UNM community members can get their electronic waste recycled free of charge on campus this Saturday.
UNM Recycling, NetImpact and the Staff Council Environs Committee teamed up to host the third annual UNM E-waste Recycling Event, where students, faculty and staff can recycle old cell phones, radios, microwaves, VCRs, DVD Players and more for free.
Recycling old televisions, however, will cost $10.
Linda McCormick, president of UNM Recycling, said electronic waste can hurt the environment.
“If they’re not recycled, then they can have a profound negative impact on the environment, because they typically contain heavy metals like lead or copper in the solder, tin — things like that,” she said.
McCormick said Albuquerque hosts two similar e-waste events each year for the general public. Also, there are two companies in the city that accept e-waste throughout the year — Albuquerque Recycling and Enchantment Recycling.
All of the e-waste collected Saturday will be given to Albuquerque Recycling, McCormick said. She said the company makes a profit on the items.
“The reason that it’s free for everything is that there’s enough value in the recycled materials of a CD player or something like that so that they don’t have to charge us,” she said.
Televisions don’t have enough valuable components, which is why it costs $10 to recycle them, McCormick said.
McCormick said the e-waste event helps consumers understand the environmental implications of everyday products.
“There’s no environmental-free lunch,” she said. “There’s a dark side to everything.”
*E-waste recycling event
Saturday
9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
“A” lot (between Central and Johnson Field)
*
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