The first electronic recycling event of the year was a popular spot Friday morning on the campus of the University of Utah with a steady stream of vehicles lining up to be unloaded. The Salt Lake County Health Department’s program has recycled 2 point 3 million pounds of old computers, cellphones, and televisions since it began three years ago. Dan Moore is the Household Hazardous Waste Program Coordinator for the Department. He says these old devises contain tons of both toxic and useful materials.
“It’s better for the health of everybody if this is properly handed. So there’s mercury, there’s cadmium, there’s heavy metals, there’s brominated plastics and all that can be broken down and properly recycled," says Moore. "Some of it can be used in other components making things cheaper.”
Moore says the health department has twelve E-waste drop-off events planned through the summer months with all costs of the program covered by the Samsung Corporation. He says Electronic Recyclers International handles the actual process as safely and securely as any company in the world.
