press clippings

Houston Business Journal, May 11, 2010 By Christine Hall

Texas last in electronics recycling, report shows

Texas is ranked last in per capita collections of computers for recycling among states with similar takeback programs, according to a report released Tuesday by the Texas Campaign for the Environment Fund.

The report shows that most computer-makers did not recycle significant volumes in the first year of the program. The Texas Computer TakeBack Law was passed by state lawmakers in 2007, and was designed to give Texans a free and convenient way to recycle their old computers.

“The Texas TakeBack program is a phenomenal idea poorly executed,” Robin Schneider, executive director of the organization, said in a statement. “Of all the computer makers, only Dell took ‘free and convenient recycling’ to heart when they designed their recycling program.”

In 2009, computer manufacturers recovered over 15 million pounds of unwanted electronics in Texas, or just over half a pound per person. That compared with the three pounds of computer equipment per person recycled in Minnesota, according to the report. Manufacturers in that state are required to recycle an amount equal to 80 percent of the weight of new products sold in the state.

Of that 15 million pounds in Texas, Austin-based Dell Inc. was responsible for 13 million — almost 85 percent of the Texas total — through their partnership with Goodwill and Staples. Meanwhile, the report found that many other manufacturers offered mail-back programs, which the law sets as the “default” option in the Texas program.