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Sunday, January 25, 2015

February 2015 Green Tip: Recycling E-waste

We went to the experts to find out the best way to recycle e-waste materials. All of the following information is from the Environmental Health & Safety UCSC webpage here. Much of e-waste is disposed of incorrectly, which is very devastating for the communities living around landfills, so it is very important that everyone on campus contributes in disposing of e-waste properly.

Electronic waste (E-waste): what is it and how do we get rid of it?

This term applies to consumer and business electronic equipment that is near or at the end of its useful life. There is no clear definition for electronic waste (e-waste) at this time, but if you can plug it in to an electrical outlet or it contains circuit boards or chips, it is most likely e-waste. These products can contain heavy metals like cadmium, lead, copper, and chromium that can contaminate the environment. DO NOT dispose of these items in the trash or your recycling bins.

Examples of electronic waste include, but are not limited to:

  • TVs, computer monitors, printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, cables, circuit boards, lamps, clocks, flashlight, calculators, phones, answering machines, digital/video cameras, radios, VCRs, DVD players, MP3 and CD players 
  •  Kitchen equipment (toasters, coffee makers, microwave ovens)
  •  Laboratory equipment** (hot plates, microscopes, calorimeters) 
  •  Broken computer monitors, television tubes (CRTs) 

 **Any laboratory equipment that has the possibility of being contaminated with chemical, biological, or radioactive substances must be cleared through EH&S and Departmental Facilities Office before disposal.
 **For PBSci laboratory equipment disposal procedure click here.

Student E-waste Recycling Options 

If you live on-campus you can dispose of your electronic waste easily and conveniently by creating a Fix It Ticket or contacting your college maintenance office.

If you live off-campus, learn more about the Santa Cruz County electronic waste disposal program:


Additional information on disposal / recycling of e-waste and other regulated items can be found in all college mailrooms, Graduate Student Housing Mailroom and the Village Laundry Community room. Multibins are blue cabinets built to collect batteries, small electronics, printer cartridges, and CDs. They are located in every college mailroom.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

The link in the newsletter below about e-waste went to a "page not found" page with an search form where

Sunday, January 25, 2015

February 2015 Green Tip: Recycling E-waste
We went to the experts to find out the best way to recycle e-waste materials. All of the following information is from the Environmental Health & Safety UCSC webpage here. Much of e-waste is disposed of incorrectly, which is very devastating for the communities living around landfills, so it is very important that everyone on campus contributes in disposing of e-waste properly.

Electronic waste (E-waste): what is it and how do we get rid of it?



Unknown said...

I have always wondered what to do with old electronics after you are done with them. It is good to know that you can't dispose of them with the regular trash. I have a couple computers sitting my basement because I didn't know how to properly dispose of them. I wonder if my city has a electronic waste disposal program. http://www.uriberefuse.com/services/recycling.html

Unknown said...

Great tips regarding how to recycle electronic gadgets. I have several really old monitors in my garage and I'm looking to recycle them. I'll have to look into more options for recycling them.
http://www.trashremovalframinghamma.com/Recycle-Center-Ashland-MA.html