Ecotality Life

In recent months, there has been quite a bit of buzz surrounding the dangers of e-waste (most notably, releasing toxic components into the environment). However, more and more companies are making their money making you money by paying for your e-waste. The most recent company to join the ranks: Hewlett-Packard.

Under HP’s new e-waste recycle program, consumers will receive money for recycling their old PCs, servers, phones, printers, and other electronics, regardless of brand name. The amount of cash given to consumers depends on the resale value of the item being recycled, but even with no resale value, the consumer can have his/her item recycled for free. While recycling these old electronics and PCs is good for the environment, the process also has these companies seeing green.

According to greentechmedia.com, “the worldwide market for electronic recycling will come to $11 billion this year and is growing at around 8.8 percent annually, the fastest segment in solid waste. In the U.S., electronic recycling services will be a $17 billion business.” This creates an ideal situation for all parties involved: the recycler is typically free to keep any money obtained from selling old parts or raw materials. In the ideal situation, recyclers can collect a bounty for a PC, refurbish it, and sell it again. Refurbishing is more environmentally friendly (because no energy is expended and no materials get lost) and the recycler makes more money from selling a refurbished product than metals or other parts extracted from old machines. So, clean out your closets filled with unused PCs, old cell phones, broken cameras, and recycle them. Start the New Year off right, with a little clean in your closets and green in your pockets.

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