OFFICE DEPOT RECYCLE 562 TONS OF
E-WASTE
Office
Depot Customers Recycle 562 Tons of E-Waste for Earth Day
Office Depot’s Tech Trade-In Promotion Beats Goal of
Recycling 400 Tons
BOCA RATON, Fla., May
2010 — Office Depot , a leading global provider of office products and
services, today announced that the Company has recycled 562 tons of
electronic waste through its Tech Trade-In promotion. In recognition of
the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, Office Depot set out an initial
challenge to its customers to collect 400 tons of products for recycling
during the one month promotion window. Office Depot, however, beat its
goal and helped its customers prevent more than 560 tons of e-waste from
ending up in landfills.The 560-plus tons of technology trash recycled
by Office Depot includes printers, shredders, notebook computers,
digital cameras and ink and toner cartridges. The majority of products
were returned to California Office Depot retail stores (over 13 tons),
followed by Florida and the Northeast U.S.
According to the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over three million tons of
e-waste were disposed of in 2007 in the United States. Of this amount,
only 410,000 tons or 13.6% was recycled. The rest was trashed in either
landfills or incinerators.”When people consider ‘green,’ the majority
first think about recycling,” said Yalmaz Siddiqui, Director of
Environmental Strategy for Office Depot. “However, the recycling rate
for technology and toner cartridges is still much lower than the rate
for paper and plastic bottles. Through Office Depot’s 400 ton challenge,
we wanted to help accelerate the adoption of technology recycling in
the United States. The results show that our customers responded.”Even
though the special Tech Trade-In promotion and 400 Ton Challenge is
coming to an end, Office Depot customers can continue to recycle their
old ink and toner cartridges and receive $3 back in Worklife Rewards.