[Texgreen] Fwd: National story on Staples recycling program

[Craig MIller]

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Folks -  I am quoted in an Associated Press story that's running internationally
on a new e-waste recycling program that requires consumers to pay $10 to drop
off computers or monitors.  They won't accept TVs.  We have some real questions
about the recycler though so we aren't promoting it.  (The writer spelled my
name wrong but I corrected it for this version which is now on our
website.)Robin  http://www.texasenvironment.org/news_story.cfm?IID=352  Staples
Inc. is expanding its electronics waste recycling program by accepting used
computers and monitors that can now be dropped off for a $10 fee at any of the
office products chain's 1,400 U.S. locations during store hours.  The step by
the world's largest office products supplier follows similar initiatives by many
computer makers and retailers to confront the growing environmental and public
health risk
posed by discarded computers and other electronic gadgets containing toxic
metals and chemicals.  Framingham-based Staples on Monday planned to announce
the expansion of a four-year-old program allowing customers to drop off smaller
devices such as cell phones, pagers and digital cameras for free, regardless of
the brand or whether the device was bought at Staples.  Free recycling for those
devices will continue at Staples' U.S. and Canadian stores. Starting Monday,
desktop and laptop computers and monitors of any make will also be accepted at
Staples' customer service desks during store hours, but for a $10 fee for each
large item.  Staples has offered temporary computer drop-off programs at various
locations in recent years - a step other retailers such as rival Office Depot
Inc. have also taken. Staples also has offered computer recycling on an ongoing
basis in Seattle area stores for the past two years.  The expanded program will
make Staples the first
national retailer to accept computers for recycling on a daily, ongoing basis,
said Mark Buckley, Staples' vice president of environmental affairs. 
Peripherals such as keyboards, mice and speakers will be accepted at no cost.
Televisions and floor-model copiers won't be taken.  The computer drop-off
program isn't being offered in the 21 countries outside the United States where
Staples operates.  Staples, which stands to boost customer traffic from people
turning in old devices, says the $10 fee for large items will defray recycling
costs.  "When you start to talk about a heavy monitor and a large tower unit for
a desktop computer, obviously there is a cost in handling, recycling and
shipping," Buckley said.  Robin Schneider, a spokeswoman for the Computer
TakeBack Campaign, a nonprofit advocacy group, urged Staples to consider
dropping the $10 fee.  "Some people will agree to pay that, but a lot of people
will expect to be paid, because their
computer may not be old, and computers can become obsolete so quickly now,"
Schneider said.  Schneider said such drop-off programs "are not a panacea" if
recycling isn't done in an environmentally and socially responsible way. 
Activists say too much of the nation's recycled electronic waste ends up being
shipped overseas to poor countries, where it pollutes the environment and can
expose workers to dangerous chemicals as they disassemble the devices to salvage
precious metals.  Staples said its program will ship the devices for domestic
recycling by Vestal, N.Y.-based Amandi Services, which Staples calls "one of the
country's most experienced and innovative electronics recyclers." Amandi
complies with federal standards for electronics recycling and will take steps to
ensure personal data stored on old computers aren't compromised, Staples says. 
"We're not shipping products overseas, and we have a strict chain of custody to
make sure we know where these
materials are going," Buckley said. 

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