Best Buy Recycles 1 Billion Pounds of E-Waste; Sets Goal of 2 Billion

Best Buy Co. Inc. said it has recycled 1 billion pounds of electronic waste in six years from customers at its retail stores, and it set a new goal of an additional 2 billion pounds of electronics and large appliances by 2020.

The Minneapolis-based electronics retailer said in a news release that it now is aiming to help consumers recycle large and cumbersome products that are difficult to dispose of, such as large TVs and appliances. Best Buy will continue to recycle most consumer electronics at all its large format and specialty stores for free.

Since 2009 Best Buy has collected an average of more than 20 million products a year.

Its new e-waste recycling goal of 2 billion pounds is equivalent to a freight train with more than 3,500 cars.

Best Buy commissioned a survey by Millward Brown determining that 61 percent of people don’t recycle their electronics because they don’t know where to take them, it’s a hassle or it costs money. The highest recycling need today is for used analog or cathode ray tube (CRT) TVs, whereas the needs of the future will be mobile phones and TVs.