About E-Waste

According to a report conducted by the Consumer Electronics Association in 2013, the average American household uses about 28 electronic products such as personal computers, mobile phones, TVs and electronic readers (e-readers).  The EPA reports that in 2015, Americans generated 3.09 million tons of obsolete electronic products.  Sadly only 12.5% of “e-waste” is recycled.  Those “e-waste” products left in the landfills pose a serious threat to our environment as they often contain hazardous materials such as mercury, which can cause adverse reactions to the environment.  Old television sets, as well as CRT (cathode ray tube) monitors, contain approximately 4 to 8 pounds of lead, a neurotoxin. Improper disposal means these toxic substances can leach into the ground.

What Can You Do

Fortunately, we have alternatives to tossing our “throw away” electronics in the dump or worse yet – in the ditch!  Electronic recycling provides a way to not only recycle but reuse those products for other purposes.  By recycling one million cell phones, the EPA states that 35,274 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered.  Recycling circuit boards can be more valuable than mining for ore! One ton of circuit boards is estimated to contain 40 to 800 times more gold than one metric ton of ore. There is 30 to 40 times more copper in a ton of circuit boards that can be mined from one metric ton of ore.

Events Near You

Trailblazers RC&D is pleased to announce they have received a generous grant from the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and donations from the supervisors and commissioners from each of the participating counties to collect electronics at several different locations in both the Little Blue & Lower Republican Natural Resources Districts.

These events are free and are open to businesses, schools, government entities, non-profits, and households!   We ask that you do not bring electronics before time hours listed for each location.

What is Accepted

Electronics that are accepted: cables, wires, batteries, UPS backup units, cameras, cell phones, smartphones, circuit boards, computers, computer equipment, copiers, cordless telephones, data center equipment, DVD players, Blueray players, gaming systems, hard drives, hubs, ink/toner (empty or full), iPods, iPads, iPhones,  keyboards, microphones, joysticks, lab equipment, LCD monitors, mainframe equipment, modems, routers, medical equipment, networking equipment, pagers, beepers, PCI Cards, printers, power supplies, scanners, servers, Telecom equipment, microwaves and TVs.  Please do not bring any other types of appliances.

Any questions can be directed to the event coordinator Jim Farmer with Trailblazers RC&D of Red Cloud at (402) 746-4132.