AMERICANS ENCOURAGED TO RECYCLE OLD COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, TELEVISIONS, OTHER ELECTRONICS IN NEW CAMPAIGN LAUNCHED BY EPA, INDUSTRY, RETAILERS, RECYCLERS

EPA has launched a new campaign to encourage Americans to reuse or recycle their used electronics. The Plug-In To Recycling Campaign, a partnership of Best Buy, AT&T; Wireless, Sony, Panasonic, Dell, Sharp, Recycle America (a wholly owned subsidiary of Waste Management, Inc.), Envirocycle, Inc. and nxtcycle is intended to raise Americans' awareness of the value of reusing and recycling electronics and to provide them with increased opportunities to do so across the country.

"In the past decade, electronics have spurred economic growth and improved our lives in countless ways, but our growing reliance on electronics has given rise to a new environmental challenge: safe and thoughtful management of electronic waste," said Marianne Lamont Horinko, EPA Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "Reusing and recycling electronics is something Americans can do in their everyday lives to protect the environment, and this campaign will show them how.

"Many local governments, electronics manufacturers, retailers, recyclers, and non-profit organizations have established reuse and recycling programs for electronics," Horinko added. "We want to get the word out about these opportunities and build momentum for even more reuse and recycling programs."

Horinko also commented on how thrilled she was to have the support of industry, retailers and recyclers in this initiative: "This is yet another example of how public and private partnerships can make a real difference in the health of Americans and their environment."

This campaign is one of several new EPA efforts under the Agency's Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC), which seeks to increase the national recycling rate from 30 to 35 percent and cut the generation of 30 harmful chemicals by 2005. Under the RCC, which was introduced Sept. 9, EPA is working with electronics manufacturers, retailers, recyclers, and government agencies to reduce the environmental impacts of electronic products during their production, use, and disposal. The Agency will also establish partnerships and alliances with industry, states and environmental groups; provide training, tools and technology assistance for businesses, governments and citizen groups and get the word out through outreach and assistance to the general population, especially to youth and minority groups.

RCC efforts also include: (1) EPA's ENERGY STAR program, which encourages the manufacture and use of more energy efficient products; and (2) the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive's Federal Electronics Stewardship Challenge. This latter program will use the substantial buying power of the federal government to promote, among other things, the purchase of environmentally preferable electronic products. (The Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, a task force of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, promotes environmental stewardship throughout the federal government.)

Learn more about electronic recycling and reuse programs in your area at: http://www.plugintorecycling.org. Learn more about the Resource Conservation Challenge at: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/osw/conserve/index.htm.