University of Houston students, faculty and staff who have older or unused electronics equipment they don’t know what to do with can drop it all off at an upcoming electronics recycling drive.
The event will take place from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Thursday, March 26, in the circle drive area in front of the Student Center South. It is being organized by the UH Office of Sustainability in conjunction with Bass Computer Recycling.
“With the rapid advancements in technology, we all have outdated electronics lying around the house,” said Sarah Kelly, program manager for the Office of Sustainability. “This electronics recycling drive is the perfect opportunity to dispose of those unwanted items in a safe and environmentally friendly manner.”
Items that will be accepted include mainframes, cable/wire, phones, networking equipment, testing equipment, VCR/DVD players, computers, circuit boards, scanners, servers, drives, monitors, printers, integrated circuits, cell phones, power strips and fax machines. A full list of acceptable materials can be found here.
Things that will not be accepted include refrigerators, wood, paper, non-computer plastics, televisions, hazardous materials, household appliances, ferrous metals and large copiers. No University of Houston-owned property will be accepted.
The drive is the last of several successful RecycleMania activities that have taken place across the UH campus since the first week of February. The closing ceremony for RecycleMania will take place toward the end of the electronics drive near the entrance of the Student Center South. At that time, the winners of the two RecycleMania group competitions will be announced and a drawing for a Kindle Fire HD will be held.
“We encourage members of the UH community to look around their homes and apartments and take stock of all the electronics equipment they have that is just collecting dust,” Kelly said. “A lot of these items can easily be recycled or refurbished and put to good use instead of ending up in landfills.”
Bass Computer Recycling is an R2 certified recycler, which is the premier global environmental, worker health and safety standard for the electronics recycling industry. The items collected in the drive will be refurbished if possible.
In order for the drive to be a success, a small team of volunteers is being recruited to help out that day. Kelly said people are needed to help with traffic control, unload donated equipment, sort through donations and man an information table. Volunteer shifts are available from 7:30 to 9:45 a.m., 9:15 to 11:30 a.m., and 11 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. To sign up, send an email to sustainability@uh.edu.
People who plan to donate items can go online to print and fill out a form that they can place on their car windshields to let traffic control volunteers know they are there to drop off electronics equipment. The forms will be given to volunteers and e-recycle donors will be entered into a drawing for a prize package.