December 03, 2009 | by Steven Castle There’s good news and bad
news about electronics recycling, or e-cycling, in a recent
survey of more than 1,000 Americans published by Pike Research.
The good news is that consumer awareness of the e-waste threat
is increasing, and 76 percent of respondents stated that
recycling is the most appropriate way to handle unused, broken,
or obsolete electronics equipment. That’s good. And the bad
news? Consumers have few incentives to reuse or recycle their
used electronics equipment. It is still too easy and inexpensive
to throw e-waste in the trash. An optimistic estimate of average
recycle rates is only about 15 percent. That’s not so good.
According to Pike’s report, e-waste is the fastest-growing
segment of municipal solid waste; it accounts for between 3
percent and 5 percent of incoming materials. And approximately
75 percent to 85 percent of electrical and electronic equipment
is sent directly to landfill burial or incineration. Projections
for e-waste are increasing, on