling and
growing portions of America’s trash. www.earth911.org reusing electronics saves resources.
• TechSoup
• Help Others
What You Can Do www.techsoup.org
Did You Know? Donating your old electronics lets someone
eCycle!—Keep electronics out of the trash! Some national computer companies offer Manufacturing one desktop computer requires fossil
else access technology he or she might not
opportunities to safely recycle electronics fuels and chemicals that amount to at least 9 times the
be able to afford otherwise.
Refurbish, fix, or upgrade your equip-
through the mail and certain retailers have weight of the computer!
ment so you can continue to use it • Strengthen the Local Economy
ongoing or occasional drop-off locations.
Use some of the parts of an old system Recycling and reusing electronics creates
Check to see if they provide these
to build a new system • Protect the Environment jobs for professional recyclers and refur-
opportunities. bishers and creates new markets for the
Donate your old electronics to a local Safely recycling and reusing electronics helps
keep substances like lead and mercury from valuable components that are dismantled.
charity or school for reuse or refurbishing
harming people or the environment.
Drop off your old electronics to a local
recycling program, such as a municipal
or community program or a retail collec-
tion program
EPA’s Concern
More than 2 million tons of used electronics are dis-
posed of each year. Based on current disposal rates,
Americans will have also discarded up to 154 million
computers by 2005.
EPA thanks the Institute for Local Self
Reliance and Minnesota Office of
Environmental Assistance for sharing the
campaign name “Plug-In To Recycling.”