NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 2009CITZ0011-000803 Dec. 29, 2009

Ministry of Citizens' Services

 

ELECTRONICS DISPOSAL MADE EASY THROUGH RECYCLING

 

VICTORIA – Disposing of your old electronic equipment no longer means dumping it at the landfill, says Citizens’ Services Minister Ben Stewart.

 

“Over the holiday season, many people upgrade their televisions, computers and hand-held devices,” said Stewart. “But instead of tossing your old stuff in the trash, you can now recycle them at one of our two government warehouses.”

 

Since becoming an authorized Encorp Return-It Electronics Centre in late 2007, the Asset Investment Recovery (AIR) warehouses in Victoria and Surrey have diverted over one million kilograms of electronic waste from landfills. The warehouses dispose of items such as old computers, monitors, laptops, printers, fax machines and televisions.

 

In addition, the Victoria and Surrey warehouses offer use of “The Shredder,” a large machine that chews up data devices such as cellphones and hard drives, completely obliterating any personal information contained on them. The service is available to the public for a small fee – $2.00 or less – depending on the type of device to be shredded.

 

“The Shredder is a cutting-edge privacy protector,” said Stewart. “It prevents data from falling into the wrong hands, and since the materials are 100 per cent recycled, the Shredder helps protect the environment too.”

 

The Victoria warehouse is located at 4234 Glanford Ave. The Surrey warehouse is located at 8307 – 130th St. Both warehouses are open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

 

A list of electronic equipment accepted at no charge can be found under the Consumer Information link at http://www.encorp.ca/electronics/acceptable.

 

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A backgrounder follows.

 

Contact:

Gordon Williams Communications Director 250 387-9288

For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.

 

BACKGROUNDER

 

December 29, 2009

Ministry of Citizens’ Services

 

INFORMATION ON ELECTRONIC WASTE RECYCLING IN B.C.

 

All electronic waste recycled through the Province’s Asset Investment Recovery (AIR) depots is recycled in a way that protects the environment as well as workers’ health and safety. The vast majority of e-waste is processed in Canada and the U.S., and no products are shipped offshore to developing countries.

 

The Encorp program is funded by the environmental handling fee (EHF) levied on the sale of new products. All products are recycled free of charge.

 

As Encorp B.C. Electronics Recycling locations, the Surrey and Victoria AIR depots accept the following types of electronic devices for recycling:

 

• Desktop computers (CPUs, computers with built-in monitors).
• Peripherals (keyboards, mice).
• Laptop computers.
• Printers (inkjet, laser, dot matrix, multi-purpose printers, fax machines).
• Monitors (CRT, LCD and plasma).
• Televisions (CRT, LCD, plasma, TV/VCR and TV/PC combos, closed-circuit monitors).

 

For an electronics recycling location near you, or to find out more about the program, visit www.encorp.ca.

 

In addition to the electronics recycling program, the Surrey and Victoria AIR depots also offer secure destruction of the following devices through use of the Shredder:

 

• Hard drives ($2.00 each).
• Cellphones, BlackBerry devices, Palm Pilots and MP3 players ($1.00 each).
• CD ROMs, floppy disks, data tapes, cassette tapes, flash drives ($0.50 per kilogram).

 

Since 2007, the Shredder has chewed up approximately 200,000 kilograms of electronic media and data-containing devices. The shredded materials are 100 per cent recycled.

 

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Contact:

Gordon Williams Communications Director 250 387-9288

 

For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.