Thank you to The Recycler for featuring InkCycle and its project aimed at decreasing electronic waste. According to the article, Inkcycle celebrates the success of it’s e-waste project, the company diverted 493 tons of e-waste and recycled 588,209 pounds of inkjet cartridges and 397,718 pounds of toner cartridges in 2010.

InkCycle, a company with a recycled line of ink and toner cartridges known as grenk, is celebrating the success of its e-waste project. The company believe that its media campaigns have been a key to its recycling efforts after working to educate national media, trade press, consumers and businesses regarding the benefits of recycling e-waste.

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Thank you to Green Life Style Magazine for featuring grenk’s video E-waste: How to Recycle Ink and Toner Cartridges.

The article briefly describes the process of recycling ink, as explained in the video, and how recycling these ink and toner cartridges at InkCycle will help eliminate e-waste from landfills. Below is an excerpt from the article.

Brad Roderick, executive vice president of InkCycle in Lenexa, Kansas, reviews the process of recycling ink and toner cartridges at InkCycle to help eliminate e-waste from landfills. grenkblog.com Roderick explains that the first steps include taking the toners apart to see what’s inside of them, replacing the critical wear components, cleaning out excess toner and getting them back to a state where they are ready for repair and refurbishment. Roderick discusses the final step of recycling an ink and toner cartridge after one is placed into a live printer and prints a series of pages to ensure that when it’s taken out of the box that the print performance at the end of the production process is up to the standards that will satisfy the consumer. InkCycle produces a recycled ink and toner cartridge called grenk. Grenk is designed to leave the smallest environmental footprint possible. More information about grenk and their environmentally- friendly efforts can be found at http Follow on Twitter @GrenkInk

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According to Matthew Wheeland, the article’s author, the video covers the basics of the e-waste problem, from gadgets designed for obsolescence, to toxic inputs and toxic outputs, to the harsh reality of e-waste recycling in the developing world.

The video below reviews electronic waste issues and provides tips for a greener home and family. Almost 2 million tons of electronic waste were landfilled in 2005, and while toxic materials comprise only a small amount of this volume, it doesn’t take much lead or mercury to contaminate an area’s soil or water supply. Families need to keep this in mind when deciding what to do with those old electronic devices.

Graduate students from Stanford University have developed, with a little help from Autodesk Inventor software, a prototype for a recyclable laptop that can be disassembled in two minutes, according to electronicsnews.com.

According to the article, The modular Bloom laptop computer is said to simplify electronics recycling, reduce electronic waste, and can be disassembled in two minutes.

The students from Stanford and Finland’s Aalto University used Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Inventor Publisher software to help develop and refine the innovative laptop during the school year, and, for their work, the class of graduate students was named Autodesk Inventor of the Month for October 2010.

The software was used create 3D digital prototypes of the hardware components inside the laptop, aiding in creating a readily accessible laptop design that is also easy to disassemble.

The Bloom laptop is designed to separate into different materials such as plastics, metals and circuitry. This is in contrast with most commercially laptops which take about 45 minutes to disassemble, requiring three separate tools and as many as 120 steps.

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In a recent segment on The Early Show, Renee Loux, author of “Easy Green Living,” shared tips on how to easily dispose of everyday e-waste. It is important to raise awareness about the advantages of recycling, seeing that 60 percent of the population does not recycle e-waste.

According to the segment, when it comes to certain materials, people do not know what to do with them. Here are some tips on how to dispose of non-papers, plastics and glass.

BATTERIES

• Throwing out lead-acid batteries is illegal
• More and more places to recycle them are popping up
• Best option is buying rechargeable batteries

ELECTRONICS

• Don’t throw away old cell phones, ipods, cameras, etc.
• Every retailer that takes back rechargeable batteries also takes mobile phones, as do most wireless providers
• One of the best things to do with a cell phone that still works is donate it. EX: Cell Phones for Soliders

COMPACT FLUORESCENT LIGHT BULBS

• Be really careful, they contain small amounts of mercury that can leak if broken
• Home Depot and Ikea take them back

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This is a video from treehugger.com about Nokia’s plan to develop flexible electronics.  According to the treehugger.com article by Jaymi Heimbuch, “Nokia and the University of Cambridge Research Center have already made significant progress. It’s only a short matter of time before Nokia creates a cell phone that can bend to the curve of our back pockets without dialing our entire contacts list every time we shift in our seat. This will make cell phones all that much more durable, hopefully with cracked screens and shattered cases a thing of the past.”

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According to earth911.com, Call2Recycle, which is a program for rechargeable battery and cell phone recycling in the U.S. and Canada, is asking consumers to search their homes and  junk drawers for used rechargeable batteries and cell phones. They are also asking consumers to then bring them to any of Call2Recycle’s drop-off locations.

“We have collected more than 55 million pounds of rechargeable batteries since our program launched in 1996, but too many used batteries are still going to landfills.”- Carl Smith, president and CEO of Call2Recycle.

The organization will be collecting all across the U.S. and Canada this week hoping to complete their goal of 1 million pounds of recycled batteries. Please watch the video below to learn more about MyCall2Recycle and Battery Recycling Week.

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The city of Columbia, Missouri is helping to reduce e-waste by making recycling more convenient to residents. An article found in the Missourian reported that after a successful collection of electronic waste in May, Mid-Missouri Recycling will again be collecting e-waste on September 18^th in Columbia.

According to Layli Terrill, waste minimization supervisor at the Solid Waste division, the city receives several calls from residents asking how to dispose of their e-waste, and since the city does not separate e-waste from other trash, the upcoming collection gives residents a convenient drop off location.

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