[frgeek-michiana] Staples
- From: "Otto J. Schlatter" <ojschlatter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <frgeek-michiana@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 07:20:38 -0400
Staples Inc. launches nationwide computer recycling program
By Mark Jewell, AP Business Writer | May 21, 2007
BOSTON --Staples Inc. is expanding its electronics waste recycling
program by accepting used computers and monitors that can now be dropped
off for a $10 fee at any of the office products chain's 1,400 U.S.
locations during store hours.
The step by the world's largest office products supplier follows similar
initiatives by many computer makers and retailers to confront the
growing environmental and public health risk posed by discarded
computers and other electronic gadgets containing toxic metals and
chemicals.
Framingham, Mass.-based Staples planned Monday to announce the expansion
of a four-year-old program allowing customers to drop off smaller
devices such as cell phones, pagers and digital cameras for free,
regardless of the brand or whether the device was bought at Staples.
Free recycling for those devices will continue at Staples' U.S. and
Canadian office products stores. Starting Monday, desktop and laptop
computers and monitors of any make will also be accepted at Staples'
customer service desks during store hours, but for a $10 fee for each
large item.
Staples has offered temporary computer drop-off programs at various
locations in recent years -- a step other retailers such as Staples
rival Office Depot Inc. have also taken. Staples also has offered
computer recycling on an ongoing basis in Seattle area stores for the
past two years.
The expanded program will make Staples the first national retailer to
accept computers for recycling on a daily, ongoing basis, Buckley said.
Peripherals such as keyboards, mice and speakers will be free, and
televisions and floor-model copiers won't be accepted.
The computer drop-off program isn't being offered in the 21 foreign
countries where Staples operates.
Staples, which stands to boost customer traffic from people turning in
old devices, says the $10 fee for large items will defray recycling
costs.
"When you start to talk about a heavy monitor and a large tower unit for
a desktop computer, obviously there is a cost in handling, recycling and
shipping," said Mark Buckley, Staples' vice president of environmental
affairs.
Robin Snider, a spokeswoman for the Computer TakeBack Campaign, a
nonprofit advocacy group, urged Staples to consider dropping the $10
fee.
"Some people will agree to pay that, but a lot of people will expect to
be paid, because their computer may not be old, and computers can become
obsolete so quickly now," Snider said.
Snider, of the Computer TakeBack Campaign, said such drop-off programs
"are not a panacea" if recycling isn't done in an environmentally and
socially responsible way.
Activists say too much of the nation's recycled electronic waste ends up
being shipped overseas to poor countries, where it pollutes the
environment and can expose workers to dangerous chemicals as they
disassemble the devices to salvage precious metals.
Staples said its program will ship the devices for domestic recycling by
Vestal, N.Y.-based Amandi Services, which Staples calls "one of the
country's most experienced and innovative electronics recyclers." Amanda
complies with federal standards for electronics recycling, and will take
steps to ensure personal data stored on old computers isn't compromised,
Staples says.
"We're not shipping products overseas, and we have a strict chain of
custody to make sure we know where these materials are going," Buckley
said.
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