| May 2011 3R Technology Newsletter |
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Happy May Day!
When people find out that they can recycle their old discarded electronics conveniently, and often times for free, they're usually very excited or even relieved. However, the flip side of this coin is that they assume that electronics recycling is completely clean, efficient, and that 100% of the materials in the equipment can be reclaimed. It can lead to the false assumption that over-consumption is okay, because recycling exists to take care of all the stuff that's been
created for us to consume. The first article below gets to the heart of the matter with the issue of recycling one key ingredient found extensively in electronics: plastics. We hope you find it informative... Thanks again for your part in helping keep our planet a little greener by recycling your e-waste properly!  Glen Gaidos CEO / Founder
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The Challenges of Plastics Recycling
A significant material component in most electronic equipment are plastics. These are difficult to recycle, and there is very little economic value in reclaiming the material. There are reportedly over 3000 types of plastics used in consumer goods, including electronics, plastic bottles, furniture, and clothing, and just about everything else that we use in our daily lives.
And just like contaminants that may ruin an entire load of recycled PET plastic bottles, mixing the various types, color, or grades of plastic can create a commodity that is virtually unusuable.
Recently, Seattle Business published a very insightful
article about plastics recycling.
In the article, they describe many of the challenges of identifying, sorting, and processing plastics properly. In addition, they go into some depth surrounding the labor and export issues with plastics recycling. Almost virtually all plastics collected for recycling are exported to China, which has lower wages, and fewer regulations concerning the processing of various types of plastics. |
May Electronics Recycling Event
For May, we're going to have our free electronics recycling event on May 20th. We'll be accepting the following items for no charge* on those days from 9:00 AM until 6:00 PM:
- CRT and LCD Monitors
- TVs - CRT, LCD, and plasma
- Computers & Servers
- Laptops
- All Printers, Fax Machines, and Scanners
- Audiovisual Equipment (DVD players / VHS / Stereos)
- Small amounts of Media such as VHS, Cassette, DVDs, and CDs
- Keyboards and Mice
- Small parts, peripherals, cables, etc.
If you are a business, or have a larger load of equipment that you can't haul down your electronics yourself, please inquire about our pickup services.
* Some items may still incur a fee. For more details, click here.
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Connect with 3R Technology!
We have many offers and announcements available only to our customers via Facebook and Twitter. Keep in touch in the way you prefer!
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Facebook Giveaway
Now is the time to become a Facebook fan of 3R Technology! Every month in 2011 we're going to be giving away something free from our retail store. For May,the winner of our Facebook give-away will receive a 17" LCD monitor from our retail store. So please check out our Facebook page and become a fan!
June 8th, 2011 is IPv6 Jump Day!
Some major web companies and bigger commercial operations will participate in a large scale test that will be conducted on the 8th of June: IPv6 Jump Day. This event will help identify eventual problems with the Internet operating on IPv6, and examine ISP readiness. Google and Facebook have already announced their participation. Microsoft has also announced their attendance and has even offered to provide global IPv6 connectivity via Bing.com. Read about it on Wikipedia.
SC Now Recycling Electronics
South Carolina's landfill ban on end-of-life electronics goes into effect on July 1. The state legislature passed its e-scrap law back in May of 2010, requiring consumers to properly recycle computers, monitors, printers and televisions. Similar to Washington State's legislation, South Carolina's law requires the manufacturers of such devices to cover the costs of recycling. | |
