Private: In the News

What began as a day of protest on April 22, 1970 has evolved into an annual week-long celebration all over the world. In Canada, the first Earth Day was held in 1980. Now more than a billion people in over 192 countries observe Earth Day and participate in Earth Week events.

It’s the time of year when individuals and companies reflect on their own environmental impact and set new sustainability goals. When it comes to our behaviour, sustainability is not a one day or even one week fix – it’s something that needs to be front and centre year-round.

There is one, simple behaviour we can all adopt that makes a tangible difference for the environment. By properly recycling end-of-life electronics we can also ensure that the reusable resources inside are recovered and put back into the manufacturing stream. Our electronics contain everything from plastic and glass to gold, silver, copper and palladium. It can all be recovered and reused, and most importantly from sustainability standpoint, lessens our dependence on mining for new resources.

Surveys have shown that 80% of Canadians have obsolete or end-of-life electronics at home. Safely and securely recycling the unused and unwanted electronics in our homes ensures they’re kept out of landfills and prevented from being illegally exported or handled by irresponsible recyclers.

In Canada, the Recycle My Electronics program makes it easy to recycle end-of-life electronics in a safe and secure manner. The Recycle My Electronics network of over 2,300 drop-off locations across the country includes dedicated collection locations, return-to-retail locations and special collection events.

Recycle My Electronics only works with recyclers who have been verified under the national Electronics Recycling Standard (ERS), which was designed by the electronics industry to ensure that end-of-life electronics are managed in a safe and environmentally sound manner. In fact, approved processors must meet over 150 stringent safety protocols to ensure the health and safety of both their employees and the environment.

Think about this – by 2020 it’s estimated there will be 50 billion digitally connected devices globally and currently, more than half the world’s population is using the internet. This Earth Week, let’s all assess our personal ecological footprint and think about what we can do as individuals, communities and nations to contribute to our sustainable future. Properly recycling our old, broken or obsolete electronics is a no brainer. We all have a tremendous opportunity to do the right thing for the environment, so let’s take all the good intentions that Earth Week generates and turn then into positive action.

To find out what and where to recycle, visit recycleMYelectronics.ca/on/where-can-i-recycle