Consumer Electronics Group Program Raises E-Waste Recycling 53 Percent

A Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) initiative has increased e-waste recycling by 53 percent among participants.

The Arlington, Va.-based CEA said in a news release that the participants in the eCycling Leadership Initiative managed the recycling of 460 million pounds of consumer electronics, according to the first annual report on the program. Also, electronics manufacturers and retailers increased the number of e-waste recycling drop-off locations for consumers nationwide to nearly 7,500 from slightly more than 5,000 a year ago.

By the end of 2011, 96 percent of the recycling done by eCycling Leadership Initiative participants was conducted in third-party certified recycling facilities.  The association also launched GreenerGadgets.org to educate consumers about e-waste recycling and energy consumption.

The eCycling Leadership Initiative, also known as the Billion Pound Challenge, represents a collaboration among consumer electronics manufacturers, retailers, collectors, recyclers, non-governmental organizations and governments at all levels. The initiative has set the goals of increasing the amount of electronics recycled responsibly to a billion pounds annually by 2016, raising the number of collection opportunities available to consumers, improving consumer awareness of eCycling collection sites and providing transparent metrics on eCycling efforts.

 "In the first year of the eCycling Leadership Initiative, our industry has made significant progress toward its goals due to the hard work of our member companies," said Gary Shapiro, President and CEO of CEA. "We continue to push for a national solution to eCycling that will eliminate the costly and confusing patchwork of state regulations."