Date: June 21, 2008 in Houghton and Keweenaw counties
From 9 am to noon at the health department offices in Hancock

July 12, 2008 in Baraga County
From 10 a.m. to noon

dates for other areas TBA

Sponsor/Contact: Western Upper Peninsula Electronics Recycling Program

Barbara Maronen
906-482-7382

Type of Event: e-waste

Details: Western U.P. electronic waste collections set: June 21 in Houghton and Keweenaw counties; July 12 in Baraga County; dates for other areas TBA

The Western Upper Peninsula Electronics Recycling Program, a project of the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), provides households with an environmentally and economically sound solution to disposing of electronic waste.

Residents of Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon Counties, who have generated electronic waste in their household, may bring their items to e-waste collection sites on the specified collection dates in their area.

The initiative received grants and/or other assistance from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The northern Michigan collection is connected to the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge that involves over 100 projects in eight states across the Great Lakes Basin.

Commonly called e-waste, it includes electronics like old and broken computers, cell phones and other items found in many homes.

The collection for Houghton and Keweenaw counties will be on June 21 from 9 am to noon at the health department offices in Hancock.

An e-waste collection will be held in Baraga county on July 12 from 10 a.m. to noon at a site to be announced.

Collection events for other Copper Country counties will be announced in the future.

The cost to drop off e-waste is 10 cents per pound.

The Western Upper Peninsula Electronics Recycling Program will accept a wide range of e-waste during collection events including cell phones, computer and related equipment like laptops, monitors, towers aka central processing units, printers, scanners, keyboards and computer mice

Other e-waste accepted includes stereo equipment, televisions, VCR and DVD players, copiers, cordless telephones, fax machines, fluorescent light bulbs that are 4 to 8 feet in length, microwave ovens and batteries including alkaline, nickel cadmium, lead acid, lithium, mercury

Organizers said it estimated that between 1997 and 2007, nearly 500 million personal computers will have become obsolete. That’s almost 2 computers for every person living in the United States.

TV’s and computer monitors contain an average of 4 pounds of lead, as well as other toxins.

According to Closing the Circle News, the manufacture of one computer consumes 529 pounds of fossil fuels, 49 pounds of chemicals, and 3,307 pounds of water.

The combined weight of the materials used is equivalent to the weight of a rhinoceros or sport utility vehicle.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, projects that nationwide nearly 250 million computers will become obsolete in the next five years.

For additional information contact the Western Upper Peninsula Electronics Recycling Program or RSVP at 906-482-7382.

The goal of the EPA Great Lakes 2008 Earth Day Challenge was the collecting and recycling of one million pounds of electronics (e-Waste) plus the collection and proper disposal of one million pills. The EPA says those goals were exceeded by 400 to 500 percent.

Links:
http://www.wupdhd.org

http://www.wupdhd.org/rsvp/e-waste.html

2005: 8 collections, 26.5 tons	2006: 4 collections, 15 tons

2007: 1 collection, 6.25 tons	More than 850 participants to date.