Free e-waste Recycling with USPS

I don’t have too many unused electronics kicking around but I definitely have a few, like my “old” cell phone. It’s actually less than 4 years old but has become obsolete – doesn’t hold a charge and the company no longer makes replacement batteries for this oh-so-outdated model.

The sales rep who sold me my new phone suggested I place the old one in their collection bin to be donated to women who are escaping domestic abuse situations. My thought on that was what good is giving a phone that doesn’t work to someone in a dangerous situation? So the phone is sitting in a bag with all its outdated, unusable parts.

There are several reputable e-waste recycling programs popping up making it easier to get electronics recycled responsibly. One promising initiative is through the US Postal Service’s “Mail Back” program which has started in 1,500 post offices. Postage-paid envelopes can be found in post offices in 10 US cities, including Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego.

Thursday at One Vote Matters let me know about LifeHacker’s post on the new “Mail Back” program (thanks, Thursday!). Lifehacker’s also got a great bunch of resources for recycling that you can find in the post there. With a little digging, I discovered that the “Mail Back” program is sponsored by Clover Technologies:

Clover Technologies Group, will recycle, remanufacture and remarket inkjet cartridges, laser cartridges and small electronics. If the refuse can’t be refurbished and resold, its component parts are reused to refurbish other items, or the parts are broken down further and the materials are recycled. Clover Technologies Group has a “zero waste to landfill” policy: it does everything it can to avoid contributing any materials to the nation’s landfills. – BusinessWeek

Sounds like a great initiative that will make it easier to keep the work desk (and drawers) clutter free and keep electronics out of landfills.