Q: Where should I bring old electronics so they will really be recycled?
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A: We all have e-skeletons in our closet. You know, a dusty DVD player that died much too young, a cellphone you dropped in the toilet, an old TV you left for a younger, slimmer model.
Ousting these skeletons can be dodgy business, even when you think you’re recycling them. But before I get to the sketchy stuff, let’s bring on the good news: electronic recycling is now ridiculously easy in Toronto.
How easy? You can literally yawn, put a robe on, walk your electronics to the curb, place them next to your bin on garbage day, and the city will pick them up and recycle them.
Actually, curbside e-waste recycling rolled out April 1, but since the city isn’t going fully public with the news until later this summer, few people know about it yet.
That means, Ecoholic readers, you get to be e-pioneers (hooray!), placing large items (TVs, amps, fax machines, turntables, desktop computers and printers) right on the ground, while smaller items (phones, iPods, pagers, drives, radios, stereos, speakers, tuners, cameras, laptops, computer accessories, etc) go in a cardboard box or clear plastic bag.
In all, you can now recycle about 44 items in this fashion (toronto.ca/target70/electronics.htm).
Actually, these items feed into the new province-wide recycling system, which accepts these 44 electronics (and growing) at 500 locations like Staples, Best Buy and various community events. (Find the closest collection points to your postal code at dowhatyoucan.ca.)
Not that every collection location listed seems aware of this fact. For instance, the website says one Future Shop downtown should take all e-waste (with a two-item-per-day cap), but when I called the store, I was told only small electronics were accepted.
Calls to three Best Buys turned up lots of mixed messages. Some customer service clerks said they weren’t recycling, and others said they only accept a small number of items, while Best Buy head office says all Ontario stores should be taking all 44 items. Yes, the store is new to the program, but if front-line clerks keep cluelessly turning people away, how can we maximize the amount of e-waste being processed?
Which brings me to the crux of emerging e-waste woes: Ontario Electronic Stewardship (OES), the not-for-profit industry-run org in charge of e-waste recycling province-wide, has been getting flak for failing to recycle as much as it promised. So far in its first year, during which only TVs, computers and a few other items were accepted, it was over a third under target.
The main problem is that some e-waste recyclers are choosing not to go through OES at all. Hell, why would they when the OES system isn’t mandatory and they can make more money recycling to lower standards or selling e-waste to dodgy international buyers?
Industry observers say OES needs to sweeten the pot to lure more recyclers in, and OES promises changes are in the works. Now the government just needs to green-light changes to the Waste Management Act so all recyclers, even those outside the OES system, consent to strict third-party auditing and monitoring or else face tough penalties, all while banning e-waste from landfills.
For your part, make sure only to drop off e-waste with OES-approved collectors like the city or those listed at dowhatyoucan.ca. (These are all recycled at Ontario and Quebec plants, and any secondary processors are tracked as well). If not, your discards could snake their way overseas, where they’re destined to pollute.
By the fall, apartment dwellers will be able to call the city ElectroVan to pick up old electronics, if the building collects five or more e-waste items. If your electronics and small appliances are still working, donate them to charity (toronto.ca/reuseit).
Keep in mind that everything else with a plug that is not covered curbside or by the province’s program (like toasters, blenders, small fans) will still get recycled at a local facility (see adlprocess.com) if you bring it to your riding’s Environment Day or a city drop-off depot. Ditto for batteries.
Eventually, the province will recycle everything with a plug. If it can get its act together, it’ll be the most comprehensive program on the continent.
Got a question?
Send your green queries to ecoholic@nowtoronto.com
