Ecomemphis

We’re very excited to find that The University of Memphis continues their E-Recycling event this year – in just a few days, Saturday and Sunday May 16th and 17th at the parking lot on Southern Ave.

Sponsored by Apple, Inc., the event is highly significant in this burgeoning time of digital tv’s spawning the discard of analog tv’s. “There are approximately four pounds of lead in a 36 inch television. Unfortunately, many of our municipalities have challenges in properly disposing of this kind of e-waste,” says Steve Terry, IT Director at the University of Memphis. “Often, a discarded tv will be crushed, then sent to a landfill where lead and other chemicals can to seep into the soil.”

Since Memphis has several landfills within the city limits, toxic chemicals like mercury, bromine, chlorine and lead that are inside nearly all electronic devices can be shockingly close to our homes.

“Apple does a great job. Part of the benefit of their sponsorship is the sheer organization,” says Terry.  “People can just drive up, pop the trunk and their old electronics, or e-waste will be taken out for them. The whole process of driving through and having your e-waste removed from your vehicle shouldn’t take more than five minutes.”

Often when e-waste is recycled, it is often sent to an impoverished community in a country like China or India where individuals are paid to reclaim these materials – using methods that destroy their own health and contribute to the detriment of our one and only environment.

Through the University of Memphis E-Recycling event, the e-waste that will be collected will ultimately be processed into three core components; glass, metal and plastic and then be recycled into new electronic equipment. The company on hand will be SIMS Recycling Solutions a global company who specializes in these processes with processing facilities in LaVernge, TN.

So what can you bring? Just about any electronic device like cell phones, cameras, tv’s, stereos, hard drives and of course computers. Here’s a complete list. Please, no refrigerators!