Taking your old electronics to a local e-waste facility’s a lot better than dropping the mass of potentially dangerous materials into your dumpster — but even better than visiting your city’s e-waste facility is sending the broken item back to the manufacturer. Why? By returning the no-longer functional electronic to the manufacturer, you force that company to take charge for the end-of-life disposal of the product — instead of offloading the cost of recycling and disposing of the thing on taxpayers.
And of course, when companies have to contend with responsible dismantling and recycling of their products, manufacturers have an incentive to make more responsible products to begin with. Those could be new electronics that are easier and eco-friendlier to recycle and dispose of, or electronics that — *gasp!* — last more than a few years!
That’s why the green group Electronics TakeBack Coalition‘s been pushing companies to take back their electronics for years. Earlier this week the Coalition released its Electronics Company Recycling Report Card, showing exactly what companies are taking responsibility for the products they produce. I’m proud to say that my laptop maker Dell got the highest mark — a B!
Most companies, however, got big fat Fs — like my printer maker Brother, my stereo maker Sony, and my camera maker Canon. Interestingly, a good handful of these flunkies actually have take back programs! It’s just that these programs are (intentionally?) tough to use for average consumers who don’t want to navigate a complicated return program, don’t want to pay the expense of mailing in a broken electronic for the program, or more likely, don’t even know that a program exists to begin with.
The greenest action you can take with the electronics you already own is take care of them and use them a long long time — fixing them whenever possible to reduce the need for recycling. But once that computer or printer gives out, do take the time to check if the manufacturer offers a recycling program. If it’s practical enough, use it. If not, I suggest letting the manufacturer know you’re unhappy with their non-existent or difficult-to-use take back program — and that you’re taking your future business elsewhere.
How did your computer and printer makers score?
Earlier:
>> iFixit: Get your gadgets to last longer with free DIY fix-it manuals
>> A Superguide for e-recycling: Make money, not e-waste
>> Green tech guides: Making greener gadget shopping easier
>> Shop smart and save green on electronics and gadgets
>> Oh the things you can recycle
>> If it is broken, recycle it — The first green LA girl post!
Photo: cometstarmoon/Flickr
Any suggestions for a big old Singin’ Machine (karaoke type thing) that I’ve had sitting at my door for over two years now? (And that was originally purchased probably 20 years ago?) I can barely lift the thing, so I don’t want to move it until I know exactly where it’s going. Also, what about things like old coffee makers?
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Comment by April — October 20, 2010 @ 2:32 pm
I have a broken Dell laptop that I’m just holding onto because until now, I didn’t know that Dell would take it back. Thank you!
Comment by Phoebe — October 21, 2010 @ 8:25 am
Hey! Thank you so much for bringing up such an important topic. People don’t usually think about what’s going to happen to their TV when it’s new. There is something call Extended Producer Responsibility which is trying to make manufacturers think about that before you can even buy that TV. An organization called The California Product Stewardship Council [http://www.calpsc.org/] is working on that very thing.
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Comment by Jeremy — October 21, 2010 @ 3:13 pm
I bet the old karaoke machine would probably get picked up quickly off of Craigslist–especially if you just were looking to give it away.
As for old coffee makers…a good rule of thumb is anything with an electrical cord should stay out of the trash. Cities hold electronic waste recycling events all year long. LA has one this Saturday in Reseda. Ask your city or look on their website.
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Comment by Jeremy — October 21, 2010 @ 3:19 pm